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| Xavier Beitia angusihes after his potential game-winning field goal sailed wide left in the Seminoles' 2002 game with Miami. |
It's the two most frightening words to Florida State Seminole fans: Wide Right.
Those are the two words to describe a trio of heartbreaking losses to the Miami Hurricanes which occured over a decade in the annual rivalry between the Canes and the Noles.
It started with "Wide Right I" in 1991 when Gerry Thomas missed a potential game-winning 34-yard field goal in the final seconds to give #2 Miami a 17-16 win over #1 Florida State.
One year later, Dan Mowrey had his 39-yard field goal attempt sail wide right on the final play of the game as #2 Miami prevailed with a 19-16 win over #3 Florida State.
Eight years after that, the third chapter would occur as Matt Munyon's 49-yard attempt at the end of regulation would also go wide right to give Miami a 27-24 win over #1 Florida State.
Then in 2002, the next cruel chapter in the Seminoles' fortunes against Miami would occur with a slightly different twist.
The Hurricanes were the #1 ranked team in the country having won their previous 27 games and were the defending national champions after a 2001 season.
The Canes were led by second-year head coach Larry Coker who had a roster which featured quarterback Ken Dorsey who had this point had won 31 of his 32 career starts, future NFL Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson, tight end Kellen Winslow II son of former Hall-of-Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr. and running back Willis McGahee, who had run for 640 yards and 10 touchdowns in the first five games of the 2002 season.
While the Canes were seeking a second consectuive national championship, the Noles came into the game looking rebound following a tough 2001 season in which they went 8-4 and finished #15 in the final polls, ending a 14-year streak of finishing in the top 5 in the final AP and coaches polls.
The Noles were led by head coach Bobby Bowden, who was in his 27th season as the FSU head coach, as he saw his Seminoles led by quarterback Chris Rix get off to a 4-0 start before losing to unranked Louisville on a rainy Thursday night.
This loss helped drop FSU from #4 to #11 in the country as they bounced back with a 48-31 win over Clemson to move back up to #9 as the Noles traveled to South Florida to take on the defending national champions who entered the game as nearly two-touchdown favorites.
After the Seminoles punted following their opening possession of the game, the Hurricanes would drive 89 yards in 13 plays for the game's first touchdown as McGahee punched it in for a four-yard touchdown to give Miami a 7-0 lead.
The drive featured Dorsey completing four of five passes for 77 yards as he hit Ethenic Sands for 14 yards, Johnson for 14 yards, Kevin Beard for 22 yards, and Winslow for 27 yards.
The two teams would trade punts until early in the second quarter when Miami had the ball at the Florida State 26-yard-line thanks in large part to a 37-yard pass from Dorsey to Sands, when Ken was intercepted by FSU linebacker Michael Boulware to give the Seminoles the ball at their six-yard-line.
The Miami defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball at their 44-yard-line as a holding penalty would derail the drive and force the Hurricanes to punt the ball back to the Seminoles, only for Leon Washington to muff the kick which was recovered by Antrel Rolle to give the Canes the ball at the FSU 15-yard-line.
But on the very next play from scrimmage, Dorsey would fumble the football while trying to scramble, leading to a recovery by FSU linebacker Allen Augustin to give the Seminoles the ball back at their 16-yard-line.
From there, the Noles would drive 84 yards in four plays as Nick Maddox would take it in for a 30-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 7 with 9:29 left in the second quarter.
Following a Miami three-and-out, the Noles would take the lead as Xavier Beitia would kick a 45-yard field goal to give the Noles a 10-7 lead with 6:12 remaining in the second quarter.
The Seminoles would force another three-and-out to give their offense the ball at the 50-yard-line where it took FSU five plays to get back into the end zone as Rix hit Talman Gardner for a 10-yard touchdown to push the Florida State lead to double digits at 17-7 with 2:34 to go before halftime.
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| Seminoles running back Greg Jones ran for 189 yards on 31 carries and scored one touchdown. |
Having allowed 17 unanswered points, the Hurricanes needed a response from their offense as the first half came to an end as Miami would begin its ensuing possession at their 20-yard-line.
Dorsey would complete three of his next four passes for 21 yards to put the Canes at their 41-yard-line as they would pick up the next 13 yards on the ground on runs of nine yards by Jason Geathers and four yards by McGahee to give Miami a 1st down at the FSU 46-yard-line.
That is when Dorsey completed back-to-back passes to Beard, first for 16 yards and the second for 20 yards to give Miami a 1st & goal at the FSU 10-yard-line as an illegal participation penalty on the Noles would give the Canes five extra yards and a fresh set of downs at the five-yard-line.
After two incomplete passes, Dorsey would find Winslow for the five-yard touchdown to end the 12-play, 80-yard drive which cut the FSU lead to 17-14 with 26 seconds left in the first half.
The Noles would run out the clock to end the first half to go into the locker room ahead 17-14 but set to give the ball back to the Hurricanes to start the second half.
The Canes would drive from their 36-yard-line to the FSU 48-yard-line until Dorsey was picked off by Seminoles free safety Kyler Hall to give the Noles the ball at their 14-yard-line.
Following an exchange of punts, the Noles got the ball back at their four-yard-line as they would drive into Miami territory primarily on the ground game as eight running plays totaled 38 yards while Rix complete passes of 24 and 9 yards to Anquain Boldin to set up a 42-yard field goal by Beitia to increase the FSU lead to 20-14 with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
The Canes would begin their next possession at their 16-yard-line as a 15-yard pass from Dorsey to Johnson on 3rd & 9 would give Miami a 1st down at its 32-yard-line when the Hurricanes appeared to be in FSU territory as Roscoe Parrish caught a 53-yard pass from Dorsey, only to have negated by a chop block which cost Miami 15 yards.
Miami would be forced to punt the ball back as the Noles would take over in Hurricanes territory as an incomplete pass and a run for no gain would set up 3rd & 10 as the third quarter came to an end.
The fourth quarter would begin with a run by Rix, who somersaulted over a few Hurricane defenders for a seven-yard gain which got 15 yards added to it as Miami linebacker Jonathan Vilma was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give FSU a 1st down at the Canes' 24-yard-line.
Four plays later, the Noles were back in the end zone as Greg Jones took it in from 11 yards out to increase the FSU lead to 26-14 as Bowden opted to go for the extra point instead of attempting a two-point conversion which would have made it a 14-point game as Beitia would make the extra point to make it 27-14 with 11:44 left in the fourth quarter.
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| Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey threw for 362 yards and two touchdowns passes. |
After both teams went three-and-out on their next possessions, the Canes got the ball at their 30-yard-line with 9:32 left in the game and Miami needing two touchdowns to take the lead.
That is when the Canes went to a no-huddle offense as Dorsey completed a 37-yard pass to Johnson to start the drive, which was followed by an incomplete pass and then an 11-yard run by McGahee to give Miami a 1st down at the FSU 22-yard-line.
After another incomplete pass, Dorsey would find Johnson again this time for 19 yards to give Miami a 1st & goal at the FSU three-yard-line as McGahee ran for one yard before Beard caught a two-yard touchdown pass to end the seven-play, 70-yard drive which took only 82 seconds to complete and cut the Noles' lead to 27-21.
The Noles would pick up one 1st down on their next possession before they punted the ball back to the Canes who took over at their 21-yard-line with 5:36 left in regulation.
That is when Dorsey completed a short screen pass to McGahee, who sprinted down the right sideline until he was tackled at the FSU 11-yard-line after a 68-yard play which would set up Geathers' 11-yard-touchdown run to give Miami a 28-27 lead with 5:17 left in the game.
The momentum had clearly turned in Miami's favor especially after they forced a three-and-out to get their offense the ball back at the 50-yard-line with 4:08 remaining and a chance to run out the clock with a few 1st downs.
However, the Seminole defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 46-yard-line after Freddie Capshaw shanked the punt which traveled only three yards.
After two running plays picked up six yards, the Noles faced a 3rd & 4 when Rix completed an eight-yard pass to Gardner to give FSU a 1st down at the Miami 40-yard-line.
Rix would find Gardner again, this time for 15 yards, to give the Noles a fresh set of downs at the Miami 25-yard-line as FSU kept it conservative as they ran two plays then spiked the ball to set up a 43-yard field goal attempt by Beitia that would in the game and end the Hurricanes' 27-game winning streak.
But Beitia would join the list of FSU kickers who missed a game-winning field goal against Miami as his kick sailed wide left, instead of wide right, as time expired with the Canes coming away with the 28-27 win as the Orange Bowl scoreboard put out the words "Wide Left I".
The Seminoles would go to win the ACC despite two more losses during the regular season as they earned a trip to the Sugar Bowl where they fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 26-13 to finish the season with a 9-5 record while Miami would run its winning streak up to 34 games before losing to Ohio State 31-24 in double overtime in the Fiesta Bowl to deny the Canes a second straight national title.
As for Beitia, he would get a chance at redemption 14 months after "Wide Left" as the Noles faced the Canes in the Orange Bowl on New Years' Day 2004 as he attempted a 39-yard field goal with five minutes left in the fourth quarter that would give FSU the lead.
However, his kick sailed wide right and no good, allowing for the Hurricanes to run out the clock and come away with the 16-14 win.
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