Miami vs. Florida State re-visited: 1991
By Jack Crosby
The 1991 battle between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida State Seminoles is one of the more famous ones in the history of this heated rivalry.
This one was played in Tallahassee on Nov. 16, 1991 and was the first time that these two met on the field as the top two teams in the land. The ‘Noles entered the game as the number one team in the polls, while Miami entered this road game ranked number two. It was also a match up of one of the most prolific offenses in the country in Florida State, who was averaging 41 points per game at the time, versus a Miami defense that had given up just 58 points through eight games at that point.
After Miami won the toss and took a quick 7-0 lead, Florida State scored 16 unanswered points to take a 16-7 lead, which they held in the fourth quarter. The ‘Canes were able to get themselves a field goal to cut the lead to 16-10 in the final period.
With 3:01 to play in the game, Miami marched down the field and fullback Larry Jones scored from one-yard out and grabbed the lead back from the ‘Noles at 17-16.
Just a short time later, one of the more defining moments in the rivalry occurred.
Florida State got themselves down the field and, thanks to a pass interference call, had themselves set up at the Miami 18-yard line with 29 seconds in the game.
On third down, Bobby Bowden sent kicker Gerry Thomas out for a 34-yard field goal attempt to keep the FSU national championship hopes alive, when this happened:
As heartbreaking as that was for Florida State fans, they had no idea that it would only get worse one year later.