In the old days — let’s go back 20 years, to when this rivalry was a national rivalry — the involved drama only accentuated how Florida State or Miami won or lost.
Wide Right. Wide Left. The script gave way to the bigger idea. You won or you lost. Your season still had national-championship ideas or those were left on the side of this annual Saturday.
But the idea of a national championship wasn’t a shared theme Saturday in Tallahassee, and so it’s not only fair but necessary to give Miami good credit for a gutsy 27-20 loss.
What more could you ask freshman quarterback Emory Williams to give than what he gave Saturday in a tough venue? How couldn’t you see him going off on a cart, crying, his arm apparently injured but his team still alive?
He got the start only because senior Tyler Van Dyke stumbled in recent weeks. Mario Cristobal had Williams throw a deep pass from his end zone on Miami’s first offensive play.
That was for show, though. Cristobal ran the ball up the middle most of the day and asked Williams not to make the big mistake. You had to root for Williams, though, like how he approached his offensive teammates with thumb and forefinger an inch apart in the second quarter.
“This close,’’ he said, meaning they were near to breaking out.
On third-and-4 in the next possession, Williams took off running and barreled over a Florida State defensive back for the first down. He then threw lofted a 3-yard pass at that end of that 82-yard drive to receiver Jacolby George, the first touchdown pass against Florida State at home all year.
Then after doing nothing most of the second half, Williams threaded two Florida State defenders to complete an 85-yard touchdown to George to bring Miami within a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Then came the play that defined the gutsiness of this Miami day: Williams then dove for the first down on fourth-and-2 with under three minutes to go to keep the hope going – even if he couldn’t anymore.
He didn’t get up and was carted off the field as his parents rushed from their seats to find him in the locker room. That drama was matched by what was suddenly happening on the field, too.
Van Dyke came back on the field with under three minutes left and down a touchdown.
Did you believe in another miracle Miami win in this rivalry? In the old days — and, again, we’re not there — the ABC television crew would’ve referred at that point to Miami’s Michael Irvin once telling Florida State’s Deion Sanders, “We’re coming back.”
Miami didn’t come back. Van Dyke threw two nice completions to move Miami out to its 49-yard line. But on fourth-and-10, with no one open, he threw a hope that ended in an interception.
That ended the day with a Miami loss. But this was an acceptable loss, a redeeming one even against the unbeaten and fourth-ranked Seminoles in Tallahassee.
This wasn’t the disaster against Georgia Tech or the ugliness at North Carolina State. Miami’s defense played a strong game much of the day, keeping it close for three quarters by holding Florida State’s high-powered offense to field goals inside the 10-yard line.
By then, Florida State knew it was in for a tough game. Coach Mike Norvell said as that much in a 10-10 halftime. He did something done by a coach either outmanned or needing a spark.
He called for an onside kick to start the second half. Florida State had a good chance to recover it, too, but Frank Ladson waded through the chaos and grabbed it. Miami got a 51-yard field goal out of that for a brief lead.
Did Miami put concern into the No. 4 team? Apparently.
Another question: Who was the replay official in this game? Three game-tilting plays looked like mis-rulings. Miami lost a safety. Florida State lost an interception. Miami safety James Williams then delivered a textbook definition of “targeting” — and it was ruled he didn’t target.
In the end, the No. 4 team won, just as expected. And Miami? It’s had a season with bad losses. Saturday wasn’t one of them.
