The No. 6 Miami Hurricanes dominated the rival Florida State Seminoles on the ground, resulting in an easy win at home. Usually, star quarterback and Heisman frontrunner Cam Ward shows up and pulls Miami to a win, but running backs Damien Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr. led the way for the Canes.
Florida State won the toss and chose to defer and while statistically that is the right decision, they should not have let the Canes get hot. Many chunk plays through the air from Cam Ward and a one-yard touchdown run by Mark Fletcher Jr. made up the first drive for Miami. After Fletcher got into the end zone he got on his right knee and pointed to the sky, remembering his late father who sadly passed away Thursday.
“Just a shout out to my dad, paying him respect,” said Fletcher. “It’s been a long time since he’d seen Hard Rock this packed. I know he would have loved this, this energy out here, all the seats was taken up. I know he would have loved it. So, I just did this for him.”
Cam Ward connected with Fletcher’s partner in the RB room, Damien Martinez, for 12 yards, for Miami’s second touchdown of the night, and the team went up 14-0.
The Seminoles would eventually get on the board with a one-yard rushing touchdown by Caziah Holme. That followed a stunning 4th and 1 tush push which turned into a 42-yard run from quarterback Luke Kromenhoek where he made it out of the scrum on his feet.
After that, Miami kicker Andres Borregales nailed three field goals in a row with his longest coming from 45 to make the score 23-7 Miami.
Two Miami touchdowns would follow, the first on an immaculate Texas to Texas play when tight end Elijah Arroyo connected with Cam Ward for six. Miami Head Coach Mario Cristobal said the play was called Texas to Texas since Arroyo is from Frisco, Texas and Ward is from West Columbia, Texas. After that spectacular play, Damien Martinez would get his second touchdown of the game from 12 yards out. The Canes were up 36-7.
That was just about all she wrote until Brock Glenn hit Malik Benson for a meaningless five-yard touchdown. The Seminoles had their second and last touchdown of the game and that was it. The Miami Hurricanes did not fear the spear on Saturday night and took care of the Seminoles with ease. Miami 36, Florida State 14.
The Hurricanes continue their magnificent season and advance to 8-0 (4-0 in the ACC), while Florida State’s nightmare of a season only becomes worse as they are now 1-7 (1-6 in the ACC) after going undefeated last season before their bowl game against Georgia.
Mario Cristobal made a statement after last night’s game when comparing the Canes to other Florida programs saying, “I think all recruits, in-state and out-of-state, can now clearly see the trajectory of this program versus the trajectory of the other programs (in Florida).”
Cristobal is known as a great recruiter since the Hurricanes have brought in mounds of talent from all around the country, especially in their backyard.
Florida State will travel back to Tallahassee to prepare for the North Carolina Tar Heels next week. The Hurricanes will stay in Miami to prepare for the homecoming of Manny Diaz, the Duke Blue Devils coach, after he was fired in 2021 following a three year tenure.