CANES ARE BACK!!!!!!!!

Miami Hurricanes are sturdy when it counts most
FSU quarterback Christian Ponder carved the Canes secondary up for most of the night, but UM wouldn't budge in the final, frantic seconds.


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Recap: Florida State vs. Miami-Florida
Recap: Florida State vs. Miami-Florida
Jacory Harris threw for a career-high 386 yards, Graig Cooper had the go-ahead three-yard touchdown run with 1:53 remaining, and the Miami came up with a defensive stand at the two-yard line to take down 18th-ranked Florida State, 38-34, at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Harris completed 21-of-34 passes, threw for two scores and was picked off twice. Travis Benjamin came up with four catches for 128 yards and a touchdown. That included a huge 40-yard tiptoe grab to set up the go-ahead score.
Christian Ponder finished 24-of-41 through the air for 294 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the Seminoles, but his final pass to Jarmon Fortson barely fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired.

mnavarro@MiamiHerald.com
TALLAHASSEE -- They bent, but they didn't break.
On a night when everything he did seemed to hurt, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder couldn't find the magic touch when he needed to late against the Hurricanes defense.
Ponder took three shots at the end zone in the waning moments Monday night.
They all failed.
And the University of Miami hung on for a dramatic 38-34 victory on a night when its defense couldn't do much to slow Ponder down.
``We played like men when it mattered,'' said UM safety Randy Phillips, who had an interception and six tackles. ``We didn't change anything on defense [late in the game]. We just settled down a little bit.
``You'll never see this Miami defense play that bad again. It was bad, but we're grateful for the win. It's going to be a great season.''
On first-and-goal, Ponder tried to beat Brandon Harris in the corner of the end zone. But Harris batted away a pass intended for Rob Owens.
On second-and-goal, Ponder looked for Richard Goodman, but the pressure provided by freshman Olivier Vernon forced Ponder to overthrow the pass in the back of the end zone.
On third-and-goal, Ponder had time, but his pass to Jarmon Fortson bounced right in front of the sophomore.
The one thing UM didn't want to do was get beat again by a scrambling Ponder or a potent Florida State running game.
The Canes plugged up their leaky run defense for the most part, as Florida State was limited to 110 yards rushing.
But UM couldn't stop the Seminoles quarterback from carving its defense up with his arm.
Ponder, who ran for 144 yards against UM a season ago, set a career high in passing yards Monday night with 294 and took advantage of a Hurricanes defense that left gaps for Seminoles receivers to exploit.
It was a rough night for UM's secondary, which finished seventh in the nation last season statistically but was shorthanded due to the shoulder injuries to senior Ryan Hill and redshirt freshman Vaughn Telemaque late in the week leading up to the game.
Sam Shields, a converted receiver, made his first start at corner alongside the sophomore Harris.
Senior Chavez Grant, a cornerback, made his first career start at safety alongside Phillips.
``Our main goal was to stop the run. We did that,'' UM linebacker Colin McCarthy said. ``But obviously, they got a lot of passes on third downs and we weren't able to get off the field. But down there on the goalline you have to buff up. We did it and stopped them and [are] going in the right direction.''
Ponder found the holes in Miami's secondary from the get-go, finding seven different receivers on FSU's opening scoring drive.
Only one of those seven completions went for more than 15 yards -- a 34-yard completion to Bert Reed on third-and-23 that put FSU on the UM 14-yard line.
On FSU's opening drive of the second half, Ponder completed two passes to move the Seminoles into the red zone.
After safety Jojo Nicholas was called for pass interference in the end zone, Miami finally got pressure on Ponder when Allen Bailey broke through with a sack that moved FSU back to the 9.
But on the next play, Ponder waltzed into the end zone to give Florida State a 16-14 lead.
``We're thankful,'' Phillips said.
``Florida State has a good team. I'm pretty sure we're going to see them again in the ACC Championship Game.''