No. 6 Miami Hurricanes trounce Florida State to remain undefeated

MIAMI GARDENS — Mark Fletcher Jr. knelt to the ground in the Hard Rock Stadium end zone and pointed to the sky.

The sophomore Miami running back and American Heritage alumnus took the field with a heavy heart just days after his father, Mark Fletcher Sr., died.

Fletcher scored the No. 6 Hurricanes’ (8-0, 4-0 ACC) first touchdown as they picked up a 36-14 win over scuffling rival Florida State (1-7, 1-6 ACC) Saturday night. The victory was Miami’s first over FSU since 2020 and Mario Cristobal’s first over the Seminoles as UM’s head coach.

After Fletcher scored his emotional, game-opening touchdown, Damien Martinez kept the running game moving. Martinez caught a key first-down pass on third-and-20 and capped a 95-yard scoring drive with an 18-yard rushing touchdown.

The Seminoles, who have one of the nation’s worst offenses this year, got on the board after freshman quarterback Luke Kromenhoek broke a 42-yard run on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak. The Seminoles got to the 1-yard line and needed four plays for running back Caziah Holmes to get past UM’s defensive line and score FSU’s first touchdown.

Miami drove down the field in the final minutes of the first half but came up 2 yards short of the end zone. UM had to settle for a field goal and took a 17-7 lead into halftime. Borregales opened the second half with his second field goal of the game, putting Miami up 20-7.

The Seminoles tried to get back in the game with a fourth-down attempt late in the third quarter, but Miami brought a blitz on the pass play, and Akheem Mesidor took Kromenhoek down to give the ball back to UM’s offense. The ensuing drive ended with Borregales’ third field goal of the game.

FSU’s defense gave UM fits, notching four sacks and holding Miami to 439 yards of offense — the fewest the Hurricanes have accumulated all season and the first time they were held under 500 yards this year. But the Hurricanes did get a spark from a trick play late in the fourth quarter, as Elijah Arroyo got a pitch from Martinez and tossed a touchdown pass to Cam Ward — the first touchdown catch of his college career.

Martinez added a second touchdown late in the game, rushing 12 yards to put an exclamation point on Miami’s victory, even though Florida State scored a final touchdown in the final minute of the game.

Five takeaways

1. Offensive slowdown

The Hurricanes opened the game by carving up the Seminoles’ defense. Miami rolled down the field, capping the drive with a 1-yard score by Fletcher.

The rest of the first half would not come as easily. Miami did score on a 95-yard drive, but the offense, which entered the game ranked second in the nation, ended the first half with 17. Ward, who has played so well all season, had just 110 yards with no score in the first half. He ended the game with a season-low 208 yards and no passing touchdowns.

Miami’s offense could not find the end zone in the third quarter, coming just short of a pair of first downs that led to a pair of Borregales field goals. They utilized a trick play to score in the fourth quarter and added a rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but Miami still scored its fewest total points in a game Saturday.

2. Strong defense against a bad offense

FSU’s offense has been putrid this season, and the unit did not get anything going against a Miami defense that has been struggling.

If the Hurricanes had struggled against a bad Seminoles offense, warning bells would be ringing. But UM did its job against a bad offense, holding the Seminoles to 248 total yards — the lowest total by a Power 4 team against UM so far this year.

3. Running game carries Miami offense

While FSU was creating issues in the passing game, the Miami running game picked up the slack.

Martinez led the team with 148 rushing yards — his first 100-yard game with the Hurricanes. Fletcher ended the game with 71 yards, and Ajay Allen had another 9 yards. Martinez and Fletcher combined for three of UM’s four touchdowns on Saturday. UM had 232 total rushing yards.

4. Offensive line struggles

FSU’s pass rush has been solid this season, entering the game with 17 sacks (tied for 33rd nationally). Miami struggled to keep the defenders out of the backfield.

The Seminoles had four sacks in a losing effort and got a lot of pressure on Ward, who had to avoid FSU blitzers for much of the night.

5. Rivalry flips

Florida State won the last three entries in this rivalry series, and Miami coach Mario Cristobal was 0-2 against the Hurricanes’ biggest rival since arriving as UM’s head coach before the 2022 season.

Last year, it looked like the Seminoles were ascending, going undefeated in the regular season and winning the ACC title. That undefeated season included a close win over UM in Tallahassee. But now the Hurricanes are the undefeated team, and FSU is spiraling, likely missing out on a bowl game this year (five-win teams can qualify for a bowl in certain circumstances).

The two programs appear to have swapped spots, with the Hurricanes looking like a team on the rise and the Seminoles have a big hole to climb from.