UM SNAGS ROAD WIN OVER FSU
▪ With Saturday’s victory over the Atlantic Coast Conference archrival Seminoles, the Hurricanes (5-4, 3-3 ACC) must win only one of their remaining three games to earn a bowl berth.
Quarterback Jarren Williams tossed two touchdown passes and threw for 313 yards as the Hurricanes led throughout and beat the Seminoles on Saturday in Tallahassee, 27-10.
UM 27, FSU 10
The streak continues, and suddenly this season doesn’t feel nearly as bad.
The Miami Hurricanes, led by a ruthless defense and dominant performance by quarterback Jarren Williams, defeated archrival Florida State 27-10 Saturday to extend their winning streak over the Seminoles to three years and earn back-to-back wins this season for the first time since September.
Miami (5-4, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) not only has bragging rights for another year, it needs to win only one of its remaining three games to earn a bowl berth.
“I think we’re starting to find ourselves,” UM coach Manny Diaz said. “These guys love playing with each other.”
A 56-yard touchdown throw from Williams to Dee Wiggins — the first touchdown of Wiggins’ career — sealed the victory for Miami with 12:05 left in the game and left the
FSU fans at Doak Campbell Stadium silenced.
Then, a 32-yard field goal by walk-on kicker Camden Price added three points of insurance with 6:27 left.
Williams completed 21 of 37 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns,
though he also lost a fumble.
His defense? Smothering, with a season-high nine sacks and 16 tackles for loss, with two interceptions. The Canes held FSU star running back Cam Akers to 66 yards on 22 carries and the Seminoles to 203 total yards.
Miami defensive end Greg Rousseau continued his phenomenal redshirt freshman season with a career-high four sacks after setting a career record the previous week at Pittsburgh with three.
“They were relentless,” Diaz said of UM’s defensive line. “If you get dominated up front, there are not a lot of things that work.”
FSU quarterback Alex Hornibrook, who dominated UM in the Orange Bowl after the 2017 season, was 17 of 24 for 135 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. James Blackman came in late and threw the second interception.
And almost unbelievably, the Canes were not dead in the ACC’s Coastal Division as they awaited the league night games to be played, in particular the 7:30 p.m. Virginia at North Carolina game. A Virginia win would keep UM’s chances alive.
The Seminoles (4-5, 3-4), however, are again in a dark place after their third loss in four games. Since the start of last season, FSU and coach Willie Taggart are 9-12, with Taggart’s FSU seat heating up and his future seeming more uncertain.
The Hurricanes meet Louisville at Hard Rock Stadium in their final home game of the season next Saturday, then face FIU at Marlins Park on Nov. 23 and Duke in Durham, North Carolina, for the season finale Nov. 30.
Trailing 17-3 at halftime, the Seminoles roared back to score in the third quarter after UM’s Williams failed to convert on fourthand-1 from the FSU 38.
The six-play, 62-yard drive was capped by Akers’ 18-yard rush at 10:31 left in the quarter, cutting Miami’s lead to 17-10.
The Canes opened the scoring with their longest touchdown of the season, a 39-yarder from Williams to Jeff Thomas, who caught the ball in the end zone with 9:10 left in the first quarter. Price kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.
Two plays earlier, Williams looked toward the action on the left side of the field, then tossed a screen pass on the right side to DeeJay Dallas, who weaved in and out of traffic to finally get tackled for a 42-yard gain and set up the initial score.
“It’s lit!” Dallas said of the postgame celebratory locker room.
Florida State got its first points on a 37-yard field goal by Ricky Aguayo with 10:15 left in the first half. The Seminoles took 6:48 off the clock on the 17-play drive, which was extended on a 20-yard, seconddown pass from Hornibrook to Tamorrion Terry to put FSU on the UM 20. Two plays later, FSU had first-and-goal from the 9, but UM’s defense held, highlighted by a 5-yard tackle-for-loss by Shaq Quarterman and a sack by Amari Carter.
UM led 7-3.
Miami scored the next 10 points of the half, first on a 6-yard rush over right end by Dallas at 3:58 of the second quarter, one play after Williams completed a 34-yard pass to Mike Harley on the left sideline; and next on a 30-yard field goal by Price as time expired and the teams headed for their locker rooms with UM up by 14 points.
Dallas’ touchdown drive was precipitated by UM defensive end Trevon Hill’s stop of the Seminoles at fourth-and-1 from the FSU 46.