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Noles Can't Overcome Late Collapse

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By MICHAEL McGUFFEE, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 21, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - With Florida State ahead 29-24 and seven minutes left, Miami safety Kenny Phillips intercepted Xavier Lee and returned the pick 36 yards to the FSU 11.

But in a back-and-forth game that included nine turnovers and numerous momentum changes, Florida State rallied defensively. Miami advanced as far as FSU's 2, but the Seminoles denied Miami's Kirby Freeman on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak.

Lee and a resurgent running game came back on the field and helped the Noles take almost three minutes off the clock before punting.

Then, in what has become a familiar occurrence for a team that has struggled to finish games, the Noles collapsed.

In a drive starting with 2:45 left, Freeman and the Hurricanes mixed a successful running game with an array of sideline passes to advance 83 yards in only 1:30 for the go-ahead score.

'It was basically self-destruction,' FSU cornerback Patrick Robinson said. 'We were messing up on small things, which led to Miami getting first downs.'

Miami's 2-point conversion failed, leaving the Seminoles with a 30-29 deficit with 1:12 remaining in what looked to be another game in the rivalry that would come down to a last-second kick. To add to FSU's hopes, kicker Gary Cismesia had made all five of his field-goal attempts in the game, and his field goals the past two years against Miami were the margin of victory.

But UM defensive tackle Teraz McCray flew through the line and forced Lee to fumble on FSU's first play of the drive. Linebacker Colin McCarthy scooped up the ball and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown to complete the snowballing 13-point turn of events.

Just like that, UM led 37-29.

'I didn't really see much,' Lee said of the play. 'I dropped back and I was on the ground.'

Despite the drastic turn, the Seminoles still had hope with a minute left and down by 8.

Lee scrambled on the first play for a gain of 6, but could not get out of bounds to stop the clock. With two timeouts left, Lee then short-armed three consecutive incompletions to the sideline

'Three minutes to go in the game, we stop them in four downs right there,' junior linebacker Derek Nicholson said. 'But to have it just turn, turn around like that, is tough. You want to be a good team, you got to finish strong to win, but we didn't do that. We collapsed.'

For the second straight game Florida State went into halftime with the lead, but left the field with a loss. The Noles, whose six losses last season included five by a touchdown or less, were outscored 20-9 in the second half Saturday and 17-7 in their previous loss to Wake Forest.

'You can't beat yourself, and that's what we did,' FSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher said. 'We just have to learn to keep our poise, how to play in the clutch.'

Said Lee: 'We have to learn how to finish games. It's that simple.'

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