Florida State Comes up Just Short in Double OT Loss to Miami

During the game week before their matchup with rival and No. 3-ranked Miami Hurricanes (6-0), Florida State (3-4) head coach Mike Norvell said that the Seminoles had to respond properly to the Hurricanes.

This game was as advertised. A Saturday night street brawl. Both fighters traded punches and answered the bell. They came out of their corners swinging.

However, in the end, the Hurricanes answered one more bell than the Seminoles.

Miami battled to win this rivalry game 43-35 in double overtime. 

Rainy conditions slowed this game down considerably, allowing Florida State to make key stops on defense to keep the game close.

Miami jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, and Florida State “responded” by going for it on fourth down, twice. The Seminoles were stopped on both attempts as the ball went over on downs.

However, the Seminoles engineered two scoring drives in the second quarter to tie the game at 14-14.

That second scoring drive was aided by two personal foul penalties on the Hurricanes to give the Seminoles great field position. It was also costly.

Florida State running back Ousmane Kromah was running toward the end zone and was gang-tackled by the Miami defense. Kromah’s left ankle got rolled up underneath the scrum.

Trainers placed Kromah’s left leg into an air cast and Kromah was carted off the field.

Daniels completed 6-of-12 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown. He also added 32 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah completed 56 percent of his passes for 161 yards and a touchdown.

Running back Mark Fletcher rushed for 39 of Miami’s 59 rushing yards in the first half, and a score.

Hurricanes receiver Malachi Toney caught five passes for 69 yards and a touchdown in the first half. 

To start the third quarter, Florida State punted, and then Miami turned the ball over on downs.

On Florida State’s second possession of the third quarter, Daniels drove the Seminoles down the field, hitting Jayvan Boggs for 26 yards.

Two plays later, Daniels threw a screen pass to Quintrevion Wisner that covered 28 yards for a touchdown.

Florida State took the lead at 21-14. Miami was held scoreless in the third quarter as the game moved to the fourth quarter.

After another turnover on downs by the Hurricanes, Florida State played conservatively with short passes for marginal gains.

After another Florida State punt, Mensah connected with Toney for 35 yards into Florida State territory. Later, Toney ran 30 yards to set up first and goal for the Hurricanes.

On the next play, Javian Mallory ran it in for a touchdown to tie the score at 21-21.

How did the Seminoles respond?

Wisner found a hole, ran through it to daylight, but the ball was punched out, and Miami recovered the crucial fumble.

It was the first turnover of the game for Florida State.

The Seminoles’ pass defense allowed Mensah to complete a pass on 3rd down and 10 that gained a first down to keep the drive alive for Miami.

The Hurricanes drove down and scored to retake the lead at 28-21 with less than three minutes left in the game.

On the ensuing drive, Daniels fired a deep ball to the sideline that was caught by Duce Robinson. Robinson shook off two tackles on his way to a 75-yard touchdown to tie the game again at 28-28.

The Florida State defense stiffened once again and forced a Miami punt.

Gridiron glory was 99 yards away with 0:35 seconds left on the clock. The game was tied at 28-28. Norvell decided to kneel and run the clock out to move to the first overtime period.

It was only the second overtime game in series history.

Florida State took the ball first, and Daniels found Robinson in the end zone for 20 yards and a touchdown to retake the lead at 35-28.

During the Miami possession, the Hurricanes responded with a touchdown run by Mallory to tie the game at 35-35. The game continued into the second overtime period.

On the Miami possession, Mensah connected again with Toney to make the score 41-35.

The 2-point conversion was good on a Toney pass to Cooper Barkate to make the score 43-35.

Florida State took over, and Daniels was sacked on the first play. The next play was an incompletion. On 3rd and 16, a false start penalty on Wisner backed up the Seminoles.

On 3rd and 21, Daniels threw the ball out of bounds to avoid the rush. One last chance.

The last play, on 4th down and 21, resulted in a touchdown pass that was nullified by a holding penalty by OL Xavier Chaplin.

One more play, on 4th down and 31. A deep ball to the end zone resulted in an interception by Miami’s Bryce Fitzgerald.

It was called an interception on the field, and further review by the ACC officials confirmed it.

Game over.

Daniels passed for 298 yards and four TDs. Mensah threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Toney. Florida State was 0-3 on fourth down.