MIAMI hangs on to WIN, 28-22, over FSU

Miami (5-0, 1-0) defeated arch rival Florida State, 28-22, on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium in front of a sellout crowd and national prime time audience.

The Canes built a 28-3 lead in the third quarter but had to hang on for the win. Miami now holds a 37-33 record over FSU in the series and are the state of Florida champions this year.

It was Miami’s third victory over a ranked team this season, earlier defeating Notre Dame, USF while defeating Florida and Bethune-Cookman easily.

Miami finished with 338 total yards of offense. Carson Beck threw for 240 yards, going 20/27 (74.1%), four touchdowns and no interceptions. True freshman Malachi Toney led the Canes’ receivers with 7 catches for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns. CJ Daniels added 5 catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Mark Fletcher led Miami’s rushing attack with 41 yards on 12 carries.

The Seminoles rallied in the fourth quarter behind were quarterback Tommy Castellanos. He was all that the hype said he would be, throwing for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Fortunately for the Canes, he also threw two interceptions. Miami’s defense forced FSU to throw the ball by limiting Castellanos' scrambling impact. That cost the Noles in the end. They fought hard, but in the end Miami’s physicality was too hard to overcome.

A glaring issue that must be address by Miami is penalties. The Canes were called for 12 penalties for 98 yards.

Miami will be idle next week with their second bye week of the season before finishing their regular season with seven straight games. The Canes next game will be on Friday, October 17th when they host the Louisville Cardinals at Hard Rock Stadium.

BOTTOM LINE:

Miami survived but were tested by a gutsy Florida State team.

GO CANES!