Clark: An incredible win for an FSU team that desperately needed one

Here's what makes that win so sweet for the Florida State Seminoles.

Miami thought it was over.

The Hurricanes, after going on a 28-3 run, were in control. They had won four straight in the rivalry. They just knew it was about to be five. Their fans were already polishing their jewelry, I'm sure, getting ready to talk their incessant trash for another 364 days about how FSU choked and "The U" is almost back!

Yeah. Not quite.

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Because Jordan Travis happened. Ja'Khi Douglas happened. Andrew Parchment happened. (Of all people!) Jermaine Johnson happened. Over and over and over again.

And the Seminoles, who looked like they were about to suffer yet another crushing loss to their arch rivals, instead stormed back in the final five minutes and broke the Hurricanes' hearts, 31-28.

How sweet is that?

As you know, that's not usually how it works out in this rivalry.

In most of the great games these two teams have played -- and Saturday's game was a great one -- it was the dudes in orange who pulled through in the final minutes and did the heartbreaking.

On Saturday night, they limped back to the locker room while your players celebrated with 70,000-plus very loud, very happy fans inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

It was a great night. A great win. For a team that so desperately needed it.

*ALSO SEE: Updates and notes from the postgame press conference

Florida State started off the season 0-4. The Seminoles have now won four of their last six. One of those losses was a last-minute defeat at Clemson. The other was against N.C. State, during a flu week, when your starting quarterback couldn't play.

This team is so much better than it was at the beginning of the year.

I've believed that for a while now. You might have, too.

But I can tell you someone who absolutely believes it: Manny Diaz.

Last year, his team beat the dog urine out of the Seminoles, scoring on five straight drives and rolling to a ridiculous 52-10 win.

On Saturday night, from the jump, the Hurricanes knew they were in a dogfight.

One that, thanks to Travis and Parchment (and Diaz's bizarre clock-management decisions there in the final minute), was won by the Seminoles for the first time since Dalvin Cook was scoring touchdowns and DeMarcus Walker was blocking kicks.

"It's big," said Travis, who now owns an all-time moment in this rivalry. "They stomped us last year. That's not a good feeling at all. This is a big game today for us. The biggest game of the season, I believe. It just shows where we're heading, man.

"The fight we have, the brotherhood we have, the commitment we have ... it's really special."

Saturday was certainly special for him and his teammates. And for Norvell. And for this fan base.

Now, I get it. This is still a 4-6 football team. I'm not going to be tuning into the College Football Playoff show this week to see where the Seminoles are ranked. I'm keeping it in proper perspective.

But this could end up being such an enormous win for this program.

All the recruits who were in the stadium Saturday night saw Doak at full volume. It was turned up to 11. And that resonates. Just like that atmosphere for the Notre Dame game did. Except this time, they actually won the game.

I can't imagine this victory didn't at least firm up some commitments. And maybe it swayed some who were still on the fence. I can promise you seeing Florida State beat a rival -- finally! -- in dramatic fashion was a welcome sight for recruits and their families.

The fans were incredible. This was a 3-6 football team coming in -- playing another team which might be firing its head coach in a few seconds -- and the crowd was so loud it might as well have been a Game of the Century!

"Everything we do in our program is preparing you for a moment like that," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. "What an incredible atmosphere."

What an incredible win.

Especially with how the game played out.

You get up 17-0. Then you start running in mud on offense. Meanwhile, you give up a touchdown on a ridiculous deflection over two of your defenders to a dude by himself in the back of the end zone, and then Brownlee happened multiple times. And all of the sudden, you've watched a three-score lead turn into an eight-point deficit.

These are the games you've been losing for a half-decade.

So, I understand why the Miami fans and players were so confident. The game felt over. And we've all seen FSU do this before. When things go bad, the Seminoles spiral into an abyss.

Even though I do believe in what Norvell is building here, I have to admit I thought there was a better chance of Miami winning by double-digits when the Hurricanes went up 28-20 than FSU coming back.

You might have thought the same thing.

We were both wrong.

Florida State did indeed get off the mat.

The Seminoles did not go quietly into the night. Because this team doesn't do that anymore. That fight, that toughness has been instilled. It's a constant now. That much we all agree on.

And winning a game like this, proving to yourself you can win a game like this, against a red-hot rival, late in the fourth quarter, can do wonders for your belief and confidence in those moments moving forward.

You have to do it before you know you can do it.

Well, now they've done it.

It just happened to come it in front of a great crowd. With a whole bunch of great recruits in the stands.

What a win.

What a win.

What a win.

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.

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