Canes Rewind: A Look Back at the Win over Florida State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Each week this season, we’ll take a look at the game that was for the Hurricanes.

Here are some key storylines, numbers of notes and quotes from Miami’s 28-22 win over rival Florida State on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium.

After the win, Miami improved to 5-0 and moved up a spot to No. 2 in the AP Top 25. The Seminoles, who fell to 3-2 after the loss, dropped from No. 18 in the poll to No. 25.

The Recap

After opening the season with four straight wins at home, the Hurricanes faced their first road test of the season – and it came against yet another in-state rival, Florida State.

In the days leading up to the matchup, Miami’s players and coaches acknowledged the tradition and the history of the rivalry ,but did their best not to get caught up in the national buzz surrounding the game, which featured both teams being ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2016.

Instead, the Hurricanes insisted their focus was on bettering their game and continuing to improve, especially now that conference play was beginning.

“I do think our players, alumni bases, fans, they all understand how intense this rivalry is,” Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal said before the game. “But I think our players, more importantly, understand the importance of practice and preparation and that’s what our focus is on.”

When the ball was kicked off in Tallahassee, there’s no doubt the Hurricanes were focused.

After allowing a field goal on the Florida State’s opening drive, Miami took the lead later in the first quarter when quarterback Carson Beck connected on a short 4-yard scoring pass to CJ Daniels that capped a 9-play, 79-yard drive.

The Hurricanes would never trail again.

Instead, Miami’s swarming defense, which held Florida to just one touchdown in their rivalry matchup two weeks ago, made life difficult for Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos and the rest of the Seminoles offense for the better part of three quarters.

Early in the second, freshman Bryce Fitzgerald picked off a Castellanos pass as the Seminoles were driving and one play later, Beck connected with freshman Malachi Toney on a 44-yard touchdown pass that pushed Miami’s lead to 14-3 after the extra point.

The Hurricanes added to that margin on their opening drive of the second half when Beck and Toney connected again, this time on a 40-yard scoring play that capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive.

Florida State’s answer? Another turnover.

On the Seminoles’ opening drive of the half, Castellanos was once again intercepted – this time by Jakobe Thomas – and again, the Hurricanes turned the mistake into points.

This time, Beck found Daniels on a pass that, ultimately, resulted in a 24-yard score. Beck finished the game completing 20 of 27 passes for 241 yards with the four touchdowns.

Through the first three quarters, the Hurricanes scored 28 unanswered points – and it turned out they’d need every one of those to weather a late Florida State surge.

Castellanos and the Seminoles offense, which came into the game having totaled more than 500 yards in each of their last three games, got into a rhythm and scored 19 straight to cut Miami’s lead to just six points with 50 seconds left.

Florida State attempted an onside kick after every one of its fourth-quarter scores, but the Hurricanes recovered the ball each time and ultimately, held on for the win.

“That’s always such a big deal,” Cristobal said of Miami winning the “state championship” after beating Bethune-Cookman, USF, Florida and now Florida State. “This has nothing to do with me, but I played here, and I know what it means to play in this game, especially up here in Tallahassee and what a victory means, especially in a game that it’s been years since both teams were ranked in the top 20. … So many high school rivalries, players playing against each other. It lasts an entire year. It’s such an important thing. I mean, being a University of Miami Hurricane means that this game, you find a way to get it done. It’s always been part of the DNA and credit to [Florida State head coach Mike] Norvell. He’s got a really good football team, and they prepare really well, and they play hard. But credit to the guys in our locker room. They found a way to get it done.”

 Numbers to Know

107 – Receiving yards for Toney, who made his first appearance in the Miami-Florida State game on Saturday. Toney had two touchdowns, and his longest reception of the day was a 44-yard scoring grab.

3 – Career interceptions for Fitzgerald after his pick of Castellanos on Saturday. The freshman also had interceptions against Bethune-Cookman and USF. Fitzgerald’s three picks lead the Miami defense.

11 – Total tackles for cornerback Keionte Scott. That was a team-high against the Seminoles. Scott also had a fumble recovery, a QB hurry and broke up a pass.

14 – Points scored by the Hurricanes off Florida State turnovers. Miami, meanwhile, did not turn the ball over.

37 – Number of games Miami has won against the Seminoles. The Hurricanes now own a 37-33 lead in the all-time series with their in-state rivals and are 17-12 in games played in Tallahassee.

Quotable

“I think this whole year, we’ve played really good complementary football. I think whenever we’ve needed the defense, the defense has just stepped up and then whenever they’ve capitalized on a turnover or something, we’ve been able to turn around and go punch it in the end zone or go get three, put points on the board and capitalize on the mistakes from the opponent. So, continuing to do that is really, really good. It shows signs of a really good team, and we’ve been playing really, really well and complementary football as well.”

– Quarterback Carson Beck, on Miami’s ability to turn its opponents’ turnovers into points

“It means a lot, but this team makes it easy. They trusted me, coming in as a freshman [they] gave me the opportunity to showcase my talent, and I just want to thank those guys for believing in me and trusting me. They get me better day in and day out, so it’s really not too much of me. It’s really about the team and how they get me better day in, day out.”

– Wide receiver Malachi Toney, on what it’s meant to be playing as well as he is so early in his college career

“Walking into the locker room and the team not being happy after a win like that, that’s what’s different. These guys are dedicated. I can’t preach enough how much we work each and every day. Every day. So, we’re in the building early in the morning, late at night, watching tape together as a team. When I walked in [to the locker room] and nobody was really excited after the win, I knew that we [had] bigger goals.”

– Safety Jakobe Thomas, on what’s made this Mimi team feel different than other teams he’s played with

“I think it’s all in the preparation, all Greentree. We had two weeks to prepare for them, and we took advantage of it. And then coming into Florida State, our biggest rival, really, and getting this W, it means everything to us, and it means everything to the people who support us.”

– Defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor, on how well Miami played and what beating Florida State means

“I don’t think you deny that you have something special going on. I just think you spend your time assessing and analyzing the things you can get better at, because whatever shows on film that you’re not good at, it’s going to get exposed. I mean, I don’t know what the results of some of the games were today, but when we were headed out of the hotel, it seemed like everybody was about to get upset because, again, it’s playoff football now. It’s conference games, right? Everybody’s alive. Everybody knows your warts, your holes, your tics. And so, if you refuse to believe that other teams have very good players and very good coaches, if you refuse to acknowledge that the holes that you have need to be fixed in order to keep getting better, you’re not going to last very long in this league, in this profession. So, we want to establish that DNA and we’ve got a long way to go.”

– Head coach Mario Cristobal, on how well Miami is playing and how crucial it is that the Hurricanes continue focusing on getting better

Up Next

The Hurricanes will have next weekend off and aren’t set to play again until Oct. 17 when they host conference foe Louisville at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Cardinals are 4-1 and are coming off a hard-fought 30-27 overtime home loss to No. 19 Virginia.

At one point in the second half Saturday, Louisville trailed Virginia 24-14 before the Cardinals scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to tie the game and force overtime.

In overtime, though, Louisville settled for a 24-yard field goal, while Virginia was able to score a touchdown to end the game.

Like Miami, the Cardinals are off next weekend and will have extra time to prepare for their trip south to Hard Rock Stadium.

Miami and Louisville have met 17 times, and the Hurricanes lead the all-time series 12-4-1.

Miami won last year’s meeting in Louisville 52-45.