Florida State runs down Miami 30-26
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - You keep sticking your head into the lion's mouth, one day the lion's going to decide it likes the taste. For Florida State, today was not that day.
For the fifth time this season, Florida State made what should have been an easy steamroll into an adventure. And for the fifth time, the Seminoles escaped, this time with a 30-26 victory over hated rival Miami.
The Seminoles needed overtime to beat Clemson, trailed both NC State and Louisville by more than two touchdowns, and were one fortuitous penalty away from losing to Notre Dame. This game, Florida State needed 56 minutes and 55 seconds to take the lead. While other teams' fans would have passed out from holding their breath, Seminole Nation knew better.
And those thoughts were officially verified with Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya's interception with 39 seconds left.
"What a college football game," smiled Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher afterward. "Miami and Florida State. That's what it's supposed to be."
From an aesthetic perspective, this was another night to forget for Florida State, but then that could describe much of this winning-ugly season. The shadows of scandals both confirmed and alleged loom large over the program, and it’ll be a long time before the Seminoles shake the body blows the program’s reputation sustained this year.
But when you want to cover up a dark stain, you use an even darker paint, and garnet does that job quite nicely. Florida State always seems to need a half to wake up, shake off the snooze button, and remember it’s actually playing a game. But the way Fisher spins it, there's no problem with that, none whatsoever.
"You measure this team by how they play 60 minutes," he said. "And they're pretty doggone good. They'll match up with anybody, anywhere."
Quarterback Jameis Winston showed once again why he’s a nightmare for both supporters and detractors. He made costly mistakes, dropping two snaps and slinging an ill-advised interception to end the first half. But he also picked at the Hurricane defense like he was sampling a Vegas buffet, finding receivers Travis Rudolph and Nick O’Leary in the midst of the Hurricane secondary virtually whenever the occasion demanded. Florida State’s rushing game was virtually nonexistent; remove Delvin Cook’s two long touchdown runs, and the Seminoles barely ran far enough to cross a kitchen.
For Miami, which hasn't beaten Florida State at home in a decade, the frustrations ran deep, as did the missed opportunities. Freshman Kaaya had the poise necessary to post a 23-7 lead on the defending national champions, but nonetheless floated two guaranteed-touchdown passes over the heads of his receivers. Running back Duke Johnson became the first Hurricane to total 5,000 all-purpose yards in a career, but couldn't get separation at the game's most crucial moments, and suffered a cramp in the second half that cut into his mobility and production.
Despite its new slogan "Renewed," then, Miami continues to struggle finding the right pieces at the right times. Florida State, for its part, advances and moves on, and even an ugly victory is better than a loss. The undefeated streak stands at 26, even as the questions about exactly how the 2014 Seminoles will manage to defeat a true quality opponent loom larger.
For Fisher, though, there's no reason for a care in the world, none at all. He smiled his way through his postgame press conference, the grin fading only momentarily when he was asked, in a roundabout way, about the many off-field distractions that have dogged his team. Most recently, the New York Times reported this week that Seminole cornerback PJ Williams fled the scene of an accident but was not cited for doing so, a serious allegation. In response to how the team is handling such matters, Fisher had four words:
"Compartmentalize. Address. Move on."
Simple. Efficient. It's the kind of philosophy that satisfies players and alumni. Florida State is now in full-on us-versus-them mode, with "us" confined to Tallahassee and "them" being everyone else in the country, but if those outside the Nole radius don't care for the way Fisher and his crew do business, well, who needs 'em, right?
Fisher concluded his press conference with a few folksy coach-isms ("The power of preparation is the key to success") and inexplicable tangents (a meditation on DNA in which Fisher threw himself for a rhetorical loss of yardage), the end result being this: whatever Fisher's selling, his team and his fans are buying. It's worked very well for two years, against all imaginable odds. Once again, Florida State has stiff-armed the lion.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.
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