Florida State answered with a 51-yard completion from Weldon to Amp Lee, the longest play Miami's vaunted defense had allowed that season.
The rest of the quarter showed missed opportunities on both sides, with Miami receivers dropping three deep passes from Torretta while Florida State's offense short-circuited with penalties.
Miami drove inside the Florida State 30-yard line twice more in the quarter, but Torretta was intercepted each time, first by Terrell Buckley and later by Marvin Jones.
The Hurricanes could not convert the turnover into points, as Carlos Huerta's 41-yard field goal attempt was blocked, preserving a 10-7 halftime lead for Florida State.
After briefly getting the wind knocked out of him by Miami linebacker Corwin Francis, Weldon led the 'Noles 58 yards in 13 plays on their first drive of the second half.
Later in the third, Florida State embarked on a time-consuming 11-play, 90-yard drive that culminated early in the fourth quarter with Thomas' third field goal of the day, extending the Seminoles' lead to 16–7.
A series of runs by McGuire, who finished with 142 yards rushing, brought Miami inside the red zone, but the Hurricanes soon faced a crucial fourth-and-6.
The Florida State defense stopped Miami on first and second down, but backup fullback Larry Jones made the end zone on third down from 1 yard out to put the Hurricanes back in front, 17–16, with 3:01 left to play.
"[5] With both Miami's and Florida State's national championship aspirations riding on the outcome, Thomas came on to attempt a 34-yard, potential game-winning field goal.
[5] Miami players threw their helmets in the air and rushed the field to celebrate, while Bowden, hands on hips, gazed at the goalposts, stunned.
[2] After taking a knee to run off the remaining few seconds, Torretta tossed the ball skyward in triumph and Miami emerged from the contest with a 17–16 victory.
After the game, Bowden expressed regret about not passing the ball on a third-and-goal from the Hurricane 4-yard line early in the fourth quarter and famously bemoaned his repeated misfortune at the hands of Miami, saying, "I think the curse is they're on our schedule.
The Seminoles would rebound to beat Texas A&M by a score matching their regular season record, 10–2, in the Cotton Bowl Classic,[7][8] finishing ranked fourth in both the AP and Coaches' Polls.