Smith Scores 4 For the 'Noles
Florida State 41, Miami 39
Defensive end Everette Brown exults after batting down a pass for Florida State, which took an early 24-0 lead.
(By Doug Benc -- Getty Images)
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Sunday, October 5, 2008; Page D11
MIAMI, Oct. 4 -- Antone Smith rushed for a career-best four touchdowns, including a game-clinching 20-yarder with 3 minutes 57 seconds remaining, and Florida State wasted most of an early 24-point lead before hanging on to beat Miami, 41-39, on Saturday.
Smith -- who scored three touchdowns last week -- finished with 92 yards on 27 carries for the Seminoles (4-1, 1-1 ACC), who handed Miami its second straight home loss on a stormy afternoon. Christian Ponder ran for 144 yards, becoming the first Florida State quarterback since Charlie Ward in 1992 to run for triple figures, and Tony Carter made two interceptions for the Seminoles.
Travis Benjamin had an 18-yard touchdown run on an end-around, caught a 51-yard scoring pass from running back Graig Cooper and finished with 274 all-purpose yards for Miami (2-3, 0-2), which has lost 12 of its last 15 conference games.
The Hurricanes trailed 24-3 at the half and 31-10 in the third quarter, then closed to 34-32 with eight minutes remaining. Two botched snaps on Florida State punts led to Miami points, Sean Spence ran an interception in for a touchdown and the Hurricanes seemed poised for what would have been an enormous rally.
But Smith sealed the win with a third-down run up the middle, giving Coach Bobby Bowden just his 14th win in 34 games all-time against Miami.
Florida State scored the game's first 24 points and wound up holding a 440-256 edge in total yards, including 281 yards on the ground.
Ponder completed 14 of 31 passes for 159 yards, including a 15-yard score to Greg Carr.
