That was the case on October 3, 1987 when #3 Miami travled to Tallahassee to take on #4 Florida State in what was described at the time as the biggest game to be played in the state of Florida.
By now, Miami had become one of the top college football programs in America, thanks to a 67-18 record since the 1980 season and a 1983 national championship.
Led by Jimmy Johnson, Miami had gone 21-1 in the previous two regular seasons but had lost their bowl games in each of the two seasons, including a bitter 14-10 loss to Penn State, costing the Canes a national championship.
But the Hurricanes had also garnered negative attention for their flamboyance such as wearing combat fatigues before their match-up with Penn State in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl.
Miami entered the 1987 season having to replace nine starters off a defense that accounted for 49 sacks and Heisman trophy winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde.
Junior Steve Walsh filled the role at quarterback and led the Canes to two easy wins over Florida and Arkansas before their showdown with the Seminoles.
While Miami had become a national power, Florida State was trying to make that next step into national dominance under head coach Bobby Bowden, who was entering his 12th season as the Seminoles’ head coach.
Bowden had been successful thus far during his tenure in Tallahassee complying a 90-36-3 record in his first 11 seasons, but had yet to be taken seriously nationally as they were never really in the national title mix with the exception of the 1979 and 1980 seasons.
But with 42 of the top 50 players back from the previous season(including cornerback Deion Sanders), the Seminoles entered the 1987 season with high expectations, especially after going 4-0 in the month of September prior to hosting Miami.
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| Sammie Smith(33) carried the ball 30 times for 189 yards in the Seminoles' 26-25 loss to the Miami Hurricanes. |
The Seminoles got the first scoring opportunity of the game on midway through the first quarter as they drove down to the Miami 23-yard-line to set up a 40-yard field goal attempt by Derek Schmidt.
But Schmidt never got a chance to kick the ball as center Marty Riggs sailed the snap way over holder Danny McManus, and when the FSU quarterback got his hands on the loose ball, he had been dropped for a 51-yard-loss, giving the Canes the ball at the Seminoles 26-yard-line.
Miami was able to convert the miscue into points as Greg Cox come on to kick a 29-yard-field goal that gave the Canes a 3-0 lead.
Following the field goal, the Seminoles drove for the game’s first touchdown, as they went 80 yards in seven plays, with the big play on the drive coming courtesy of running back Sammie Smith as his 64-yard run to the Miami 17-yard-line on a 3rd-and-11 help lead to fullback Dayne Williams' one-yard touchdown run a 1-yard run by fullback Dayne Williams on the first play of the 2nd quarter, to put FSU ahead 7-3.
The Noles increased their lead to 10-3 as a 17-yard punt return by Sanders into Miami territory and eight straight running plays to the Canes’ 20-yard-line set up a 36-yard field goal by Schmidt.
The score remained 10-3 when the second half began with the Noles driving into Miami territory once again, this time to the Canes’ 13-yard-line on a 11-play, 56-yard drive to set up another field goal attempt by Schmidt, this one from 29 yards out, only to have him miss the chip shot kick to keep it a 10-3 game.
But after forcing a three-and-out from the Miami offense, Seminoles defensive back Martin Mayhew blocked Jeff Feagles’ punt, with Alphonso Williams recovering it at the five-yard-line and taking it in for the touchdown to increase the FSU lead to 16-3 after Schmidt hooked the extra point attempt.
Schmidt would get another chance to put some points on the board when a 34-yard punt return by Sanders and a roughing-the-passer penalty set up a 25-yard field goal attempt.
After missing his last two kicks, Schmidt made this one to make it 19-3 in favor of the Seminoles with 2:45 left to go in the third quarter.
Even though they could tie the game with two touchdowns and two-point conversions, it seemed the Hurricanes would going to lose their first regular season game in two years as they be held to 101 yards of total offense to this point and had been unable to stop the FSU rushing attack which ran for 225 yards when the game was over.
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| Although he completed only 13 of 29 passes for 254 yards, Hurricanes quarterback Steve Walsh had three touchdown passes in the final 16 minutes of the game to lead Miami to a come-from-behind win. |
But following Schmidt’s 25-yard field goal, the Miami offense awoke and drove 76 yards in six plays, culminating with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Walsh to halfback Melvin Bratton that brought Miami to within 10.
Miami went for the two-point conversion and got it when Walsh completed a pass to Brian Blades in the end zone to make it a 19-11 game with 57 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Hurricanes took the momentum from the touchdown and carried it over to the fourth quarter as defensive end Daniel Stubbs intercepted a McManus pas and returned it nine yards to the FSU 40-yard-line.
Six plays later, Walsh found wide receiver Michael Irvin across the middle for a 26-yard touchdown to bring the deficit to just two points.
And when Walsh found Warren Williams in the end zone for the two-point conversion, the game was tied 19-19 with 11:39 to play.
After the Irvin touchdown, the Seminoles drove from their 27-yard-line to the Miami 14-yard-line setting up a potential go-ahead field goal for Schmidt from 31 yards out.
But once again, Schmidt hooked the kick and the score remained tied at 19 with over six minutes to play.
The FSU defense forced the Hurricanes to punt on their ensuing possession and again drove to inside the Miami 20-yard-line, only to squander another scoring opportunity when McManus lost the ball on a snap leading to a fumble that was recovered by Miami safety Bennie Blades at the Hurricanes’ 11-yard-line with 3:29 left on the clock.
Three plays later, the Hurricanes were faced with a 3rd-and-6 at the FSU 27-yard-line where at the line of scrimmage, Walsh used hand signals to notify Irvin that he was going to change his short route into a deeper route.
Walsh took the snap, dropped back, and found Irvin around midfield, who made the catch and then outraced the FSU defenders for a 73-yard touchdown that gave Miami a 26-19 lead with 2:22 to go.
Needing a touchdown, the Seminoles put together a 8-play, 83-yard drive that was capped off with a 18-yard touchdown pass from McManus to wide receiver Ronnie Lewis in the left corner of the end zone to bring FSU to within one point at 26-25 with 42 seconds to play.
With no overtime in college football in 1987, Bowden had to decide to kick the extra point and settle for a tie or go for the two-point conversion and the win.
After taking a timeout to think it over, Bowden sent McManus and the FSU offense went back on to the field in hopes of winning the game.
McManus took the snap and lofted a pass toward the right corner of the end zone, intended for tight end Pat Carter, only to have Miami safety Bubba McDowell get in front of Carter and knock down the pass, making the two-point attempt no good.
FSU attempted an onside kick, but the Hurricanes recovered the kick and after taking a knee to run out the clock, Miami had escaped Tallahassee with a 26-25 victory.
The one-point victory proved to be the difference in the national championship picture as Miami finished 12-0 and #1 at the end of the season while Florida State finished 11-1 and ranked #2.
The Seminoles would became a national power as 1987 marked the first of 14 consecutive seasons in which FSU finished in the top 5, including a pair of national championships.
The 1987 defeat would be the first of several heart-wrenching defeats for the Seminoles at the hands of the Hurricanes as they lost four games thanks to missed field goals in the final seconds.
The series of losses led Bowden to say that his tombstone will say “But then he played Miami”.
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