Miami survives two Hail Marys, leaving FSU without answers in 2OT thriller

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- First came one completed Hail Mary, a 36-yard heave from Florida State quarterback Ashton Daniels to Micahi Danzy in the corner of the end zone that gave the Seminoles a chance to tie the score in double overtime. A holding call negated the play. Down to one last chance to upset rival Miami, Daniels threw another Hail Mary into the end zone, this time 46 yards for 6-foot-6 Duce Robinson. As he went up for the ball, Miami safety Bryce Fitzgerald went up for the ball, too. They landed in a tangle, their hands fighting for the ball. Officials called the play an interception on the field, and after a brief replay review, the call was upheld and the third-ranked Hurricanes spilled onto the field to celebrate a 43-35 double overtime win over their rivals. "I thought Bryce snatched that thing and pulled it into his lap," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. "But I know we've sat in this stadium before on a couple of those, so let's try not to make that a habit going forward." Indeed, two years ago, Miami survived a Hail Mary against Virginia Tech in the opposite end zone, after replay overturned what was called a touchdown on the field. The Hurricanes were just beginning their rise in the ACC that season. Now, they are the prohibitive favorites to win the conference and make the College Football Playoff. Miami came into the game as 21-point favorites, suggesting those outside the program thought things would come easy for the Hurricanes. But they found themselves down 21-14 in the fourth quarter -- trailing for the first time all season. That's when quarterback Darian Mensah told his offensive line they were not going to lose this game. Miami went to work, tying the score on a four-play drive that featured a heavy dose of Malachi Toney and freshman running back Javian Mallory, who finished with a team-high 108 yards. They took the lead with 2:49 to play after a drive in which they physically dominated up front with Mallory and Jordan Lyle leading the way. But Florida State responded almost immediately with a 75-yard pass to Robinson on the following drive to tie the score at 28 and send it into overtime. The final two plays unfolded after Miami took the lead in the second extra period. Miami came with a relentless rush at Daniels, sacking him. A penalty led to a fourth-and-21 and the first Daniels heave into the end zone for Danzy. Officials called Xavier Chaplin for holding. Florida State coach Mike Norvell said after the game he wanted to watch the film before commenting on the call. "[Danzy] went up and made a fantastic play," Daniels said. "But we didn't execute at every position, all 11 guys on the offense, and that's on us. In those big-time moments, we can't have a penalty that brings us back." That set up the fourth-and-31 from the Miami 46-yard line and one final play for the Seminoles to win. "I thought it was a touchdown," Daniels said. "Gave Duce a chance, and that's what he does. He comes down with the ball, and we believe that he did, but we're not the ones out there calling the shots, and we can't control the decisions and all that. So, we don't understand it. Obviously, it hurts, but there's nothing we can do about it." Norvell said he was not given an explanation on the call on the field, noting it was the same officiating crew from the Stanford game last year that the Seminoles lost, also on a disputed call at the end of the game. "It's unique when you have the same crew, back-to-back years in game-ending situations that go down the last play," Norvell said. "I watched the play. Since the start of football, a tie goes to the receiver, but I guess they had a different angle that that you could see something different." Fitzgerald had come out of the game with a shoulder stinger but asked to go back in to help defend Robinson. He said he used his basketball background to jump higher and come down with the ball. He said his mindset was simple on the last play. "It's my ball or no ball," Fitzgerald said. Given the losses to Georgia and Notre Dame, Miami has a good chance to be ranked No. 1 when the Associated Press poll comes out Sunday. Cristobal said that was irrelevant. "Well, I think we have a good enough sample size of 2026 to know that that's absolutely insignificant and irrelevant with the changing of the guard from week to week," Cristobal said. "Just has no value to our processes. I'll focus on the real one that's important, 1-0."