TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014 No. 3 Miami stayed unbeaten Saturday night, sprinting out to a 25-point lead and skating by with a 28-22 win over No. 18 Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium.<\/p>\n
The Seminoles (3-2, 0-2 ACC) scored on the opening drive, going 70 yards before stalling and settling for a field goal. Miami (5-0, 1-0) dominated in every aspect after that, holding the nation\u2019s top scoring offense to only 161 yards and no points over FSU\u2019s next seven possessions. Midway through the fourth quarter, a Florida State offense that was among the country\u2019s most explosive had thrown more interceptions (two) than completions of more than 20 yards (one). Then a frantic 19-point rally in the closing minutes made the final score feel closer than most of the night\u2019s action let on.<\/p>\n
The Hurricanes were equally impressive on the other side of the ball, in a performance that will boost their College Football Playoff hype. After relying heavily on its rushing attack through nonconference play, Miami opened up its passing game Saturday. Georgia transfer Carson Beck completed 19 of his first 23 passes with four touchdowns. His receivers did much of the work. Freshman Malachi Toney sped for scores of 40 and 44 yards \u00a0\u2014 the latter on a gutsy fourth-and-2 call by Mario Cristobal and his staff. CJ Daniels dashed through the defense for a 26-yard touchdown catch in the second half (he also had a short score in the first).<\/p>\n
The Seminoles made things interesting in the fourth quarter. Tommy Castellanos threw a pair of touchdown passes (with two-point conversions) and drove into field goal range to trim Miami\u2019s lead from 28-3 to 28-22. But Miami recovered the last-gasp onside kick to preserve the victory.<\/p>\n
Miami is off next week before hosting Louisville on Friday, Oct. 17. The Seminoles host Pitt next Saturday.<\/p>\n
Miami rules the state of Florida<\/p>\n
Miami, clearly, has bigger aspirations after a strong start, but don\u2019t overlook the significance of Saturday\u2019s rivalry win and everything else that has transpired so far. The Hurricanes have beaten Florida State, Florida and South Florida in their first five games. Crown them state champions. The Canes have beaten Florida and Florida State in back-to-back years; that hasn\u2019t happened since 2001-04.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t that long ago that the Seminoles owned this series. The Hurricanes lost six in a row to former head coach Jimbo Fisher (2010-16). Fisher had an acrimonious exit from Florida State when he bolted for Texas A&M in 2017, but FSU fans chanted his name Saturday morning during the ACC\u2019s pregame show on campus. That\u2019s how much things have changed.\u00a0\u2014 Matt Baker<\/p>\n
\nFlea Flicker fooled ’em \ud83e\udd2f\ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcfa: ABC pic.twitter.com\/K44tL3kzO2<\/a><\/p>\n