Florida State and Miami Knotted at 10-10

MIAMI - Drew Weatherford had third-down passes of 28 and 34 yards to breathe life into a stagnant Florida State offense late in the third quarter, setting up Joe Surratt's 1-yard plunge that pulled the Seminoles into a 10-10 tie with Miami early in the fourth quarter of the teams' season opener Monday night.

The Seminoles had only 66 yards in the first 2 1/2 quarters, before Weatherford moved his team on an eight-play, 67-yard drive. Surratt burst through the right side of the line on the first play of the final period.

A close game shouldn't have surprised anyone at the Orange Bowl - six of the previous seven meetings between the schools were decided by eight points or less.

Charlie Jones had a 4-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, helping stake Miami to a 10-3 halftime lead. Jones' run capped a seven-play, 51-yard drive for Miami, which struggled early before finding a groove in the second quarter.

Miami's Kyle Wright completed 16 of 21 passes for 122 yards through three quarters for the Hurricanes, who were looking to beat the Seminoles for the seventh time in eight meetings.

The Seminoles - who haven't won in the Orange Bowl since 1998 - were being outgained 122-66 before their touchdown drive, and simply had no success running the ball. Florida State had 4 yards on 17 rushes before that drive.

But Weatherford got rolling in the final minutes of the third quarter, completing a 28-yard toss to De'Cody Fagg, then finding Lorenzo Booker for a 34-yard catch-and-run on another third down that brought the Seminoles to Miami's 5 and setting up Surratt's score.

Weatherford was 12-of-23 for 129 yards entering the fourth.

Florida State's Gary Cismesia hit a 37-yard field goal 6:04 into the game, opening the scoring. The Seminoles held Miami to 15 yards in the opening quarter, but the Hurricanes' fortunes changed in the second.

Miami's first scoring drive was highlighted by a 27-yard catch by Darnell Jenkins, who adjusted and spun to grab a slightly underthrown ball shortly before Jones' touchdown run with 13:02 left in the half.

The drive was aided by two penalties, one of which went against Miami.

Wright was sacked for a 16-yard loss on the first play after Jenkins' grab, yet Miami caught a break when the play was whistled dead by a false-start penalty. And Jones was stuffed for a 3-yard loss by Florida State linebacker Buster Davis on the next play, but Seminoles defensive tackle Paul Griffin jumped helmet-first into Jones after the tackle, resulting in a personal-foul flag and a new set of downs.

Jon Peattie added a 20-yard field goal later in the half, pushing the margin to 10-3.

This was the third straight Florida State-Miami opener; the Hurricanes won 16-10 in overtime at home in 2004, then lost 10-7 last Labor Day in Tallahassee.

Miami and Florida State agreed to the first-game series because it offered a prime television slot - but the game will be played later in 2007, probably the first Saturday in October.