Fla. St. Does Just Enough

Quarterback Drew Weatherford, who was awful in the Seminoles' 2005 win over Miami, throws for 175 yards and converts two key third-down conversions that set up the Seminoles' lone touchdown Monday. (Getty Images)

He had a hand in all but three yards Florida State gained on its go-ahead scoring drive in the fourth quarter -- though he also botched a shotgun snap at the Miami 9-yard line that might have cost his team a touchdown. Weatherford scrambled to cover his fumble for a 10-yard loss that pushed Florida State back to the 19. Three plays later, Cismesia made his second field goal of the night to put the Seminoles ahead.

"The last four or five times we've played, it comes down to field goals," Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said. "So I was glad to see that we made ours."

As it turned out, that was more than enough. Miami failed to advance the ball on its next three drives, and the game ended when Garvin intercepted Wright's pass deep in Miami territory with 36 seconds remaining.

With his team down 10-3 late in the third quarter, Weatherford silenced the crowd and put the Seminoles in position for Joe Surratt's one-yard touchdown plunge on the first play of the fourth quarter with 27- and 35-yard completions.

"We lost our poise a little bit," Coker said.

Wright had dissected the Seminoles' defense in the second quarter, helping his team overcome a sluggish start. Wright, who connected on just four passes for 15 yards in the opening quarter, was 13 of 17 for 89 yards in the second.

A 27-yard-completion to a lunging Darnell Jenkins ignited a 51-yard scoring drive that was capped by a four-yard burst by Charlie Jones at the 13:02 mark, giving Miami a 7-3 lead. The Hurricanes pushed their lead to 10-3 when Jon Peattie added a 20-yard field goal shortly before halftime.

Florida State had taken advantage of a poor punt -- just 24 yards to the Seminoles 45 -- from Brian Monroe to score the game's first points. Cismesia converted on a 37-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead at the 8:56 mark.

"Anytime you lose, it's frustrating," Miami lineman Anthony Wollschlager said. "But this one seems to hurt worse."