Carson Beck threw four touchdown passes and No. 3 Miami held off a late charge from No. 18 Florida State for a 28-22 win Saturday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference rivalry game in Tallahassee, Fla.
In a game the Hurricanes led 28-3 in the early stages of the fourth quarter, the Seminoles rattled off 19 unanswered points in less than 10 minutes.
But Miami recovered an onside kick with 20 seconds left to prevent a total collapse.
Beck was a smooth operator, completing 20 of 27 passes for 240 yards. He led an offensive outburst that saw the Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0 in ACC) rattle off 28 straight points, gradually squeezing the life out of the Seminoles (3-2, 0-2).
After Florida State was held without a touchdown in the first three quarters, quarterback Tommy Castellanos threw a pair of fourth-quarter TD passes, finishing 25-of-45 passing for 272 yards, with two interceptions and a game-high 57 rushing yards.
After allowing a 23-yard field goal in the game’s opening drive, Miami’s defense stifled the Seminoles, allowing no more points or even trips to the red zone until the fourth quarter while creating three turnovers that the offense turned into 14 points.
The Hurricanes’ Malachi Toney tallied a game- and career-high 107 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and CJ Daniels posted a season-high 78 receiving yards and two TDs. With eight touchdowns between them, they’ve accounted for the vast majority of Beck’s 11 TD passes this season.
Beck connected with Daniels on a 47-yard pass to set up a go-ahead 4-yard TD strike to Daniels to give Miami its first lead.
Then, after Bryce Fitzgerald returned his third interception of the season across midfield, the Hurricanes padded their lead on the next play on a 44-yard flea flicker from Beck to Toney with 11:25 left in the first half.
Toney didn’t have to wait long for his second touchdown, catching a fourth-and-3 pass and weaving his way through the Florida State defense for a 40-yard score on the opening drive of the second half.
After another interception of Castellanos, Miami padded its lead with a screen to Daniels that turned into a 24-yard touchdown.
The Seminoles finally reached the end zone with 10:04 left on an 8-yard pass from Castellanos to Lawayne McCoy.
Castellanos then capped off a 96-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Randy Pittman Jr. A Jake Weinberg field goal made it 28-22 with 20 seconds left.
Duce Robinson led the Seminoles with 87 receiving yards on six catches.
