By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: ESPN
The Miami Hurricanes survived two Hail Marys against the Florida State Seminoles. Hurricanes remain unbeaten after winning 43-35 in double overtime.
Florida State and Miami are bitter rivals. When these two teams play, it’s must-see TV. The Seminoles, better than the previous season, gave the Hurricanes a surprise in this game. The Seminoles aren’t the 13-0 team from a few seasons ago, but they looked like it on Saturday night.
Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah has been electric this season. In this game, he got tested. It’s the first game of the season where Mensah faced a real challenge. Both teams played great. Yes, the ending was controversial, with a Hail Mary. Seminoles wide receiver Duce Robinson put the Seminoles in a great position to tie the game, but a late holding flag on offensive lineman Xavier Chaplin cost them the chance to change the scoreboard.
Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell and the rest of the Seminoles felt that the call was bogus. In the second hail mary, on a 4th and 31 play, Robinson, who has experience playing basketball, leaped k and got his fingertips on the ball. Miami defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald got his hands on the ball at the same time.
The officials ruled that it was an interception on the field. The officials felt that there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn that call.
With Georgia and Notre Dame losing their games, Miami could be ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll.
“Credit to Florida State, they played their tails off,” Mario Cristobal said after the game. “We keep playing; we kept battling. When we got the momentum and made a couple of plays that made the difference in the game.”
Miami needs to fix their penalty issues. Fitzgerald, who wasn’t 100 percent, played with heart and determination. The Hurricanes will play Pittsburgh next Saturday at noon.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports and @themmmjournal, LinkedIn: The MMM Journal, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina