Cam Ward threw for 208 yards and also caught a touchdown pass as the sixth-ranked Miami Hurricanes remained unbeaten with a 36-14 win over the visiting Florida State Seminoles in an ACC matchup on Saturday night.
Hurricanes running back Damien Martinez rushed for 148 yards with a 9.9-yard average and two touchdowns.
Miami (8-0, 4-0), which entered the game ranked No. 2 in the nation in scoring (48.3), was forced to settle for three Andres Borregales field goals.
Florida State, meanwhile, was held to 248 yards of total offense, 75 of them on its final drive.
Ward, who entered Saturday No. 1 in the FBS in passing yards (363), completed 22-of-35 throws with no touchdowns. In every other game this season, he had at least 300 yards and two TD passes.
Florida State (1-7, 1-6) lost its fourth straight game. The loss also guarantees the Seminoles will have a losing record, and they cannot become bowl-eligible. Miami also broke their three-game losing streak against FSU and now lead this historic rivalry 36-33.
The Hurricanes scored a touchdown on the game’s first possession, traveling 67 yards and capping the march with Mark Fletcher Jr.’s one-yard run. Ward went 4-for-5 for 53 yards on that drive.
Miami made it 14-0 with a 12-play, 95-yard drive that bridged the first and second quarters. The key was converting a third-and-20 with a 21-pass to Martinez, who later scored on a bruising 18-yard run.
FSU cut its deficit to 14-7 on Caziah Holmes’ fourth-and-goal run from the one-yard line with 6:44 left in the second quarter. The key to the drive was FSU’s fourth-and-one conversion from its own 45 as Luke Kromenhoek ran 42 yards on a quarterback sneak in which he appeared to have been stopped at the line of scrimmage but kept going.
Miami scored on the last play of the first half on Borregales’ 20-yard field goal, giving the Hurricanes a 17-7 lead. That capped an 18-play, 88-yard drive that included a fourth-down conversion.
Borregales hit from 42 yards out to end Miami’s first possession of the second half, and he closed the third-quarter scoring with a 45-yarder to give the Hurricanes a 23-7 lead.
Miami put the game away on a trick play with 4:32 left in the fourth quarter as tight end Elijah Arroyo tossed a seven-yard, double-reverse TD pass to Ward.
FSU scored with just 18 seconds left on Brock Glenn’s five-yard pass to Malik Benson.
–Field Level Media
