Rainy win over rival Miami is watershed moment for FSU's Ponder

MIAMI -- It wasn't for the national championship, but by the end of Florida State 41-39 victory over Miami on Saturday before a rain-soaked crowd of 65,784 at Dolphin Stadium, you couldn't tell.

Quarterback Christian Ponder, pulled from the 12-3 loss to Wake Forest two weeks ago, gained 144 yards on 19 carries and threw for 159 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Greg Carr. Ponder performed like a star in a game where one was required to win.

Christian Ponder 'grew up a lot' in this game and kept finding open holes in the D. (Getty Images)

His performance was barely enough to hold off a furious Miami rally in the second half that was led by its special teams. It was the first time that the Hurricanes (2-3), have started 0-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play since joining the league in 2004.

It was another strait-jacket game between the two rivals who have a history of playing to the insane level.

"This reminded me of my first year at West Virginia," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "We led 35-8 at halftime, and they came back to beat us 36-35. It's also like the 1987 game we played with Miami in Tallahassee. We led 19-3 going into the fourth quarter and they won 26-25 when we missed the two-point conversion. They went on to win the national championship."

The victory leaves the Seminoles at 4-1 (1-1), with four of their six remaining ACC games in Tallahassee.

Ponder, whose rushing total was second highest for a quarterback in program history, grew up in a showdown where many players have often regressed.

"I grew up a lot," Ponder said. "There were certain things that we looked for in the defense and when they showed them to us, we checked into running plays that we felt would work, and they did."

Ponder's biggest run was after Miami had closed to 34-32. It happened on third-and-11 from the Miami 49. Ponder dove for the stick and 11 yards.

"It was a huge play," Ponder said. "The whole drive was huge. We needed to keep scoring, and we were able to finish it off."

Antone Smith clinched the game on third-and-goal from the 20 when he busted up the middle for his fourth touchdown. "We ran right into the blitz," said Smith, who finished with 92 yards on 27 carries. "I hit the A gap. It broke clean. I got a great block from (Taiwan) Easterling and just kept going."

The Hurricanes answered one final time when tackle Jason Fox ran for a touchdown from 5 yards out with 14 seconds left, but Easterling recovered Matt Bosher's onside kick.

The Seminoles established control in the first half with a 24-3 lead as Ponder rushed for 107 yards, more than twice Miami's total offense of 52 yards.

Ponder had 21 yards and one third-down conversion to set up the first touchdown. A 45-yard run set up the second touchdown, and 26 yards in three rushes and another third-down conversion led to the third touchdown.

"This is the type of game where players panic," Bowden said. "I never saw him panic, even though I was panicking."

Bowden's panic was brought on by Miami's special teams. In the second half, Travis Benjamin's 42-yard kickoff return and two bundled punt snaps led to 15 Hurricane points. Miami also got 14 points off two turnovers.

"Our special teams killed us," Bowden said. "We couldn't tackle No. 80 (Benjamin), and we couldn't snap the ball. Our defense didn't play bad, but we kept putting them in the hole."

It was the Hurricanes defense that had a bad day as the two teams racked up the largest combined point total in series history.

Miami entered the game allowing 65 yards rushing per game, seventh nationally, and the Hurricanes allowed 281 yards rushing and 440 yards total.

"Defensively, we couldn't hold them consistently," Miami coach Randy Shannon said of FSU's ability to convert 11 of 17 third downs. "We got them to third down a lot of times, but then we couldn't get off the field."

The Hurricanes did it by exposing their perimeter to repeated runs by Ponder. On the option, Florida State forced the "Sam" linebacker to choose between the pitch man and Ponder. He always chose the pitch man, leaving big lanes.

"Ponder's ability to run is deceptive," Bowden said. "We knew that he could make plays with his legs. I don't know that we expected him to make as many plays as he did today."

The win was Bowden's second in a row in South Florida, the first time since 1996 and 1998 for him. It was the first time a regular-season game between the two teams wasn't played in the Orange Bowl.

"I think that I like this place a lot better," Bowden said.