3 takeaways from No. 6 Miami’s workmanlike win against rival Florida State

Cam Ward didn’t throw for a touchdown for the first time in his short Miami career. The Heisman Trophy frontrunner did, however, catch a touchdown pass while doing just enough to keep the 6th-ranked Hurricanes undefeated and on track for a trip to the ACC Championship game.

Damien Martinez churned out 148 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground and Miami’s defense did the rest on the way to a workmanlike 36-14 victory against rival Florida State.

The Seminoles succeeded in shortening the game and, as they did against Clemson earlier this season, kept the score somewhat respectable by forcing the Hurricanes to kick 3 field goals rather than scoring touchdowns.

But Miami was still able to easily cover the 20.5-point spread and hand coach Mario Cristobal his first win against FSU as the coach of his alma mater while adding to FSU’s season-long misery. The Seminoles are the first team since Maryland in 1956 to go from an undefeated regular season to 1-7 the next year.

Here are 3 takeaways from the win that improves the Hurricanes to 8-0 for the first time since 2017 and mathematically eliminates FSU from bowl contention:

Saving his best for third down

Ward has his least-productive game as a Hurricane, with only 208 passing yards. It was his first game this season in which he failed to throw for at least 300. Some of the problems can be traced to the pressure FSU’s defensive front put on him. He was sacked 4 times and hurried on several other occasions.

While his overall statistics might not have been as impressive as usual, his performance on third down was. Ward helped Miami convert 7 of 12 opportunities by completing all 8 of his third down passes for 89 yards.

Thanks to that efficiency, Miami was able to run 16 more offensive plays than its rival and hold an 11-plus minute advantage in time of possession.

Miami’s second half domination

The Hurricanes have been one of the best second half teams in the country. Their plus-17.14 point differential coming into Saturday’s game ranked third nationally behind only Ohio State (18.17) and Indiana (18.0). They’ve been especially good in fourth quarters, outscoring the opposition by a 9.43 margin.

While they weren’t nearly as dominant against the Seminoles, they still owned the final two periods. Thanks to a pair of Andres Borregales field goals in the third period and Ward’s 7-yard touchdown catch from tight end Elijah Arroyo and Martinez’s late touchdown, Miami outscored FSU 19-7 after halftime. The Seminoles’ only score came with just 18 seconds remaining.

Even with the late window dressing touchdown, the Hurricanes can be happy with their defensive performance after being torched for 34 or more points in each of their past 3 games, including 45 in last week’s win at Louisville.

FSU’s quarterback of the future, is its QB1 of the present

Brock Glenn didn’t turn the ball over like he did 3 times on consecutive plays in the first half at Duke last week. But after struggling to a 2-of-6 start for 17 yards while directing an offense going nowhere fast, coach Mike Norvell had seen enough.

He wasted little time in replacing Glenn with Luke Kromenhoek. And this time, he stuck with his highly-rated true freshman.

Kromenhoek got his feet wet by playing 2 possessions in the loss to the Blue Devils before handing things back over to Glenn. Although his numbers weren’t the kind that jump off the stat page, he injected some badly needed spark into the Seminoles’ attack with his poise and improvisational skill.

He finished the night completing 7 of his 12 passes for 61 yards. He also ran for 71 yards on 11 carries, including a 42-yard gain on a fourth-and-1 play in which he appeared to be stopped near the line to gain. The run set up FSU’s first touchdown midway through the second quarter.

Brett Friedlander

Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.