Late Rally Comes Up Short in Top-20 Matchup

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The No. 18 Florida State football team rallied late with 19 fourth-quarter points, but it was not enough in a 28-22 defeat to No. 3 Miami on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Seminoles (3-2, 0-2 ACC) scored 19 unanswered points on three consecutive possessions in the final 10 minutes of the game after trailing 28-3 in the third quarter, but the Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0 ACC) prevented FSU from recovering an onside kick in the final minutes.

Quarterback Tommy Castellanos led back-to-back touchdown drives in the fourth quarter before setting up Florida State with a field goal with 50 seconds left to cut the deficit to six. The second touchdown was on a 96-yard drive after the defense forced a three-and-out and before the Miami offense turned the ball over on downs. Both of FSU's touchdowns were capped by successful two-point attempts.

Florida State had 404 total yards, 272 passing and 132 rushing, and held Miami to 338 yards, 241 through the air and 97 on the ground. Both teams recorded multiple fourth-down conversions, FSU going 3-for-4 and UM being 2-for-3. The Seminoles had three turnovers.

Castellanos was 25-for-45 for 272 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also led the team with 57 rushing yards on 16 attempts with a long of 18. Tight end Randy Pittman Jr. caught a team-best seven passes, with a touchdown, and wide receiver Duce Robinson had a team-high 87 yards receiving.

Defensive back Earl Little Jr. led the defense with seven total tackles and linebacker Blake Nichelson had six tackles, four solo, and was one of five Seminoles with a tackle-for-loss.

Florida State received the opening kickoff and turned it into a 3-0 advantage five minutes into the game on an 11-play, 70-yard drive. A 28-yard completion from Castellanos to running back Ousmane Kromah on 3rd-and-2 helped extend the drive into Miami territory. Kicker Jake Weinberg's field goal attempt from 23 yards was good.

Miami was forced to punt on its next drive, as was Florida State. The Hurricanes then took a 7-3 lead on a four-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds left in the first quarter to cap a nine play, 79-yard drive.

An interception gave UM the ball back, and one play later a 44-yard touchdown pass made it 14-3 with 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter. That ended up being the final points of the opening 30 minutes, as four punts and a fumble ended the half.

To open the third quarter, the Hurricanes extended their lead to 21-3 with a 10-play drive that took nearly six minutes. A 40-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-2 was the score. An interception in the end zone gave the visitors the ball back, and UM made it 28-3 with a 24-yard touchdown completion to end the 80-yard, eight-play drive.

After punts by both teams, FSU scored its first touchdown with 10:04 left in regulation to make it a 28-11 game. Castellanos found wide receiver Lawayne McCoy in the back of the endzone for the eight-yard touchdown pass, and wide receiver Micahi Danzy ran in the two-point conversion. The 10-play, 47-yard drive featured a 10-yard run for a first down by Castellanos on 3rd-and-10.

With a short field to defend after an unsuccessful onside kick attempt, the Seminole defense forced Miami into a three-and-out to give the ball right back to the Florida State offense.

Castellanos then led a 19-play, 96-yard touchdown drive in 5:10 to make it 28-19 with 3:22 left on the clock. A six-yard pass to Pittman Jr. completed the drive that featured four completions of more than 10 yards by Castellanos, all to different receivers.

Miami recovered its second onside kick and got one first down, but couldn't get a second to run out the clock. With 1:10, Florida State took over on downs at its own 23.

Trailing 28-19, Castellanos got the Seminoles in field goal range with a 30-yard pass to Robinson. Weinberg was successful from 35 yards with 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Weinberg's second field goal of the game made it a six-point contest at 28-22.

Florida State attempted an onside kick but could not recover and UM took a knee to end the game.

Florida State is back at Doak Campbell Stadium in one week on Saturday, October 11 against Pitt. Kickoff is at 12 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Late Rally Comes Up Short in Top-20 Matchup

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Team Stats

Tommy Castellanos

Players Mentioned

Tommy Castellanos

Micahi Danzy

Ousmane Kromah

Earl Little Jr.

Lawayne McCoy

Blake Nichelson

Randy Pittman Jr.

Duce Robinson

Jake Weinberg

Florida State University Athletics