Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Florida State overcomes a second-half deficit to storm back for victory. On and on, the Seminoles’ perfect season marches on, and the only thing that changes is the opponent. This week, it’s Miami.
Florida State at Miami final score: 3 things we learned from the Seminoles’ 30-26 rally
Another week, another rally, another victory for the undefeated Seminoles.
Miami jumped out to an early lead and held on for the vast majority of the game, but after halftime the momentum shifted considerably for Florida State, who spent most of the half just chipping away, chipping away, chipping away.
And when Dalvin Cook rumbled in for the go-ahead touchdown with three minutes left...
...it felt like the inevitable coming true, more than a surprise or anything that was at any point uncertain.
And so with that, Florida State survives and sets its sights on the ACC Championship—and, in all likelihood, the College Football Playoff.
Three things we learned
1. Flipping the switch keeps working for FSU. There is this thing Florida State does, and it defies logic yet it pops up seemingly every time there’s a tough opponent. The Noles essentially sleepwalk through the first half, accruing a deficit and looking overdue for a first loss. Inevitably and invariably, FSU comes out of the tunnel in the second half looking like a different team, the one that won the national championship last year. And sure enough, Miami’s 23-10 halftime lead evaporated.
At some point this will come back to haunt Florida State. At some point, FSU won’t get the scores it needs, or won’t be able to make that one last stop to preserve the lead, or won’t have a ball bounce its way. Or so you’d think, anyway.
2. FSU’s still in. As chaos rains down all around the rest of college football, There’s Florida State as the only Power 5 team without a loss, and that fact alone is almost certainly going to keep the Noles in the Top 4 for the rest of the year. A loss takes everything away, obviously, but it’s the middle of November—there aren’t too many potential losses left.
1. Brad Kaaya is a very talented freshman. If you'd told a Miami fan this summer that Brad Kaaya would be going toe-to-toe with Jameis Winston in a football game of great importance, that fan would probably wonder why Winston was still at FSU in 2016. Kaaya's ascent has been remarkable, and he had an absolutely stellar first half. And then he reminded the world that he's still a true freshman as he disappeared in the second half. The consistency will likely come.
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