Hurricanes Again Dampen Spirits

Florida State botched another kick, wide right, Saturday in its ongoing series against Miami, although this time Xavier Beitia’s extra-point push will go down as a footnote on a day in which the big boot was delivered to Florida State’s backside.

Leave it to No. 2 Miami to wreck another weekend for No. 14 Florida State, leave Seminole Coach Bobby Bowden scratching his head, leave another scar on Florida State’s psyche.

Miami’s 49-27 victory over Florida State before a crowd of 82,836 at Doak Campbell Stadium was more than a victory. It will return the Hurricanes to No. 1--Auburn upset top-ranked Florida, 23-20--and it humbled the Seminoles.

Opposition triumphs in Tallahassee are like comets--they orbit through about once a decade.

Ten years after Miami’s 17-16 win here, the Hurricanes came around again, providing the bitter bookend between Florida State’s unprecedented reign of 54 consecutive home-turf victories.

The fear Florida State has put into so many others over the years is nothing but fodder for Miami, which left Tallahassee after improving its all-time record at Doak Campbell to 11-6.

In the course of dismantling Florida State, jumping to a 21-0 lead at one point, and scoring 28 points off six Florida State turnovers, Miami made a few important proclamations.

The 49-point total was the most a Miami team has scored on Florida State. It marked just the fifth time an opponent has scored a double-digit win at Doak Campbell.

Miami has now tagged Florida State with eight of its 18 defeats since 1987.

“I told my team that we’re just going to have to start another streak out there in a couple weeks,” Bowden said. “Nothing lasts forever.”

Miami’s win sent the two prominent programs in different directions. The Hurricanes improved to 5-0 and answered Associated Press writers who dared dock Miami from No. 1 to No. 2 after last week’s 38-7 victory over Troy State.

Miami took another step toward Pasadena and the Rose Bowl, site of this year’s national title game, while Florida State fell to 3-2 and had better regroup fast or risk ending up in the Tangerine Bowl.

Miami also issued a missive to the BCS computer geeks, who have in early compilations dismissed the Hurricanes as a top 10 contender. Miami was 13th in mock-BCS rankings this week.

“We don’t want to leave it to the computers,” Miami center Brett Romberg said. “We just want to put points on the board and dominate who we need to dominate.”

There are a lot of pent-up feelings here.

Miami got boxed out of last year’s national title game, finishing third in the BCS standings, .32 of a point behind Florida State.

One minor detail: Miami beat Florida State, head to head, 27-24.

It made Saturday’s rout all the sweeter.

“Beating Florida State is always a pleasurable event,” Romberg said.

Several Hurricanes also haven’t forgotten 1997, when the Seminoles wiped the field with the young Hurricanes, 47-0.

Well, Miami has grown up.

“A lot of the seniors on this team remember the game when Florida State was up, 47-0, and put their first team back in the game at the end to keep the shutout,” Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey said.

You watch Miami and wonder what the computers guys don’t see.

The Hurricanes didn’t play a perfect game. They amassed 15 penalties for 125 yards and allowed Florida State 476 total yards.

But it’s hard to quibble with seminal victories against Seminoles.

Miami jumped to a 7-0 first-quarter lead after Edward Reed blocked a Florida State punt and Markese Fitzgerald picked up the loose ball and raced five yards for the touchdown.

Miami made it 14-0 when, one play after Florida State quarterback Chris Rix fumbled, Dorsey hit Andre Johnson on a 27-yard scoring pass.

In the second quarter, Miami drove 36 yards after a Rix interception and made it 21-0 on a one-yard, fourth-down scoring pass from Dorsey to Jeremy Shockey.

Florida State rallied briefly, scoring twice before the half to cut the lead to 21-13 on William McCray’s one-yard scoring run, but all momentum was lost in the second half’s opening minutes.

Miami drove 67 yards on its first possession, extending the lead to 28-13 on Dorsey’s 18-yard pass to Johnson.

On Florida State’s first possession, Rix fumbled while trying to pass, with linebacker Jonathan Vilma picking up the loose ball and running 36 yards for the touchdown to make the score 35-13.

You knew it was Miami’s day when holder Freddie Capshaw turned a botched snap on a field-goal attempt into a seven-yard scoring run to put the game out of reach, 42-20.

This was not a stirring tale of two quarterbacks. Dorsey, a junior, simply outclassed Rix, a redshirt freshman, who played with heart but finished with four interceptions, two fumbles and was sacked six times.

The Hurricanes again made the pocket a safe haven for Dorsey, who completed 14 of 27 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns.

In 62 offensive plays, Dorsey was not sacked.

The last time he was sacked?

“I don’t remember,” Dorsey confessed.

For the record, it was last year, against Temple.

Amazingly, Dorsey has gone 755 plays without getting sacked in a regular-season game and has been sacked only once in his last 1,015 offensive plays.

“We try to give Ken all the time in the world, because he’s a doctor,” Romberg said. “He’ll pick people apart.”