MIAMI GARDENS — The celebration started in all of the Hard Rock Stadium parking lots Saturday at 2 p.m., besieged by orange-clad tailgaters, eating, drinking and dancing.
“It’s all about The U’’, read a handful of Hurricane revelers’ T-shirts.
But the real football party started at 7:12 p.m. when Florida State kicked off to Miami and the night that truly became “All About The U.’’
The unbeaten, sixth-ranked Hurricanes continued their path toward the College Football Playoffs by posting a 36-14 rout before a sell-out crowd of 66,200 on a lovely 79-degree evening.
One sign in the stands read: “We Own the State’’ and it’s accurate with Florida State and Florida’s seasons gone awry.
“You can clearly see the trajectory of this program to the other programs,’’ said Miami coach Mario Cristobol, who absorbed a 45-3 Seminoles shellacking in his first FSU game.
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“Big shoutout to the environment,’ said Cristobal, who played on Miami’s national championship teams in 1989 and 1991. “It was created by our fans, locals and those who came from all over. Watching that brought back some awesome memories playing in this game.’’
Miami (8-0, 4-0 ACC), in its alternate black uniforms it wears once a year, scored on its first drive with utter ease and broke a three-game losing streak to the ailing Seminoles (1-7, 1-6).
Early in the first quarter, former Miami great Ray Lewis, one of many football alumni, bounded onto the field to whip the crowd into a frenzy and got a hug from the Miami mascot, Sebastian The Ibis.
It was methodical if not majestic. It wasn’t the wall-to-wall destruction oddmakers touted with a 21-point spread against one of the worst-performing teams Florida State has ever had. The score was only 17-7 at halftime.
But Miami’s maligned defense was staunch, its offense conservative, content to settle for three field goals by trusty kicker Andres Borregales instead of going for the jugular on two fourth-and short situations.
Star quarterback Cam Ward hardly hurt his front-running status for the Heisman Trophy but didn’t completely cement its victory either as he didn’t throw a touchdown pass. But Ward did catch one – the final touchdown with 4:32 left on a trick play.
“We settled for three field goals and that’s not good,’’ Ward said. “We should’ve put up more points.’’
Ward finished 22 of 34 for 208 yards, but Miami’s total yardage was a season low 448. Miami, which came in averaging 48 points per game (No. 2 in the country) next has a home game vs. Duke.
UM’s bruising running backs Mark Fletcher Jr., who played despite losing his father earlier this week, and Damien Martinez, combined for 219 yards on 30 carries.
The game also marked a historic moment for senior receiver Xavier Restrepo, who moved past Michael Irvin for third place in all-time Miami receiving yards with 2,427.
Here are 5 takeaways:
Mark Fletcher Jr’s emotional night
Fletcher, who played at nearby American Heritage (Plantation) High, scored on the opening drive from the 1-yard line, pointing to the sky afterward to commemorate the death of his father, Mark Fletcher Sr., earlier this week.
On that first drive, Fletcher bulled for two big 13-yard runs. He finished the emotional night with 15 carries for 71 yards.
“It’s as hard as it gets,’’ Cristobal said. “We saw big Mark all the time, always at practice. Parents find their ways to practice to see their sons. That’s as difficult a thing I’ve seen. Mark is as good a teammate as I’ve seen.’’
Did he want to play?
“Even the day of, as emotional as it was. hearing him out, this is what he wanted,’’ Cristobal said. “He’s an off the charts human being, which is a credit to his parents. He was raised a certain way.’’
Fletcher was not made available afterward.
Canes’ perfect opening drive
There is Michelangelo’s David, da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Don Larsen’s perfect game and then there was Miami’s first drive Saturday night.
It was a masterpiece, the perfect way to begin this rivalry game. After Chris Johnson’s stout kickoff return to the 35, Ward proceeded to drive Miami 67 yards in 7 plays in 2:29.
Ward completed 4 of 5 passes on the drive for 53 yards to three receivers – Sam Brown Jr. Elijah Arroyo and Isaiah Horton. Brown hauled in catches of 20 and 12 yards as Ward had plenty of protection. Then Fletcher did the rest.
Miami looked unstoppable and it was surprising it didn’t result in a bigger score at halftime as FSU still was breathing at 17-7. The Seminoles made a tactical adjustment and put more pressure on Ward.
“We never lost control of the game but it took us a little while to pull away,’’ Cristobal said. “(FSU) did a good job with some of their coverages, put pressure on our quarterback but we pounded the ball well.’’
Miami bettors sweat it out
This was a close call for the Miami betting supporters who gave 21 points – believed to be the largest spread in the rivalry’s history.
If Florida State went for a two-point conversion with 18 seconds left after its garbage-time touchdown, it could’ve forced “a push.” But the Seminoles kicked the extra point and Miami covered the spread.
In the preseason, Florida State opened up as 1-point favorites, according to Florida betting analyst Bill Speros.
Before Miami’s shootout win over Louisville, the line was just 17.5 point before shooting up over 20 with all the Hurricane hype.
The 21-point spread wasn’t topped until 4:32 left on the late trick play. Ward handed off to Martinez, who gave the ball to Arroyo on an end-around as Ward darted to the end zone.
The lefty Arroyo sailed the pass to Ward in stride. The trick play was so secretive, some of the defensive players interviewed after the game said they had never seen it.
Cristobal called the play “Texas to Texas’’ because all three involved have ties to the state. “Down there we get a lot of cover zero,’’ Cristobal said. “It was the right time to call it. The fans got a kick out of it and Cam got himself a touchdown.’’
Damien Martinez rushes for 136 yards
Martinez rushed for 136 yards on 15 carries with two touchdown runs. While the opening scoring drive showcased Fletcher, their other elite back, the junior Martinez was the workhorse on Miami’s marathon second touchdown drive that spanned 95 yards and 12 plays.
That’s how versatile this offense can be, rotating the two tailbacks and keeping defenses off balance.
Martinez began the drive with a 14-yard gain and then ran for 5 with 15 yards tacked on for a facemask penalty. He caught a pass in the flat wide open and turned it into a 21-yard reception.
Nearing FSU’s end zone, Martinez’ darting run gained 10, then he broke a tackle to score from 18 yards out early in the second quarter. It was an awesome display of domination that took pressure off Ward.
Martinez finished his big night with a 12-yard touchdown run with 1:51 left.
Miami’s defense draws most praise
Miami entered the contest as the 103rd-ranked run defense after giving up 38 points to California and 44 to Louisville in the past two games. In addition, the defense nearly gave up a game-losing touchdown to Virginia Tech on a Hail Mary.
On Saturday, FSU was no threat. In fact, the Seminoles’ 248 yards nearly was their season low, avoiding it on the meaningless final drive.
“The defense was the story of the game,’’ Cristobal said. “They played their tails off.’’
