| Down | Yard | Play | O-form | D-form | Analysis |
| Wieclaw, J kickoff 12 yards to the UM47, on-side kick, recovered by FS on UM47, out-of-bounds. | Jimbo said the coaches had a feeling Miami would try the onside kick and warned their players of it. Odd that he would try this but kick field goals on short 4th downs twice. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Um47 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 15:00. | |||
| 1-10 | at Um47 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to GREENE, R. for 11 yards to the UM36, 1ST DOWN FS (Perryman, D). | 21 gun | 43 | Zone blitz by Miami, picked up nicely. Curl route against the soft corner. |
| 1-10 | at Um36 | FREEMAN, D. rush for 1 yard to the UM35 (Chickillo, A;Green, S). | 21 | 43 | Nice defense from Miami on the zone read. They string it out with tight spacing and no open cutback lanes. Freeman is forced to follow Lonnie through a very narrow crack and is tackled for no gain when Pryor doesn't get all of the DB. |
| 2-9 | at Um35 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to WILDER, J. for 1 yard to the UM34 (Bush, D). | 20 gun | 43 | This is a called swing pass as opposed to a check down and Dent misses a block that would have allowed Wilder to gain a few yards. |
| 3-8 | at Um34 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to GREENE, R. for 7 yards to the UM27 (Rodgers II, K). | 11 gun | 43 | Miami shows blitz from the will backer so EJ changes the protection to slide left. The mike backer is the one who actually blitzes and Wilder is left trying to pick a DE. He tries to cut too early and the DE is able to avoid the block and pressure Manuel. EJ rolls out and hits Rashad coming back to him just short of the first down. Really a good play by EJ, and if not for the missed block on the previous play, it's a first down. |
| 4-1 | at Um27 | HOPKINS, D. field goal attempt from 44 MISSED - wide left, spot at UM26, clock 12:31. | Really disagree with the decision to kick here. The only thing I can figure is that Fisher was trying to ensure a successful opening drive for momentum purposes. The field position, point differential and the defense you're facing all dictate going for it in this situation. Add in the fact that this is almost exactly the place on the field where most (if not all) of Dustin's misses this year have come from and you really should go for it. | ||
| Drive: 5 plays, 20 yards, TOP 02:29 | |||||
| 1-10 | at Um26 | MIAMI drive start at 12:31. | |||
| 1-10 | at Um26 | Morris, S sacked for loss of 6 yards to the UM20 (CARRADINE, C.). | 21 | 43 | Looks like Miami is trying to run a screen play here. FSU blitzes Xavier Rhodes from the closed side. Penetration all over the place. Play is totally blown up and Morris has to scramble. Carradine gets the shoestring sack. |
| 2-16 | at Um20 | Morris, S pass complete to Hurns, A for no gain to the UM20 (JONES, C.). | 01 gun | 425 | Odd looking pivot/whip route from the receiver. Jones is in great coverage (with the aid of a slight jersey tug) and makes the tackle for no gain. |
| 3-16 | at Um20 | Morris, S pass complete to Walford, C for 10 yards to the UM30 (WILLIAMS, K.), PENALTY UM OFF declined. | 11 gun | 416 | Bjeorn Werner whips the Miami LT with an inside move and is held badly. Still forces Morris to get rid of the ball early to his short receiver who then has a very unpleasant introduction to Karlos Williams. |
| 4-6 | at Um30 | Botts, D punt 39 yards to the FS31, out-of-bounds. | |||
| Drive: 3 plays, 4 yards, TOP 01:54 | Defense completely snuffs out any hint of momentum for Miami after the "missed" field goal. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs31 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 10:37. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs31 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to PRYOR, L. for 6 yards to the FS37, out-of-bounds (Perryman, D). | 20 gun | 43 | Playaction 3 verts, Miami is continuing to play a deep shell coverage so EJ wisely hits the back out of the backfield for an easy 6 yards on 1st down. |
| 2-4 | at Fs37 | WILDER, J. rush for 15 yards to the UM48, 1ST DOWN FS (Highsmith, A;McGee, B). | 21 | 43 | Inside zone play and there it's almost hard to call it a cutback "lane". It's more like a cutback highway...the entire right side of the defense is just gone and Wilder isn't touched until he's 13 yards downfield. |
| 1-10 | at Um48 | FREEMAN, D. rush for 33 yards to the UM15, 1ST DOWN FS (Howard, T). | 21 | 43 | Power play and Matias gets caught up in the wash of the line so he's a little late pulling through the hole. It would have developed if Freeman had waited for it, but he sees that the entire UM defense is caught inside and bounces it outside for a big gain. He makes a nice shifty move late in the run that he didn't have last year. |
| 1-10 | at Um15 | Manuel, EJ rush for 3 yards to the UM12 (Johnson, E;Perryman, D). | 21 | 43 | Option is played pretty well by Miami's Sam backer. He mantains outside leverage, but squeezes the play so Manuel has to cut up inside for a short gain. Would be nice if EJ could throw a fake pitch in these situations to create some room for himself. |
| 2-7 | at Um12 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to WILDER, J. for 9 yards to the UM3, 1ST DOWN FS (Chickillo, A). | 21 gun | 43 | Quick middle screen to Wilder, who does a good job of running through an ankle tackle and falling forward for the first down. |
| 1-G | at Um03 | WILDER, J. rush for 2 yards to the UM1 (Gaines, J). | 21 | 43 | Inside zone to the weak side, nice cutback and burst through the narrow crease by Wilder. Good, hard running on the goal line. |
| 2-G | at Um01 | WILDER, J. rush for loss of 2 yards to the UM3 (Gaines, J). | 21 | 43 | Middle of the line gets submarined and the outside defenders wrap up Wilder for a loss. |
| 3-G | at Um03 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to BENJAMIN, K. for 3 yards to the UM0, clock 06:20, PENALTY FS pass interference (BENJAMIN, K.) 15 yards to the UM18, NO PLAY. | 22 | 43 | This is the most legit of the OPI calls, and it's still not something that would be called in any other conference in the country. The corner and KB both chuck each other off the line, KB is just stronger and better at it. |
| 3-G | at Um18 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to BENJAMIN, K., PENALTY FS illegal shift declined. | 10 gun | 43 | FSU motions to a bunch set and tries to get Kelvin Benjamin free on a wheel route from the inside slot position. Covered well by Miami. The illegal shift is because Wilder hasn't reset from listening to the line call and both he and Dent are in motion at the snap. Really ticky-tack call, but technically correct. |
| 4-G | at Um18 | HOPKINS, D. field goal attempt from 35 GOOD, clock 06:07. | Eight points the refs have taken away from FSU now. | ||
| Florida State 16, Miami 10 | |||||
| Drive: 9 plays, 51 yards, TOP 04:30 | |||||
| HOPKINS, D. kickoff 65 yards to the UM0, touchback. | |||||
| 1-10 | at Um25 | MIAMI drive start at 06:07. | |||
| 1-10 | at Um25 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Johnson, D. | 11 gun | 425 | Just an awful throw. Not a ton of pressure, back was open and Morris's mechanics are just a mess on this throw. |
| 2-10 | at Um25 | James, M rush for 1 yard to the UM26 (WILLIAMS, V.;JONES, C.). | 21 | 43 | Really nice run fit by Vince and Nick Moody. |
| 3-9 | at Um26 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Scott, R. | 10 gun | 416 | The Miami receiver gets half a step on Xavier Rhodes and very nearly comes up with a great catch. Have to credit the side judge for making the correct call that would be easy to miss. Jimbo helped him out since the play landed at his feet. |
| 4-9 | at Um26 | Botts, D punt 44 yards to the FS30, fair catch by GREENE, R.. | |||
| Drive: 3 plays, 1 yards, TOP 00:55 | Miami can't do anything right now. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Fs30 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 05:12. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs30 | FREEMAN, D. rush for 3 yards to the FS33 (Robinson, L;Armbrister, T). | 20 gun | 43 | Designed counter play. Matias just gets stoned by the DT. Good job by Devonta of breaking it outside and salvaging what he can. |
| 2-7 | at Fs33 | Manuel, EJ pass incomplete to GREENE, R. (Finnie, T). | 20 gun | 43 | Curl route. EJ is a bit late with the ball and the Miami DB has very aggressive coverage with his hand on Greene's back. I'm fine with not calling this, if you allow FSU to play just as aggressively. Clear double standard. |
| 3-7 | at Fs33 | Manuel, EJ sacked for loss of 5 yards to the FS28 (McCord, T). | 10 gun | 425 | Looks like Watson missed his assignment here. Tyriq McCord comes totally unblocked. |
| 4-12 | at Fs28 | BEATTY, C. punt 34 yards to the UM38, fair catch by Dorsett, P. | |||
| Drive: 3 plays, minus 2 yards, TOP 01:26 | Ugly drive for the offense and suddenly Miami has the ball with decent field position only down 6. | ||||
| 1-10 | at Um38 | MIAMI drive start at 03:46. | |||
| 1-10 | at Um38 | Morris, S sacked for loss of 6 yards to the UM32 (EDWARDS, M.;WERNER, B.). | 12 | 425 | Miami trying to steal momentum here with a big play down the field. This is why teams don't run 7 step drop plays against FSU. |
| 2-16 | at Um32 | Morris, S pass complete to James, M for 24 yards to the FS44, 1ST DOWN UM (JONES, C.). | 10 gun | 425 | Another successful screen play. FSU is in pure pass rush mode. Good call by Miami. |
| 1-10 | at Fs44 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Scott, R, PENALTY FS personal foul (EDWARDS, M.) 14 yards to the FS30, 1ST DOWN UM, NO PLAY, PENALTY FS pass interference declined. | 11 gun | 425 | Just awful call. I don't know what the hell this ref was looking at. That is PERFECT coverage. You cannot play it any better. And on top of that, it was obviously uncatchable! Utter nonsense. No idea what the PF against Mario was about. He wasn't anywhere near the QB, so it couldn't have been roughing the passer. |
| 1-10 | at Fs30 | Johnson, D rush for 4 yards to the FS26 (SMITH, TEL.). | 21 gun | 43 | This is not a true wildcat play. It's just Mike James playing QB and running a zone read play. Defended pretty well, Duke Johnson just refuses to go down. |
| 2-6 | at Fs26 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Johnson, D. | 11 | 425 | FSU DL is really getting after it now. Werner with pressure around the edge forces Morris to step up and make an inaccurate throw to a covered receiver. |
| 3-6 | at Fs26 | Morris, S pass complete to Dorsett, P for 8 yards to the FS18, 1ST DOWN UM (WILLIAMS, K.). | 00 gun | 416 | Morris has a lot of time on this throw and finds an open receiver in a void in the zone. |
| 1-10 | at Fs18 | Johnson, D rush for 2 yards to the FS16 (WERNER, B.). | 11 gun | 425 | Draw play into the blitz and Werner reads it perfectly. He's a bad man. |
| 2-8 | at Fs16 | Dorsett, P pass complete to Morris, S for 6 yards to the FS10 (CARRADINE, C.). | 21 | 43 | Throwback to the QB. Terrence Brooks misses the tackle to hold the play to no gain, but the rest of the defense converges and tackles him short of the first down. Well played. |
| 3-2 | at Fs10 | Morris, S pass incomplete to Lockhart Jr, R. | 21 | 43 | Morris way overthrows the endzone fade. |
| 4-2 | at Fs10 | Wieclaw, J field goal attempt from 27 GOOD, clock 00:19. | As an underdog, you really should probably go for it here. | ||
| Florida State 16, Miami 13 | |||||
| Drive: 9 plays, 52 yards, TOP 03:27 | |||||
| Wieclaw, J kickoff 65 yards to the FS0, WILLIAMS, K. return 26 yards to the FS26 (Crawford, D). | |||||
| 1-10 | at Fs26 | FLORIDA STATE drive start at 00:19. | |||
| 1-10 | at Fs26 | Manuel, EJ pass complete to DENT, G. for 3 yards to the FS29 (Finnie, T). | 10 gun | 43 | Bubble screen. Kelvin runs upfield and blocks nobody. |