“When I look back on that game, I want to shake Jonathan Vilma’s hand and the rest of our defense for keeping us in that game. I get friendly reminders every once in a while from D.J. Williams about how the offense kind of pooped the bed that day and it was our fault we started off so poorly,” Romberg laughed. “But, to be honest, it was another example of what our school embodied in terms of our athletic programs. Baseball, football, you name it, we really did take pride in the symbol of the school on the side of our helmet. … It was a lot of brotherhood and wanting to win for each other and wanting to win for the school, as opposed to wanting individual accolades or individual recognition.”
Said Vilma, “That camaraderie was vital to our success. We pushed each other so hard and picked each other up so much during the season because we were put through the grinder together in the offseason. We were ready for any situation and it didn’t matter if we started slowly or the offense started slowly. Who cares? We were going to grind and figure it out. We’re going to do what we need to do to win games. … It’s rarely going to be a perfect day where the offense is clicking on all cylinders and we’re clicking on all cylinders and we’re routing teams left and right. It was a luxury we had at times, but that wasn’t the reality, especially against a team as talented as Florida State.”
Still, even with Miami’s comeback, there was enough time left for Florida State to win.
And with Jones gashing the Hurricanes defense and having already scored earlier in the fourth quarter, that was, former Hurricanes cornerback Antrel Rolle recalled, very possible.
“That was a day that, for some reason, our defense wanted no part of Greg Jones,” Rolle said. “He was running through our defense, he had probably close to 200 yards, and he couldn’t be stopped. The only one who wanted any part of him was Sean Taylor. He made his presence known. Greg Jones was a beast of a running back, probably 250 pounds of solid muscle. … he gave our defense a very, very difficult time, but every time Sean Taylor made contact, you’d just hear Greg Jones just grunt, like those hits were taking some of his soul out of his body.
“I’d never seen anyone hit Greg Jones the way Sean Taylor did. Every time he made a collision on Jones, it was like a huge thunk and you’d hear a groan after every single hit. It was a battle.”
Despite Jones’ performance, which was then a career-high, the Seminoles weren’t able to get in the end zone on their final drive. For the fourth time in 12 years, a Florida State kicker would have the opportunity to either tie or win a game against the Hurricanes.
But like Gerry Thomas, Dan Mowrey and Matt Munyon before him, Beitia missed.
The only difference? His kick sailed wide left. The others had gone wide right.
The biggest similarity? Another Miami victory.
“I could only imagine karma creeping back after what had happened two years prior and maybe repaying the favor of that extra little gust of wind two years before,” Romberg said. “There was no way it was going to happen twice, but obviously, the ghosts of the Orange Bowl were smiling on us that day.”
Said Coker, succinctly, “They were due. We’re just glad it didn’t work out for them.”
