5 Quick Takeaways From No. 3 Miami’s Nail-Biting Double OT Win Over Florida State

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — No. 3 Miami is 6-0 after Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium as the Hurricanes defeated their long-standing rival, the Florida State Seminoles, 43-35 in dramatic fashion.

The slugfest between the two rivals went into overtime as it was a back-and-forth affair for four quarters.

Here are the 5 quick takeaways from one of the craziest games of the year. 

1. Miami’s known struggles after the bye week continue 

The Hurricanes started the game sloppy, and that set the stage for one dramatic night. 

Miami, under Mario Cristobal, after bye weeks, was 3-3 entering Saturday night, all against ACC opponents. All three of those losses were at home, too.

Fourtnate enough for Cristobal, that record does not reach below .500 after late game heroics in overtime.

It started with an ejection in the first quarter and six penalties in the first half.  Several players were missing assignments and not executing the little details, making the game close.

This gave the Seminoles confidence and that is all you need in a rivalry game.

The team came out sloppy and looked like they were coming off a bye week. That has been a constant theme under this staff, and will need major improvements moving forward on how to deal with them.

2. The secondary was tested once again with departures

Miami’s secondary has already seen several injuries in the secondary this season, and it continued tonight.

Bryce Fitzgerald left the game midway through the first quarter with a shoulder injury. He re-entered the game in the second quarter and would eventually make the game-saving interception in overtime to seal the win.

The Hurricanes had to deal with Zechariah Poyser being ejected early in the first quarter due to a targeting penalty. That didn’t help the cause, as we saw the secondary have its worst game of the year.

In the first half, six different players recorded a reception. They were out of sorts and looked like a unit that was coming off a bye week and dealing with uncertainty. 

Ashton Daniels completed 15 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday night. He had his way with Miami’s defense and looked like a completely different quarterback.

The secondary will need to clean up a lot of stuff before next week when the Panthers of Pittsburgh come into town.

3. Defense has its worst showing of the season

Corey Hetherman’s unit as a whole didn’t play well and was arguably one of worst performances in his tenure as the defensive coordinator.

The execution was not there from the players, as it seemed like the players were missing assignments and not communicating well, something Hetherman always preaches.

The defense allowed 443 total yards to the Seminoles, that includes 305 passing yards.

A unit that prides themselves in creating negative plays, the defense only recorded two sacks and three tackles for loss on Saturday night.

There will be a lot of great coaching tape for Hetherman as they will go over the film as a unit and try to fix their mistakes that almost costed them the first loss of the season.

4. Malachi Toney saves the day for the offense

When in doubt, Malachi Toney is there to save the day.

The offense was stagnat and inconsistent for the majority of the night. Darian Mensah finally looked human for the first time this season as he struggled at times.

The one that was waiting to save the day was Toney.

He finished the game with 11 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Toney also completed a pass to Cooper Barkate for a 2-point conversion in overtime.

The Heisman race will be continue to heat up as the season goes along, and Toney just made another strong case in a huge rivarly win on prime time.

5. Javian Mallory looks like the next great running back for the Hurricanes

An incredible game from the true freshman propels the offense to a second half explosion that was much needed.

Javian Mallory was fantastic tonight, recording 108 rushing yards on 13 attempts and two touchdowns. He ripped a 25-yard touchdown in overtime to tie the game and kept Miami in it.

He averaged over eight yards per carry and showed tremendous flashes throughout the game. Players make a name for themselves in games like this, and Mallory may have just done that in one of the best rivalries in the sport.

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