Florida State's offense came out with a very solid plan, but couldn't hold on to the football. Later, the Seminoles took over and dominated.
| Down | Yard | Play | O-form | D-form | Analysis |
| 1-10 | at Um25 | James, M rush for 5 yards to the UM30 (CARRADINE, C.). | 21 | 43 | Miami is definitely fired up. They come out and push FSU's DL upfield 3-4 yards on an outside zone play. |
| 2-5 | at Um30 | Morris, S pass complete to Scott, R for 10 yards to the UM40, 1ST DOWN UM (BROOKS, T.). | 20 gun | 425 | FSU sends Tyler Hunter on a blitz from the slot. Christian Jones and Vince Williams move to attack the backs in the flats aggressively, leaving a big void in the middle of the defense where the slant is completed. |
| 1-10 | at Um40 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Johnson, D. | 21 | 43 | Playaction rollout. Miami is trying to hit the back sneaking out through the middle of the line and down the sideline. Brooks reacts reasonably well but does allow the RB to get behind him. If Morris puts more air under this ball it could go. |
| 2-10 | at Um40 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Johnson, Da. | 11 | 425 | Vertical sideline route from the slot receiver against man coverage. The switch actually achieves some separation, but Morris again throws it too flat and too far. Probably rusty from the lack of practice all week. |
| 3-10 | at Um40 | Morris, S rush for 6 yards to the UM46, out-of-bounds (RHODES, X.). | 00 gun | 425 | Miami has a wide bunch set to the field and is trying to get someone open downfield. FSU responds with bracket coverage and apparently the coverage is good because Morris is forced to scramble. Bjeorn Werner is a standup position and roaming around the line of scrimmage, before ultimately rushing in the A gap. I think he may have the freedom to pick his rush lane here. |
| 4-4 | at Um46 | Botts, D punt 35 yards to the FS19, fair catch by GREENE, R.. | |||
| Drive: 5 plays, 21 yards, TOP 01:55 | Miami is trying the same things NC State and Clemson had success with on this drive, sneaking the backs upfield on playaction and lots of rubs and switches to get guys free of man coverage. They are working hard to get a big play and steal momentum. They do get a couple guys somewhat free, but Morris is just not able to hit them. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs19 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 13:05. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs19 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to O'LEARY, N. for 7 yards to the FS26, fumble forced by Perryman, D, fumble by O'LEARY, N. recovered by UM Gaines, J at FS27, Gaines, J for 5 yards to the FS22 (THOMPSON, C.). | 12 | 43 | Playaction rollout works beautifully. Nobody is within 5 yards of O'Leary when he makes the catch. He then tries to hurdle the cornerback and the linebacker hits him in mid-air, jarring the ball loose. If it's a one on one situation and you see the guy going low, go ahead and give it a shot, but with that many defenders closing, just get down. |
| Drive: 1 plays, 8 yards, TOP 00:12 | About the worst start you could imagine for the Noles offense. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs22 | MIAMI drive start at 12:53. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs22 | Johnson, D rush for 3 yards to the FS19 (NEWBERRY, G.). | 21 | 43 | Really nice job by Newberry holding the point of attack here. Interesting to see reserve DL in on the second series and only 5th snap. |
| 2-7 | at Fs19 | Johnson, D rush for 4 yards to the FS15 (JONES, C.). | 22 | 43 | FSU is outnumbered here, with 7 defenders in the box against 8 blockers plus the ball carrier. With no safety support outside it's easy for Miami to get the edge on the toss play. Have to walk up a safety against this alignment. |
| 3-3 | at Fs15 | Morris, S pass complete to James, M for 6 yards to the FS9, 1ST DOWN UM (SMITH, TEL.). | 22 | 43 | FSU overloads the protection with an LB+Corner blitz and gets Nick Moody free. Morris does a heck of a job getting this ball to Mike James while falling away. |
| 1-G | at Fs09 | James, M rush for 9 yards to the FS0, TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:06. | 21 | 43 | Lead zone with the fullback getting a really nice cut block on Nick Moody. Something you won't hear very often: Lamarcus Joyner takes a really bad angle on this play. He's got to keep outside leverage and force this play back inside. |
| Wieclaw, J kick attempt good. | |||||
| Miami 7, Florida State 0 | Miami is creating opportunities for their backs on the edges with their alignments vs. FSU's 2 deep safety looks. | ||||
| Drive: 4 plays, 22 yards, TOP 01:47 | |||||
| Wieclaw, J kickoff 65 yards to the FS0, JOYNER, L. return 21 yards to the FS21 (Terry, G), PENALTY FS holding (WILLIAMS, K.) 10 yards to the FS11, 1st and 10, FS ball on FS11. | Extremely questionable call. Karlos does engage the guy from the side and block him to the ground but, man....I don't think that should be flagged. It certainly had no impact on the play. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs11 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 11:06. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs11 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to O'LEARY, N. (Pierre, O). | 11 gun | 43 | FSU tries to get a quick curl route to O'Leary, who is open, but Olson Pierre is able to get up after being chopped and bat it down. It seems like getting the ball to O'Leary against the Canes linebackers was a focal point of the gameplan. |
| 2-10 | at Fs11 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 1 yard to the FS12 (Green, S). | 21 gun | 43 | Outside zone left and Nick O'Leary is late off the ball and makes a pretty hilariously bad attempt to cut block the backside DE who then makes the tackle when Thompson turns it back inside. |
| 3-9 | at Fs12 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to THOMPSON, C. (Cornileus, T). | 20 gun | 335 | EJ targets Chris Thompson on a flare route and leads him into a nasty hit. This is not a bad read, but you'd like to see him hit it earlier so Thompson has time to turn upfield and make a move on the linebacker. |
| 4-9 | at Fs12 | PENALTY UM 12 men on the field 5 yards to the FS17. | |||
| 4-4 | at Fs17 | BEATTY, C. punt 17 yards to the FS34, out-of-bounds. | Really questionable decision to try this here. True freshman punter, inside his own 20, when all the momentum is going Miami's way and the crowd is rocking and you try a new way of punting for the first time? | ||
| Drive: 3 plays, 6 yards, TOP 00:51 | Noles offense is not in sync at all right now. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs34 | MIAMI drive start at 10:15. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs34 | Johnson, D rush for 4 yards to the FS30 (BROOKS, T.). | 12 | 43 | Quick toss to the weak side of FSU's under front. This time the safety is up quickly in run support and while the play still gets decent yardage, it is not the huge chunks they were picking up on the first series. The adjustment has been made. |
| 2-6 | at Fs30 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Lockhart Jr, R. | 20 gun | 425 | Miami breaks out an "Emory and Henry"/A11 type play with 2 OL split out wide and 2 receivers in a stack between them. The tailback is behind and to the QB's right while the fullback is in an H back position off the guard's shoulder. This formation presents a number of threats, including a screen to the wide bunch, a vertical route from the H back or even a downhill run if you empty the middle of the field. FSU is in a fairly sound alignment and covers the H-back's vertical route well so Morris has to throw to the vertical run by the X receiver on the backside which is well covered by Nick Waisome. Miami is pulling out all the stops to generate a big play and go up 14 points. |
| 3-6 | at Fs30 | Morris, S pass complete to James, M for 22 yards to the FS8, 1ST DOWN UM (JOYNER, L.;WAISOME, N.). | 20 | 425 | Clear bust by the defense. Hunter plays man on the slot while Vince Williams is dropping into a hook zone. One of these two is definitely wrong, and I'm pretty sure it's Vince. The rest of the defense appears to be playing man and the back coming out of the backfield to his side should be his assignment. Not sure why Vince is playing in the nickel package anyway. |
| 1-G | at Fs08 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Johnson, Da. | 21 | 43 | Huge pressure by Giorgio Newberry and Timmy Jernigan who both totally whip their men. Newberry uses an inside move to do it, which allows Morris to roll out of the pocket and throw it in Duke Johnson's general direction. Nick Moody and Lamarcus Joyner are waiting for him even if he manages to catch it. |
| 2-G | at Fs08 | James, M rush for 2 yards to the FS6 (MOODY, N.;DAWKINS, E.). | 21 | 43 | Inside zone is played very well by Nick Moody and Everette Dawkins. |
| 3-G | at Fs06 | Morris, S pass complete to James, M for 4 yards to the FS2. | 20 | 425 | Miami hits James out of the backfield after running playaction to him. Really nice read by Telvin Smith. The fullback collides with Christian Jones and walls him off from James, so if Telvin doesn't react quickly this play will be a lot more open than it is. James falls down at the 2 which is right where Smith and Brooks would have made the tackle anyway. |
| 4-G | at Fs02 | Wieclaw, J field goal attempt from 19 GOOD, clock 07:32. | As aggressively as Miami is play calling, a bit surprising they'd settle for the field goal attempt from the 2. | ||
| Miami 10, Florida State 0 | |||||
| Drive: 7 plays, 32 yards, TOP 02:43 | Really solid defense other than the bust by 11. | ||||
| Wieclaw, J kickoff 65 yards to the FS0, JOYNER, L. return 30 yards to the FS30 (Bush, D;Highsmith, A), PENALTY FS holding (NORTHRUP, R.) 10 yards to the FS20, 1st and 10, FS ball on FS20. | |||||
| 1-10 | at Fs20 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 07:32. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs20 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to BENJAMIN, K.. | 20 | 43 | Play action over route is wide open. EJ leads Kelvin Benjamin just a bit too far. EJ is displaying some early inaccuracy. |
| 2-10 | at Fs20 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 15 yards to the FS35, 1ST DOWN FS (Perryman, D). | 21 | 43 | Smart check by EJ to an outside zone against Miami's 2 deep safety look. The blocking is textbook and Thompson isn't touched until he's past the first down marker. |
| 1-10 | at Fs35 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to SHAW, K. (Bush, D). | 10 gun | 43 | Play action drag route to Kenny Shaw. He's wide open and Manuel puts it high and behind him. This is close to a catch and fumble. |
| 2-10 | at Fs35 | Timeout Miami, clock 06:34. | |||
| Miami challenges the call. Play stands. | |||||
| 2-10 | at Fs35 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to GREENE, R. for 6 yards to the FS41, fumble forced by Highsmith, A, fumble by GREENE, R. recovered by FS THOMPSON, C. at FS42 (Highsmith, A). | 11 gun | 43 | Jet sweep to Greene. Counts as a pass as EJ hot potatoes it forward from gun. |
| 3-3 | at Fs42 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to THOMPSON, C. for 15 yards to the UM43, 1ST DOWN FS (Rodgers II, K). | 11 gun | 425 | Backside slant/flat concept. Nice job by Kenny Shaw of "influencing" the corner. This is the streaker play. Al Golden is laughing as he almost talked the refs into negating the play. |
| 1-10 | at Um43 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 6 yards to the UM37 (Perryman, D). | 11 gun | 43 | Outside zone. Good job of breaking tendencies. FSU ran QB sweep and only QB sweep from this formation for the first 5 games of the year. |
| 2-4 | at Um37 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 4 yards to the UM33, 1ST DOWN FS (Green, S;Rodgers II, K). | 11 gun | 43 | Outside zone again. Guards getting to the second level, Stork single blocking the nose with ease. Watson has to look around to find somebody to block. |
| 1-10 | at Um33 | HAGGINS, J. rush for loss of 5 yards to the UM38, fumble by HAGGINS, J. recovered by UM McCord, T at UM42. | 11 gun | 43 | This was supposed to be a fake jet sweep, and those who were there have indicated that there was a receiver running free deep on this play. Jimbo said the fumble was caused by EJ locking his elbows when he extends the ball on the fake, which doesn't allow enough flexibility to hold on to the ball as you withdraw it. With that being said...don't drop the ball. |
| Drive: 8 plays, 38 yards, TOP 03:05 | FSU was finally getting in a rhythm on this drive and getting close to scoring territory. Critical mistakes killing the offense. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Um42 | MIAMI drive start at 04:27. | |||
| 1-10 | at Um42 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Dye, D (WILLIAMS, V.). | 21 | 43 | FSU brings Nick Moody on a blitz off the edge and not only does he come free, but somehow the fullback is left to block Mario Edwards, Jr. Morris is flushed from the pocket and makes a nice throw to his TE, who is unable to make the catch. |
| 2-10 | at Um42 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Hurns, A, PENALTY FS OFF (CARRADINE, C.) 5 yards to the UM47, NO PLAY. | 21 | 43 | Everette Dawkins is offsides here, not Tank. Morris wisely tries to hit a go route on the free play, but Waisome is in very good coverage and it's overthrown. |
| 2-5 | at Um47 | Johnson, D rush for loss of 1 yard to the UM46 (RHODES, X.). | 21 | 43 | Outside zone into the boundary. FSU strings it out very well and Xavier Rhodes plays it perfectly. Had some issues in run support to a closed side earlier in the year. Appears to be on it now. |
| 3-6 | at Um46 | Morris, S sacked for loss of 12 yards to the UM34 (SMITH, TEL.), fumble by Morris, S recovered by FS JONES, C. at UM38, JONES, C. for 7 yards to the UM31 (Bunche, M). | 21 | 425 | Stoops pulled the oopty oop on this play. FSU runs their standard double A gap zone blitz on this play, but swaps their DL and LBs. Christian Jones and Telvin Smith lined up at DE and Tank and Werner blitzed from standup LB positions. Demonte McAllister comes completely free and flushes Morris. Telvin Smith chases him down and forces a fumble which Christian Jones scoops up for 7 yards. Nice strategery there from Stoops. |
| Drive: 3 plays, minus 4 yards, TOP 01:00 | |||||
| 1-10 | at Um31 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 03:27, FS ball on UM31. | |||
| 1-10 | at Um31 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 11 yards to the UM20, 1ST DOWN FS (Rodgers II, K;Howard, T). | 21 | 43 | Another check to a run vs. 2 deep safeties. Option to the strong side is blocked perfectly. |
| 1-10 | at Um20 | THOMPSON, C. rush for 5 yards to the UM15 (Green, S). | 21 | 43 | Again, checking to the run vs. 7 in the box. Watson does not quite get enough of his block at the second level to spring this for more. |
| 2-5 | at Um15 | WILDER, J. rush for 4 yards to the UM11 (Perryman, D). | 21 gun | 43 | Outside zone left. Really great job by Cam Erving getting to the LB on the second level. That is not an easy block for a tackle. |
| 3-1 | at Um11 | PENALTY FS false start (ERVING, C.) 4 yards to the UM15. | Great play, followed by a dumb one. Have to remember, he's just a sophomore playing in his second hostile road game as an OT, though. | ||
| 3-5 | at Um15 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to BENJAMIN, K., PENALTY FS pass interference declined. | 11 gun | 43 | Really questionable call as Benjamin appears to be doing what he has to to get his arms free and the DB is not even looking for the ball. Not sure this is the correct read either, with safety help over the top. |
| 4-5 | at Um15 | HOPKINS, D. field goal attempt from 33 GOOD, clock 01:00. | |||
| Miami 10, Florida State 3 | Still making mistakes, but starting in opponent's territory increases the margin for error greatly. | ||||
| Drive: 5 plays, 16 yards, TOP 02:27 | |||||
| HOPKINS, D. kickoff 65 yards to the UM0, touchback. | |||||
| 1-10 | at Um25 | MIAMI drive start at 01:00. | |||
| 1-10 | at Um25 | James, M rush for 1 yard to the UM26 (CARRADINE, C.). | 12 | 425 | This is just great defense against the run. Outside zone right and Vince Williams fills his gap perfectly. James is forced to cut back. Tank Carradine keeps his outside arm free and makes the tackle despite being blocked. |
| 2-9 | at Um26 | Johnson, D rush for 4 yards to the UM30 (CARRADINE, C.;JONES, C.). | 12 gun | 425 | Inside zone play. Vince aggressively fills the hole again but somehow runs into a block and Duke Johnson is able to get by him. |
| Drive: 2 plays, 5 yards, TOP 01:50 | |||||
| Miami 10, Florida State 3 |