By MARK LONG
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE — Keon Coleman and dozens of his Florida State teammates ran across the field as the final seconds ticked off the clock and started leaping into the stands. Coleman stood on a wall as fans jockeyed to get near him and reveled in the Seminoles’ latest triumph.
A 16th consecutive victory. Undefeated in Atlantic Coast Conference play. A three-game winning streak against rival Miami.
This one was special, and everyone knew it.
Trey Benson ran for two touchdowns, Coleman hauled in a score and No. 4 Florida State held off the rival Hurricanes 27-20 on Saturday to maintain its hold on a College Football Playoff berth.
“It’s a feeling that you can’t buy,” said safety Akeem Dent, who grew up in South Florida. “Three straight? Especially for me down south. Three straight? I got stuff to talk about.”
The Seminoles (10-0, 8-0), like they have several times this season, rallied in the second half to win again. This one wrapped up the program’s 10th perfect mark in ACC play.
“When you see the commitment and the belief and the work ethic and the relationships, it’s what makes it special,” coach Mike Norvell said. “We’ve got an incredible group, and they care about each other. That’s one of those components that you can’t fake.”
Miami (6-4, 2-4) controlled both lines of scrimmage and played turnover-free football for most of the game. It still wasn’t enough to overcome FSU, which has won 10 of the last 14 in the series.
Adding to Miami’s woes, freshman quarterback Emory Williams suffered a significant injury to his left arm in the waning minutes while running for a first down. Williams, starting in place of struggling junior Tyler Van Dyke, was taken to a hospital with what appeared to be an air cast on his arm.
Miami linebacker Wesley Bissainthe called the injury “heartbreaking.” It essentially ended any chance the Hurricanes had of shocking the Seminoles, who were 13.5-point favorites.
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal pointed to the difference between this game and last year’s 45-3 debacle in Miami.
“There’s a lot of development, a lot of improvement,” Cristobal said. “We came here to win. We didn’t come here for a consolation prize.”
Van Dyke came off the bench with the Hurricanes trailing by a touchdown but threw an interception on a fourth-and-10 play with 40 seconds remaining.
Heisman Trophy hopeful Jordan Travis threw for 265 yards and his 20th TD pass of the season, a 6-yard fade to Coleman that gave the Seminoles a little breathing room in the final quarter.
Three plays earlier, Travis delivered a dizzying 7-yard run on which he broke several tackles and prompted a “Jor-dan Tra-vis” chant across a sold-out Doak Campbell Stadium.
Coleman, returning after sitting out last week’s game at Pitt, set up the score with a 57-yard punt return. The big special-teams play — always a part of this rivalry — looked like it might be the turning point.
But Miami answered when Williams found Jacolby George down the sideline for an 85-yard score. George finished with five catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns, beating Fentrell Cypress on both scores.
Williams completed 8 of 23 passes for 175 yards. He got the nod over Van Dyke, who has now thrown 11 interceptions since the start of October. It’s by far the most in major college football. Williams started in place of an injured Van Dyke three weeks ago against Clemson and led the Hurricanes to a 28-20 victory.
He looked like he might do it again when Miami pulled ahead 13-10 in the third quarter behind a steady ground game led by Donald Chaney.
It was the fourth time this season Florida State trailed in the second half. Norvell’s team responded much like it did against LSU, Clemson and Duke.
“We knew it could come down to literally one play,” Norvell said. “In that moment of truth, they continued to respond.”
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Seminoles, who are fourth in the CFP rankings, are expected to stay at No. 4 in the next AP college football Top 25 poll.
THE TAKEAWAY
Miami: The Hurricanes probably would have stuck with Williams for the rest of the season. The 6-foot-5 freshman from Milton wasn’t great but he showed promise. Now, though, it looks as if they will have to turn back to Van Dyke.
Florida State: The Seminoles already have locked up a spot in the ACC title game but have another in-state rivalry game in two weeks at Florida. They will want to play better on both lines to avoid more late-game restlessness.
UP NEXT
Miami hosts No. 11 Louisville next Saturday.
Florida State hosts lower-division North Alabama next Saturday.
