On Saturday night, Florida State and Miami will meet in Tallahassee for what’s certain to be the most nationally anticipated edition of their rivalry in years.
With Miami ranked No. 3 and Florida State ranked No. 18 in the most recent AP Poll, the Week 6 contest will mark the first time the two teams will meet with each boasting Top 25 rankings since 2016. Coincidentally, 2016 was the last time an unlikely trend that has helped define the rivalry over the past four decades reared its head: failed field goal attempts.
Since 1990, seven ranked showdowns between the Seminoles and Hurricanes have been decided in large part by unsuccessful field goal attempts. There have been missed kicks — four to the right, and one to the left, to be exact — blocked kicks and fumbled holds over the years. And while the famous Wide Right trend exclusively benefitted Miami, Florida State has now been on the winning side of a pair of critical botched kicks itself.
Regardless of team, one thing is certain heading into Saturday: if either the Seminoles or Hurricanes need to convert a clutch field goal late on, you should probably make sure you’re watching. History tells us it could get interesting.
1991: Miami 17, Florida State 16
The chronology of kicking failures in Miami-Florida State began on Nov. 16, 1991, when the legend of Wide Right was born.
When the two teams met at Doak Campbell Stadium that Saturday, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. The Seminoles were the No. 1 team in the country, while the Hurricanes were No. 2, and a tightly contested affair lived up to the proximity of the two team’s rankings. Eventually the game came down to a 34-yard field goal attempt by Florida State’s Gerry Thomas — already 3-for-3 on field goal attempts on the day — who was sent out to give Florida State a 19-17 win as time expired.
Thomas’ kick, however, sailed just to the right of the uprights, earning the game the nickname Wide Right I. Why the roman numeral? Well, the two teams met again soon enough.
1992: Miami 19, Florida State 16
And in 1992, Wide Right II occurred.
Once again, the Seminoles and Hurricanes met with undefeated records and top-five rankings on the line. Similar to Wide Right I, Miami led late in the game, and Florida State drove down the field to set up a field goal as time expired. Seminoles kicker Dan Mowrey was 3-for-3 on the day as he lined up the would-be game-tying field goal.
And once again, the attempt sailed wide to the right. Miami would win its third straight edition of the rivalry.
2000: Miami 27, Florida State 24
After 1992, the haunting of Wide Right would disappear for an eight-year stretch, but its legacy wasn’t complete. The 2000 edition of Florida State-Miami brought Wide Right III.
With four minutes remaining in the rivalry game, the Hurricanes led 20-10. Then things got crazy — the Seminoles scored two touchdowns in just under two minutes of game time to take the lead, before the Hurricanes found the end zone themselves to regain the lead with 46 seconds remaining.
Florida State still had time to get to the edge of field goal range, with Matt Munyon attempting a 49-yard try as time expired. It went wide right.
“Wouldn’t you know it?” legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden remarked after the game. “He’s been wide left all year, and then that happens. We had him out there pretty far, though.”
2002: Miami 28, Florida State 27
Before Wide Right could reenter the rivalry’s lore, a brief twist on the curse occurred in 2002: Wide Left.
The underdog Seminoles had built a 27-14 advantage early in the fourth quarter, before the Hurricanes charged back to take the lead with back-to-back touchdowns. With the clock winding down, Florida State managed to drive down the field to set up a potential game-winning field goal attempt.
With one second remaining, Xavier Beitia trotted out for a 43-yard attempt. In a new but equally fatal twist of fate for the Seminoles, the kick hooked wide left this time around.
2003: Miami 16, Florida State 14
Wide Left wasn’t the start of a new trend, though. Rather, two years later, in the 2004 Orange Bowl, Wide Right IV occurred.
The final edition of the Wide Right saga wasn’t as directly responsible for a Florida State defeat as the first three — as opposed to a miss as time expired, Wide Right IV came with 5½ minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. However, it proved vital all the same. Down by two, the Seminoles wouldn’t get in striking distance again, and Miami left as victors 16-14.
2005: Florida State 10, Miami 7
By the time the two schools met in 2005, the Seminoles had lost six consecutive editions of the matchup. Fittingly, they snapped that six-game streak thanks to a miscue on a field goal attempt by the Hurricanes.
Come the final quarter of the low-scoring affair, it was Florida State that had battled its way to a 10-7 lead. With just over two minutes left, the Hurricanes had managed to work their way into range for a game-tying field goal attempt. Before the kick could go up though, Miami holder Brian Monroe fumbled the snap. The Seminoles would proceed to run out the clock. It wasn’t the only missed opportunity on a field goal attempt the Hurricanes would rue in the 2005 matchup either — Miami also missed two first-half field goals in the three-point loss.
“We finally stole one,” Bowden said after the win.
2016: Florida State 20, Miami 19
The most recent instance of kicking trouble in a Seminoles-Hurricanes game came in 2016, with Florida State making the trip to Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami got out to an early 13-0 lead at home, before a pair of second-half touchdowns by Florida State helped the Seminoles go up 20-13. But with under two minutes to play, the Hurricanes would find the end zone once again for what looked to be the tying score with a Stacy Coley touchdown reception. All they needed to do was kick the extra point to formally tie the game.
The extra point was blocked. Florida State ran out the clock on the ensuing possession to secure the win 20-19.
