January 1, Miami Stays Perfect While Seminoles Keep Sliding

Wyatt’s Take

• Miami quarterback Darian Mensah delivered 326 yards and three touchdowns to keep the Hurricanes undefeated.
• Florida State quarterback Ashton Daniels threw for 298 yards and four scores yet still came up short in double overtime.
• The Seminoles now sit on a fourteen-game road losing streak and remain winless against ranked teams since 2017.

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns. The last one was a three-yard strike to Malachi Toney in the second overtime. No. 3 Miami held on to beat Florida State 43-35 in a back-and-forth classic.

Toney finished the night with 154 receiving yards and threw a two-point conversion pass to Cooper Barkate. Hurricanes defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald sealed the win with an interception on the final play.

Ashton Daniels threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns for Florida State. Duce Robinson had a pair of touchdown catches late. One was a 75-yarder that tied the game with less than three minutes left in regulation. The other was a 20-yard score to open the first overtime.

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell has faced endless speculation about his job security. He has been at the helm of a team that has had one of the nation’s worst records over the last three years.

Starting with the 2023 Orange Bowl debacle against Georgia, the Seminoles have now lost 14 consecutive games away from Tallahassee. They are 0-13 since 2017 in true road games against ranked teams.

Wyatt Matters

College football still rewards teams that show up every week with toughness and discipline. Miami delivered that kind of effort, while Florida State continues to search for answers in a program that once stood for grit and pride.