No. 3 Miami Played Three Quarters of Dominant Football, Defeating No. 18 FSU
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Another year, another Florida Cup for the Miami Hurricanes, as they bury No. 18 Florida State on the road 28-22, renaming Tallahassee to Malihassee.
It was an electric game on both sides of the ball from the Canes. Offensively, they were humming, playing their best game of the season with an eye-opening performance from quarterback Carson Beck and wide receivers CJ Daniels and Malachi Toney.
Beck looked refreshed against the FSU defense and took many shots down the field, and they were American Sniper-like with his accuracy. He wasn't scared, and it showed in his play.
Beck finished the night 19-23, with 236 yards and four touchdowns. Spitting two a piece to the dynamic duo of Daniels and Toney.
There is a case that Toney is the best freshman in the country right now, with another great game against a ranked opponent. Against the Noles, he finished with two touchdowns, seven catches, and 107 yards for the career day. Toney was so explosive that he could have had three touchdowns had a play not been called back due to a penalty.
He is the one that was promised, that is why he is called Baby Jesus.
On the other side was LSU transfer Daniels, honoring his former teammate Kyren Lacy, who was wrongly convicted of a crime he didn't commit. He finished with a five-catch, 78-yard, and two-touchdown performance, trolling FSU each time he scored against the team.
Defensively, the Canes embodied "Excitement, Swarm, and Violence".
The game plan entering this game was to contain FSU quarterback Tommy Castellanos, and they did. Outside of the garbage time drives for Seminoles. Before then, they stuffed out the No. 1 offense in the country. Rueben Bain Jr. and Ahkeem Mesidor dominated on the edge.
The Hurricanes generated two turnovers and almost had three. Freshman Bryce Fitzgerald has been a ball hawk all season, snatching his third interception of the year, leading the Canes and all freshmen in the country with takeaways.
Fitzgerald is just the tip of the iceberg with this Canes secondary. They have players flying around everywhere, with Jakobe Thomas and Keionte Scott continuing to show why they were such valuable pickups from the transfer portal.
Mario Cristobal was proud of his team's performance but knew that this game had no reason to get as close as it. Even in victory, there is always something to clean up on both sides of the ball.
The only downside to Miami, they need to find a way to just put people in the dirt.
— Justice Sandle (@Justice_News5) October 5, 2025
The Hurricanes are back on a bye week after this performance and will return on Oct. 17 against Louisville to continue conference play.
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.