The No. 1 Hurricanes got out of Tallahassee with a win, but the film gave them plenty of bruises to sort through before Pittsburgh comes to town Saturday.
Miami had to survive a wild ending against Florida State, and the last sequence summed up the night. The Seminoles needed a fourth-and-21 to stay alive, then Ashton Daniels launched a ball toward the end zone and Micahi Danzy hauled in a touchdown in front of UM safety Dylan Day.
Florida State’s payoff was wiped out by a hold, though, giving the Seminoles another crack at it. On the final play, Bryce Fitzgerald came down with a controversial interception from behind FSU wide receiver Duce Robinson, and the call stood after review.
Even with the escape, Miami allowed 35 points, which was a season high for the defense.
“We knew going into this game they had really good players all around, and we had to be detailed,” linebacker Chase Smith said. “And that’s just something we got to clean up, as far as in the little details, seeing keys and seeing things, to be able to anticipate things.”
Corey Hetherman said the Hurricanes work on Hail Mary coverage twice a week, but the chaos at the end left the defense juggling more than one threat. Florida State was trying to attack the end zone, but also had to account for a shorter throw that could have picked up the first down.
“It’s kind of a weird situation. … We have different calls, we have different looks that we practice and different things that we do in (end-of-game) situations,” Hetherman said.
“And it was one of those things where they kind of took their shot in the first one and then the penalty happened, and we’re on the headset. We don’t have a timeout.
We’re discussing it, and it’s do we go (end of game), do we go last-play defense, or are they going to run verticals and deep out of the sticks and try to get a first down?”
Hetherman credited Fitzgerald for the decisive play, but said Miami still needs sharper execution in those moments.
“Bryce goes up and takes the ball away, and that’s a huge play by him, but we’ve got to play with more detail in that situation,” Miami defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said.
The problems weren’t limited to the final heave. Florida State found success underneath too, especially with screen passes. Daniels hit two screen throws that turned into touchdowns, and the Hurricanes had trouble consistently shutting down that part of the game.
“The first screen that they do, Mo goes and absolutely blows the guy up,” Hetherman said. “It was 55, the center and throws him right back into the play.
And we make the play. We needed to do that a little bit more throughout the night.”
Linebacker Mo Toure did help snuff out one screen attempt early, but Daniels still finished with four completions for 50 yards on seven screen attempts.
Miami’s next challenge could bring more of the same. Pittsburgh has been navigating quarterback injuries after Mason Heintschel suffered a season-ending ACL tear against Virginia Tech on Oct.
- Over the last two games, the Panthers have used two different starters: transfer Holden Geriner in the loss to North Carolina and freshman Corey Dailey in the loss to Boston College.
Those two quarterbacks combined for 11 screen passes in those games, a sign Pitt may lean on quick throws again with its backups. After what Florida State did to the Hurricanes, Miami knows that part of the field needs cleaning up fast.
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Miami Just Reopened A Conference Fight Hurricanes Fans Can't Ignore
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Miami is also part of the broader ACC effort to change the Protect College Sports Act, a move that would raise the conference expansion cap and make it easier for schools to move elsewhere. For Hurricanes fans, the bigger takeaway is how openly one of the schools top leaders is discussing options that stretch beyond the current setup, including the possibility of independence if realignment stalls. Nothing is decided, but the conversation itself is the kind that keeps conference-watchers circling Miami. [Read more 🡒]