TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Ticker) -- Florida State's hopes of rejoining college football's elite were washed away.
Sean Taylor returned one of his two interceptions 50 yards for a touchdown and second-ranked Miami took advantage of five turnovers in a 22-14 victory over the fifth-ranked Seminoles.
Florida State has endured a notable fall from prominence over the last few seasons, losing nine times in 2001 and 2002 after appearing in the 2000 national title game. After opening this year with five straight wins, Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden had called Saturday's game against the hated Hurricanes "a measuring ballgame."
The Seminoles (5-1) failed the test, falling behind 19-0 at halftime and never recovering in a game played in heavy rain.
"What I told the kids this week was that what will win this game are turnovers and the kicking game," Bowden said. "We turned the ball over five times and had a punt blocked. That's the story right there."
It was the largest halftime deficit for the Seminoles since they trailed Florida, 28-6, in 1995.
Miami (6-0) had no need for another late missed field goal by the Seminoles because this one was over early. The Hurricanes defeated Miami for the fourth straight time and have won back-to-back games at Doak Campbell Stadium for the first time since 1985 and 1987.
Jarrett Payton caught a 14-yard touchdown pass on a screen play and freshman Jon Peattie kicked three field goals for the Hurricanes, who won their 38th straight regular-season game and their 18th straight road game.
Payton carried 26 times for 97 yards in his first start at tailback in place of the injured Frank Gore, who is out for the season with a knee injury suffered last week against West Virginia.
"This is a team win for us - offense, defense and special teams," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "Nobody had run the ball against Florida State and Jarrett Payton really stepped up and we did a nice job of running the ball today in some tough conditions."
The Hurricanes also turned the ball over five times, including three interceptions by Brock Berlin, but they did not prove nearly as costly.
Florida State showed some spark, cutting the lead to 22-7 on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Chris Rix to Willie Reid late in the third quarter. The Seminoles drove within the Miami 5 midway through the fourth quarter, but a fourth-down pass by Rix was incomplete, ending any realistic chance at victory.
"The weather affected our game plan and our execution, but it hurt Miami, too," Rix said. "I could have executed better for our team and put us in better situations."
Rix threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Chris Davis on the final play of the game, but it was too little, too late. Rix completed 20-of-42 passes for 235 yards and was intercepted twice.
Taylor also recovered a blocked punt by Jarrell Weaver in the first quarter, leading to a 26-yard field goal by Peattie.
The Hurricanes then recovered the onside kick and Berlin completed a 19-yard pass to Kellen Winslow, leading to a 22-yard field goal by Peattie that made it 6-0 after one quarter.
Winslow caught seven passes for 106 yards.
The Hurricanes had appeared vulnerable after a two-point win over West Virginia last week, but came ready to play this week.
"We had taken a lot of criticism after a close win," Coker said. "Not a lot of people gave us much of a chance to win this game."
Miami increased its lead to 12-0 by marching 75 yards in 11 plays, capped by the TD pass from Berlin to Payton. Berlin completed 15-of-28 passes for 181 yards.
On the previous play, Miami's Roscoe Parrish caught a short pass from Berlin and was leveled on a hard, legal hit from cornerback Stanford Samuels. Parrish needed assistance leaving the field.
Later in the quarter, Taylor picked off a badly thrown pass from Rix and dodged several tacklers on his way to the end zone to make it 19-0.
Greg Jones, who ran for 189 yards in last year's loss to Miami, was held to 15 yards on 13 carries.
"It was tough today. We had higher expectations coming into this game," Jones said. "We tried hard but we just can't win with as many turnovers as we had."
Peattie kicked a 19-yard field goal 3:34 into the third quarter and has made 13-of-15 attempts this season.
The Seminoles fumbled six times overall, losing three. P.K. Sam of the Seminoles caught nine passes for 95 yards.
