The Miami Hurricanes thought they were about to force overtime after a late touchdown vs Florida State, but a blocked PAT proved otherwise
Mark Richt’s Miami Hurricanes jumped out to an early lead over their ACC rivals in the Florida State Seminoles. However, Jimbo Fisher’s team pulled together for their best defensive effort of the season to climb out of the 13-3 hole. They scored 17 unanswered points to hold a 20-13 lead in the fourth quarter. After a targeting call left the Hurricanes without one of their key players, it seemed like it was curtains for The U.
However, Brad Kaaya and the offense benefitted from a massive punt return by Logan Tyler that put Miami in the red zone. Quickly, the home team was able to score a touchdown with a Kaaya pass to Stacy Coley. All they needed was a simply extra point and the game would be tied and likely would be headed to overtime. Of course, college kicking is never that simple.
On the point-after-try, Florida State star defensive end Demarcus Walker got loose on the edge and into the backfield. He was the able to get his hand on the kick and block the extra-point, thus securing a 20-19 lead for FSU:
Yikes.... #FSUvsMIA https://t.co/KOpD15AWKr
— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) October 9, 2016
They don’t make blocked kicks much bigger or much more important than that. Following the block and with the one-point lead in their grasps, Deondre Francois and the Seminoles offense were able to run out the clock and secure the big win over Miami.
The Hurricanes certainly shouldn’t hang their heads after a huge effort and big-time performance. However, it’s absolutely wild to see a game of this magnitude with these stakes be decided by one point because of a play like that on the point-after. Then again, that kind craziness is par for the course in 2016 college football.