The Miami Hurricanes ended their seven-game losing streak to Florida State in emphatic fashion. Not settling for a potential game-tying field, Malik Rosier threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Langham with six seconds remaining to give Miami a 24-20 victory.
Rosier struggled in the first half. He completed 4-15 in the game’s opening 30 minutes but came back to lead the Miami Hurricanes to all 24 of their points after halftime. Rosier finished 19 of 44 for 254 yards and three touchdowns.
Miami controlled the third quarter, outscoring Florida State 10-0 to grab a 10-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter. That set up a wild final 15 minutes. Florida State scored on their first two drives of the fourth quarter to regain the lead 13-10. The fun was just beginning.
The teams then alternated touchdown drives over the final 6:55. Rosier hit Braxton Berrios from six yards out to give the Miami Hurricanes a 17-13 lead with 5:09 remaining in the game.
Florida State true Freshman Quarterback James Blackman led the Seminoles on a nine play, 75-yard drive to regain the lead 20-17 with just 1:24 remaining.
That didn’t leave the Hurricanes a lot of time to regain the lead. Miami took over on its own 25 after a touchback. After two incompletions Rosier hit Berrios for 17 yards on third and ten to the Hurricanes 42 yard line.
Travis Homer broke off a big 14 yard run to the Florida State 34 yard line. That was followed by two Rosier incompletions. On third and ten Rosier hit Berrios for 11 yards to the FSU 23 yard line. That set up the game-winner.
Rosier stood in the pocket spotted Langham down the right sideline. Langham twisted himself near the pylon to get into the end zone and put Miami ahead 23-20. Michael Badgley added the extra point to put the ‘Canes up 24-20.
That set up a wild celebration. Miami still had a kickoff remaining. The six seconds that remained were DejaVu. Miami’s victory over Duke in 2015 came after the Blue Devils scored a go-ahead touchdown with six seconds remaining. Eight laterals later and Miami won one of the wildest game in college football history.
Florida State’s D.J. Matthews returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to the Miami 47 yard line. It appeared that he had an opportunity to lateral, but went down and the Florida State seven-game winning streak against Miami was over.
Saturday Blitz
Florida State had the ball for nearly ten minutes more and outgained Miami by 69 yards. The Seminoles finished the day with perfect balance. Florida State split their 406 total yards evenly on the ground and through the air.
The Miami Hurricanes defense struggled to stop the run all day. Florida State ran for 203 yards on 43 carries. Freshman Cam Akers ran for 121 yards on 20 carries. Junior Jacques Patrick had 93 yards on 11 carries. He had two long runs for FSU.
Miami mostly used the run to set up the pass. The Hurricanes ran the ball 29 times for 83 yards on the afternoon. They struggled on the ground for the second straight game. Miami ran for 143 yards on 35 carries against Duke. That number was inflated by a late 40 yard Homer touchdown run.
Berrios led the receiving core with eight receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns. That was his fifth consecutive game with a touchdown reception. Ahmmon Richards had four for 68 and Chris Herndon caught three passes for 55 yards.
With the weight of the losing streak over, Miami will now get ready to host Georgia Tech next week. The Yellow Jackets have started the season 3-1. They have won three in a row after losing the opener 42-41 in overtime to Tennessee.
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The Yellow Jackets enter the game 2-0 in the ACC after victories over Pittsburgh and North Carolina. It will now be a pivotal game in the ACC Coastal Divison. Miami follows that up with games against North Carolina and Syracuse before Virginia Tech comes to Hard Rock Stadium on November 4.