Miami vs. Florida State: Hurricanes skate past in-state rivals after Carson Beck’s hot start

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — No. 3 Miami stayed unbeaten Saturday night, sprinting out to a 25-point lead and skating by with a 28-22 win over No. 18 Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium.

The Seminoles (3-2, 0-2 ACC) scored on the opening drive, going 70 yards before stalling and settling for a field goal. Miami (5-0, 1-0) dominated in every aspect after that, holding the nation’s top scoring offense to only 161 yards and no points over FSU’s next seven possessions. Midway through the fourth quarter, a Florida State offense that was among the country’s most explosive had thrown more interceptions (two) than completions of more than 20 yards (one). Then a frantic 19-point rally in the closing minutes made the final score feel closer than most of the night’s action let on.

The Hurricanes were equally impressive on the other side of the ball, in a performance that will boost their College Football Playoff hype. After relying heavily on its rushing attack through nonconference play, Miami opened up its passing game Saturday. Georgia transfer Carson Beck completed 19 of his first 23 passes with four touchdowns. His receivers did much of the work. Freshman Malachi Toney sped for scores of 40 and 44 yards — the latter on a gutsy fourth-and-2 call by Mario Cristobal and his staff. CJ Daniels dashed through the defense for a 26-yard touchdown catch in the second half (he also had a short score in the first).

The Seminoles made things interesting in the fourth quarter. Tommy Castellanos threw a pair of touchdown passes (with two-point conversions) and drove into field goal range to trim Miami’s lead from 28-3 to 28-22. But Miami recovered the last-gasp onside kick to preserve the victory.

Miami is off next week before hosting Louisville on Friday, Oct. 17. The Seminoles host Pitt next Saturday.

Miami rules the state of Florida

Miami, clearly, has bigger aspirations after a strong start, but don’t overlook the significance of Saturday’s rivalry win and everything else that has transpired so far. The Hurricanes have beaten Florida State, Florida and South Florida in their first five games. Crown them state champions. The Canes have beaten Florida and Florida State in back-to-back years; that hasn’t happened since 2001-04.

It wasn’t that long ago that the Seminoles owned this series. The Hurricanes lost six in a row to former head coach Jimbo Fisher (2010-16). Fisher had an acrimonious exit from Florida State when he bolted for Texas A&M in 2017, but FSU fans chanted his name Saturday morning during the ACC’s pregame show on campus. That’s how much things have changed. — Matt Baker

Beck’s big night

ESPN cameras caught Beck celebrating his fourth touchdown pass of the night by counting them out one by one as CJ Daniels raced toward the end zone in the third quarter. It’s the fifth time in Beck’s career he’s thrown for at least four touchdown passes in a game — he did it three times last season at Georgia and once in 2023. Beck had a fifth touchdown pass wiped off the board by an illegal shift penalty in the first half.

Beck’s chemistry with Daniels and Toney has been phenomenal most of the season, but Saturday’s performance was encouraging after the Hurricanes’ passing game struggled at home against Florida two weeks ago. Beck entered Saturday’s game with the highest completion percentage in the ACC (73.2 percent) and finished 20 for 27 through the air. — Manny Navarro

A Miami message to the rest of the ACC

The defensive effort by the Hurricanes against an offense that entered the weekend tops in the nation in points per game was yet another sign that this team has vastly improved over last year’s 10-win team.

The Hurricanes have a wide-open opportunity to win the ACC and get a top-four seed in the College Football Playoff. Clemson and Florida State both have two losses in league play. Louisville is the only team left on the Canes’ schedule with just one loss overall. Yes, there’s still a long way to go in conference play; this was Miami’s ACC opener, after all. But Miami’s remaining opponents — Stanford (2-3), SMU (3-2), Syracuse (3-3), NC State (4-2), Virginia Tech (2-4) and Pittsburgh (3-2) — are likely to be heavy underdogs against the Canes. — Navarro

Florida State on the brink amid two-game skid

The Seminoles’ College Football Playoff hopes took a near-fatal hit. Granted, few prognosticators pegged Florida State as a CFP contender in the preseason, but its Week 1 victory over Alabama raised expectations — artificially, it turns out.

Florida State needs to run the table to earn a 10-win season. That seems unlikely. The Seminoles look more like an eight- or nine-win ACC team. If they can reach that mark after last year’s 2-10 debacle, head coach Mike Norvell can sell some sort of progress to recruits, fans and donors. But Florida State has a lot to clean up, starting with ball security (the Noles fumbled twice in the first half but were fortunate to lose only one).

Unfortunately for Florida State, these types of results and starts have become a trend. The Seminoles haven’t beaten a top-three team since topping Auburn for the 2013 national championship. Norvell fell to 3-3 against the Hurricanes and has started 0-2 in conference play in four of his six seasons (2020-21 and last year). — Baker

(Photo: Jason Clark / Getty Images)

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