Florida State got its miracle at No. 3 Miami on Saturday night, a 36-yard touchdown pass from Ashton Daniels to Micahi Danzy on fourth-and-21 in the second overtime. A holding flag took it away, and the Hurricanes won 43-35 on the next snap.
That flag, on Seminoles offensive lineman Xavier Chaplin, is the call at the center of the reaction. Several fans insisted there was no hold, and some accused ACC officials of protecting the unbeaten Hurricanes.
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Fans Hunt for the Hold That Erased Micahi Danzy's Touchdown
The Hurricanes had opened the second overtime with Malachi Toney's 3-yard touchdown catch, and Toney then threw the two-point conversion to Cooper Barkate. Danzy's score would have cut it to 43-41 and left the Seminoles one two-point try from a third overtime. ESPN shared the touchdown that never counted.
Chaplin's penalty cost 10 yards and made it fourth-and-31 from the Miami 46. Bryce Fitzgerald was then ruled to have intercepted Daniels' throw to Duce Robinson in the end zone, and the call stood after officials consulted the ACC replay center.
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Even a Florida Gators fan account took the Seminoles' side. "It wasn't holding and I hate Florida State with every fiber of my body," the account wrote. "They gave it to Miami."
One fan zeroed in on the rusher Chaplin was blocking, writing, "You shouldn't be able to fall down as a DE and get a 10-yard penalty on the other team." CBS Sports
' Austin Nivison called it "a tight call," writing that Chaplin appeared to get slightly outside the defender's shoulder pads before the rusher seemed to lose his footing and go down.
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Another fan argued that "you can't call holding on a 4th down Hail Mary," and Nivison made a similar point, describing holding as "a penalty that rarely gets called in desperate end-of-game situations." Several more claimed the flag didn't come out until after the Seminoles had already scored.
A few fans backed the officials, with one calling it a "textbook hold."
The ACC Takes the Heat as Mike Norvell Points to the Film
One fan skipped past Chaplin entirely and went after the conference. "Investigate the ACC. This is clearly a dying conference rigging games for monetary benefit," the fan wrote.
Another fan said the ACC "lost all credibility today," and others tied the call to the Hurricanes' playoff hopes. "There is NO WAY you're convincing me this isn't just the ACC ensuring their only shot at the CFP gets the win," one wrote.
The coaches saw the flag differently. Asked about the swing from apparent touchdown to flag, Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal kept it simple. "I saw the flag, so I thought there was more than likely a hold," he said.
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Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said officials offered little explanation, and he wasn't buying the one he got on the hold. "The holding call on the play before, they said it was on No. 77. Go watch the film," Norvell said.
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