Wide Right II Wide Right II is a colloquial name for the 1992 college football game between the Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles . The game is notable in the Florida State – Miami football rivalry and derives its name from the colloquial name Wide Right I , played during the immediately preceding season . Like its predecessor , the game had decisive national championship implications and ended with a Florida State kicker missing a game - altering field goal in the waning seconds . Background . Miami entered the October 3 , 1992 , matchup of intrastate rivals as the defending national champion and second - ranked team in the country , riding a 20 - game winning streak . Miami , however , appeared to be vulnerable , as Hurricane Andrew had disrupted the early portion of its schedule and Miami was unimpressive in surviving an 8 - 7 scare against the the week prior . Because of Miami ' s lackluster performance against Arizona , the Hurricanes lost their number one ranking in the AP Poll and were dropped to number two , behind the Washington Huskies . Nevertheless , Miami featured a bevy of stars on its roster , including Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Gino Torretta , wide receiver Lamar Thomas , and linebackers Jessie Armstead and Micheal Barrow , and the team was in the midst of an NCAA - record 58 - game home winning streak at the Orange Bowl . Florida State was looking to avenge its loss to Miami in Wide Right I the season before . The game . Florida State came strong out of the gate , as Tamarick Vanover took the opening kickoff back 94 yards for a touchdown . Miami struck back in the second quarter with a 24 - yard Dane Prewitt field goal and a 29 - yard touchdown pass from Gino Torretta to Coleman Bell , taking the lead , 10 - 7 . Florida State countered with a 22 - yard field goal by Dan Mowrey , and the teams headed to the locker room deadlocked at 10 . Mowrey added a 38 - yard field goal in the third quarter and a 41 - yarder early in the fourth . Leading 16 - 10 with just over 9 minutes to play , the Seminoles found themselves in a position eerily similar to the season before : a 6 - point lead late in the game and a field goal kicker who was 3 - for - 3 on the day . Miami responded as it did the season before , going on a 7 - play , 58 - yard drive that culminated with a 33 - yard touchdown pass from Torretta to Lamar Thomas . Torretta was drilled as he released the ball , but Thomas was able to sneak behind Clifton Abraham and make a basket catch . With the extra point , Miami seized the lead , 17 - 16 . Miami ' s defense held on the next possession , and the Florida State defense forced a punt on Miami ' s subsequent series . The ensuing punt proved disastrous for the Seminoles : punt returner Corey Sawyer was penalized for attempting an illegal forward pass from his own end zone , resulting in a safety for Miami . With Miami now leading 19 - 16 , a field goal could only tie the game for the Seminoles . The Miami defense again held , but Florida State then forced the ' Canes to punt , giving the Seminoles one last chance with 1 : 35 remaining in the game . Ward drove the Seminoles 59 yards and into field goal range , converting a crucial fourth - and - 12 with a completion to Kez McCorvey along the way . The drive was highlighted by Matt Frier ' s diving , fingertip reception for 17 yards . After Ward picked up 19 yards on two quick scrambles , the Seminoles were on the Miami 22 - yard line but nearly out of time . On the game ' s final play , Florida State called upon Mowrey to continue his perfect afternoon and make a 39 - yard field goal to tie the game at 19 - 19 . With both Miami ' s and Florida State ' s national championship hopes again hanging in the balance , Mowrey , kicking into the open end of the Orange Bowl , missed wide right and collapsed face down onto the turf . Aftermath . Miami once again used a hard - fought win over its rival as a springboard for a national championship run , winning its final seven regular season games and earning a berth in the 1993 Sugar Bowl as the nation ' s number one team in both the AP and Coaches ' Polls . This time , however , the Hurricanes could not complete the perfect season , losing to the second - ranked and eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl 34 - 13 , and finishing 11 - 1 and ranked third in the country . Unlike the previous season , when the Seminoles followed up their loss to Miami with an upset loss to Florida , Florida State rebounded and won the rest of its games , going 11 - 1 on the season . The Seminoles soundly defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 1993 Orange Bowl , 27 - 14 , and , despite the loss to Miami , were ranked second in the final polls , one spot ahead of the Hurricanes . The game was the second in a peculiar string of 5 games in 12 years in which Florida State lost to Miami due to a late missed field goal that would have won or tied the game for the Seminoles , often with national championship implications .