In a 10-year span, an undefeated Florida State team fell to Miami (FL) on three missed field goals to the right: 1991, 1992 and 2000.
Fast forward to 2002, where a one-loss Seminoles team trailed the Hurricanes, 28–27, with one second left. Florida State had stayed toe-to-toe with Miami all day long — no small feat against the defending national champions, who entered the contest with a 27-game winning streak.
Placekicker Xavier Beitia had a chance to win it for FSU from 43 yards out, only to hook his kick wide left.
“Wide right so many times, and when it came down to dethroning a champion, it was wide left,” opined ABC’s Brad Nessler.
Florida State and Miami meet again in South Florida on Saturday. Ironically, ten years after his agonizing missed kick, Beitia lives in Miami. Rest assured that current Seminoles kicker Dustin Hopkins — a leading candidate for the Lou Groza Award — is well aware of the precarious history of his predecessors in this rivalry. Xavier Beitia profile
