(CSTV U-WIRE) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Seventy-eight degree weather, no rain in the forecast and the game day is actually on the correct date. It was the perfect setting for an ugly, defensive battle between these two Florida rivals.

Florida State took advantage of the pristine conditions, taking home an ugly 10-7 win over archrival Miami Monday night.

Both teams’ first efforts failed to build momentum. Miami’s first drive ended with a missed field goal by veteran place-kicker Jon Peattie, then its Garnet and Gold counterpart ended its initial start with a three-and-out.

However, Florida State (1-0, 1-0 ACC) would strike first with a Kyler Hall interception eventually leading to a James Coleman 1-yard dive with 8:38 left in the first quarter. FSU kicker Gary Cismesia would extend the lead 10-0 with a 37-yard field goal five minutes later.

“We really did not have much film on Kyle Wright,” Hall commented. “We really had no idea what he was going to do when he got out on the field. We knew he was young and that we had to get at him. Coach [Mickey] Andrews and coach [Kevin] Steele did a good job tonight.”

Miami (0-1, 0-1 ACC) attempted to respond on the ensuing drive with quarterback Kyle Wright finding his rhythm with receiver Ryan Moore — his first pass to Moore resulted in a pass interference and the second was an 18-yard completion, putting the ‘Canes in field goal range – but Peattie could not come through once again, missing his second kick wide left.

When Miami punted back to FSU, it committed two fouls on the fourth-and-eight punt return. Hurricanes defensive back Devin Hester ran into FSU returnman Willie Reid and freshman running back Charlie Jones received an ejection after retaliating on a player away from the ball. The penalties resulted in 30 positive yards to the ‘Noles starting position.

The advantage evaporated again as FSU couldn’t mount any offense and failed to fool the Miami special teams with a fake punt rush by Sims from the Miami 34.

Miami started the drive with a Wright pass to Sinorice Moss for a first down. After a Wright scramble for a first down to the FSU 34, Florida State and Miami called timeouts back-to-back. The ‘Canes benefited from the extended delay when Wright’s pass split two defenders and found a backpedaling Moore for the Hurricanes’ only score of the game.

As the second quarter continued, Florida State signal caller Drew Weatherford threw his first career interception to Miami cornerback Marcus Maxey on an ill-advised throw to Chris Davis.

FSU had the opportunity to take the lead on its second drive of the third quarter as linebacker Lawrence Timmons blocked a Brian Monroe punt, which landed on the Miami 1. The Hurricanes’ defense would not surrender points as the Garnet and Gold went backward all three plays. A false start penalty on a fourth-down field-goal attempt led to a wide left miss from 26 yards for Cismesia.

The fourth quarter brought a surprise switch under center as quarterback Xavier Lee led the FSU offense onto the field with 14:13 remaining. The change merited no results as Lee couldn’t move the offense into scoring position.

As Miami received the ball with 12:01 remaining, Wright and tight end Greg Olsen connected on four consecutive third-down conversions, marching down to the FSU 14. Following a false start penalty, the ‘Canes inched closer to the goal line with a 17-yard pass from Wright to Moore.

However, Miami could not make the move into the end zone as Seminole freshman defensive end Neefy Moffett gave the defense their ninth sack of the night. On third-and-goal, Moss caught a pass and was stopped for a loss of two.

Miami’s game-tying opportunity was then botched along with the snap on a 27-yard field goal attempt with 2:16 to play.

The Seminole offense walked on the field signaling to the audience to quiet down on the premature celebration. A 9-yard run by Leon Washington and a dive by Weatherford for a first down iced the game and officially broke the six-game losing streak. -Brandon Hudson