The Sports Xchange
Oct 11, 2015
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- No. 12 Florida State rallied to beat in-state rival Miami 29-24 on Saturday night for its sixth straight win in the series.
Seminoles running back Dalvin Cook returned from a hamstring injury and put together another monster game, rushing for 222 yards and two touchdowns while adding three catches for 47 yards and another touchdown.
Florida State now has 12 touchdowns this season and Cook has scored nine of them while rushing for 792 yards through five games.
Well, technically, just four games and less than a quarter. Cook left after the first quarter of last week's game and did not return after a 94-yard touchdown on his second carry.
But Florida State needed every yard Cook could give them.
The Seminoles (5-0, 3-0 ACC) watched a 20-10 halftime lead evaporate early in the fourth quarter when Miami quarterback and reigning ACC Rookie of the Year Brad Kaaya connected with wide receiver Stacy Coley from 29 yards to put the Hurricanes ahead 24-23.
The one-point deficit marked the first time Florida State trailed this season, but the Seminoles responded quickly.
On their ensuing drive with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, quarterback Everett Golson engineered an eight-play, 84-yard march capped by Cook's third touchdown of the game, from 23 yards. Florida State's two-point conversion, however, failed, leaving the door open for Miami.
But the Hurricanes couldn't put together a drive. They got the ball back with 2:45 left on their own 20-yard line and Kaaya had three passes batted down -- two by defensive lineman Giorgio Newberry and one from defensive end Demarcus Walker.
Golson finished 25 of 33 for 291 yards and a touchdown pass, and Kermit Whitfield was Florida State's top receiver with nine receptions for 95 yards.
Kaaya, the conference's top-rated passer, was 29 of 49 for 405 yards and three touchdowns. The Hurricanes, however, rushed for just 20 yards.
Kaaya appeared poised to lead the Hurricanes (3-2, 0-1) to the upset after putting together their longest drive of the season -- a 17-play, 80-yard march -- midway through the third quarter. Kaaya capped it with a 1-yard scoring pass to running back Joe Yearby on third down to pull Miami to within 20-17.
Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo then made it 23-17 with a 25-yard field, but Kaaya's touchdown throw to Coley gave them the 24-23 lead.
Florida State jumped out to a 20-10 halftime lead by scoring on its opening three drives for the first time this season.
And it was almost all because of Cook.
The sophomore running back took his first carry of the game 72 yards to the end zone to put Florida State ahead quickly 7-0. The touchdown came on an option play -- a formation Florida State hasn't run all season -- as Golson held the ball until the final seconds before pitching it to Cook, who weaved through tacklers and romped untouched to the end zone.
Miami answered with a scoring drive of its own, getting a 30-yard field goal from Michael Badgley to cut the deficit to 7-3 after the Hurricanes' 11-play, 62-yard march stalled inside Florida State's red zone.
Florida State pushed the margin to 14-3 on another Cook touchdown -- a 36-yard pass from Golson on the Seminoles' second possession.
But the Hurricanes answered when Kaaya connected with wideout Rawshawn Scott on a 52-yard bomb to make it 17-10.
Cook, who was questionable with a hamstring injury entering Saturday's showdown against Miami, appeared to reinjure the hamstring during a long run midway through the second quarter.
Cook got free on breakaway run up the middle but pulled up, fell down without being touched and immediately asked to come out of the game. Cook, however, returned on the next series.
The Seminoles' next two drives ended in field goals by Aguayo, who had a chance to extend it to 23-10 just before intermission, but his 49-yard try at the gun hit the upright. The miss was only Aguayo's second of the year.
Florida State lost one of its defensive stars for the rest of the game -- and he first half of next week's game -- midway through the first quarter.
Safety Trey Marshall was flagged for roughing the passer and targeting after hitting Kaaya following a completion.
The referees reviewed the play asnd Marshall was ejected. Per NCAA rules, Marshall will now miss the first half of Florida State's next game, which is Oct. 17 at home against Louisville.
NOTES: It seems that every Florida State-Miami meeting, there's always a pregame dust-up -- and Saturday was no different. As Florida State K Roberto Aguayo warmed up near the Hurricanes' side of the field before kickoff, several Miami players approached him and seemed to take issue with him being so close to their warmup sport. An argument ensued, followed by one of them pushing Aguayo and pointing for him to return to the other side. Eventually, coaches from both team intervened and separated them ... Florida State retired the jersey of two-time All-American LB Marvin Jones (1990-92) during halftime. Jones, who became the 10th former Florida State player to have his jersey retired, won both the Butkus and Lombardi awards as a junior in 1992 and fourth in the Heisman trophy balloting. ... Miami came into Saturday's game leading the all-time series 31-28.
