Lonnie Pryor and his Florida State teammates pulled away from Miami in the fourth quarter. (Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE)
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Florida State Seminoles made enough mistakes to keep the Miami Hurricanes in the game for three quarters here Saturday night.
But the Seminoles overcame their miscues with just enough good plays to post a 33-20 victory over their in-state rivals before a Sun Life Stadium crowd of 73,328 here Saturday night.
“We overcame a lot of things,” coach Jimbo Fisher said after his ‘Noles spotted the Hurricanes an early 10-point lead and blew a couple of early scoring opportunities because of penalties and a fumble on what was supposed to be a fake handoff. “Some that we caused, and some others that I’ll have to wait and evaluate the film to see what happened.”
But as the game progressed, the ‘Noles, ranked 14th in the BCS standings to the unranked Hurricanes, gradually asserted themselves.
Their defense limited Miami to just 258 yards in total offense, and their offense overcame the penalties — 12 in all for 121 yards — with a balanced attack that featured 218 yards rushing and 229 passing.
“We did some good things,” Fisher said. “But we did some poor things, too.”
Despite their struggles on offense, the Hurricanes were down only a field goal at 16-13 heading into the fourth quarter. The Seminoles started the quarter with tailback Devonta Freeman scoring on a three-yard run to give the ‘Noles a more comfortable margin, and kicker Dustin Hopkins then added a field goal midway through the quarter to allow the ‘Noles a more comfortable cushion.
FSU got its final points on Freeman’s second touchdown after Miami had been forced to gamble on fourth down deep in its own territory. The Hurricanes added their final points on Stephen Morris’ eight-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute to go
“I thought we played hard,” Miami coach Al Golden said. “I thought we coached hard. I thought we played hard, and we lost to a good team. That’s it.
“We lost to a team that is ahead of us right now.”
Golden’s Hurricanes fell to 4-4 on the season after losing their third in a row. They are 3-2 in the ACC and remain in contention for the Coastal Division title and a berth in the conference championship game.
Florida State moved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the conference in first place in the Atlantic Division.
Two key mistakes put the Seminoles in an early hole. The Hurricanes cashed in on a fumble recovery on the Seminoles’ first play by marching 27 yards for a touchdown, and Cason Beatty’s 17-yard punt gave them yet another short field to work with.
But after taking over at FSU’s 34-yard line, the Hurricanes managed only a field goal.
The Seminoles hurt themselves yet again on their third possession when a drive into Miami territory ended with a fumble by fullback Jared Haggins, who was supposed to be a decoy on the play.
“It was a slow start,” FSU senior quarterback EJ Manuel said, “but we picked it up in the second half.”
Manuel completed 21 of his 31 pass attempts for 229 yards and netted 34 yards on 11 rushes after losing 13 yards on two sacks.
His counterpart for Miami, junior Stephen Morris, was 25-of-43 for 223 yards and was sacked four times. He played despite a sprained ankle that had him listed as “doubtful” going into the game.
“Not at all,” he said when asked if the ankle had affected his play. “I felt great on it.”
NOTES: Florida State tailback Chris Thompson left the game in the second quarter because of a knee injury and did not return. At the time of his injury, he had accounted for 94 yards (split equally between rushing and receiving) of FSU’s total offense of 140 yards. He will have an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. … Cornerback Tyler Hunter’s second-quarter interception was the first of the FSU sophomore’s career. … The first half ended strangely when officials ran the final 10 seconds off the clock after FSU was flagged for a false start at Miami’s 23-yard line. But after Miami’s players left the field, they were called back because the Seminoles actually had a timeout remaining and thus should not have lost the time. That allowed Dustin Hopkins to kick a 46-yard field goal to give the ‘Noles a 13-10 edge at the intermission. … Senior cornerback Brandon McGee recorded the first sack of his Miami career in the second quarter.
