Miami ? Gary Cismesia tossed blades of grass skyward on the Florida State sideline, trying to decipher which way the wind was blowing.

Unable to figure it out, he went with the simplest plan: Kick straight.

With one swing of his strong right leg, Cismesia put a swift end to 15 years of Florida State’s kicking woes against Miami. His 33-yard field goal with 8:06 left put the 11th-ranked Seminoles ahead to stay in their come-from-behind, 13-10 victory over the 12th-ranked Hurricanes on Monday night.

“I didn’t win the game,” Cismesia said. “My team won the game.”

It was the second straight victory in the series for the Seminoles, who also eked out a three-point win over their Sunshine State rival in last season’s opener – and took a piece of Orange Bowl sod back to Tallahassee as a souvenir from this one.

Drew Weatherford, who was awful in the 2005 victory, was solid this time – throwing for 175 yards, 62 of them on a pair of pivotal third-down conversions that set up the Seminoles’ lone touchdown early in the fourth quarter. And Florida State’s defense was dominant in the second half, holding Miami to 17 yards.

“In this series, it’s been defense, defense, defense,” Miami coach Larry Coker said. “Our defense has won in the past at times. But not tonight.”

Michael Ray Garvin intercepted Kyle Wright’s pass with 29 seconds left, sealing the win.

Florida State’s offensive hopes almost entirely hinged on the passing game, since Miami’s defensive front held the Seminoles to 1 yard on 25 rushes. Still, even a performance like that wasn’t enough to carry the Hurricanes, who wasted a 10-3 halftime lead.

Florida State's Gary Cismesia, right, kicks a 33-yard field goal with 8:06 left in the fourth quarter to give the 11th-ranked Seminoles what proved to be the winning margin in a 13-10 victory over No. 12 Miami. FSU claimed its second straight in the series on Monday night in Miami.

“You don’t know how hard it is to beat Miami,” Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said. “I mean, I’ve been playing these guys for 31 years. They’ve probably got as good a defense as there is in the country, unless it’s us.”

Charlie Jones had a four-yard touchdown run for Miami, which hadn’t lost to Florida State in the Orange Bowl since 1998 – and has now lost three of its last four games overall dating back to last season.

The revamped Miami offense struggled mightily; Wright was 18-of-27 passing, but gained only 132 yards. And the rushing game, like Florida State’s, was nonexistent: Miami had two yards on 26 carries, the second-lowest total in school history.

Miami peeled off eight straight wins after losing to Florida State in the opener last year, ascending to No. 3 in the polls. Now, the Hurricanes – who could see the Seminoles again Dec. 3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game in Jacksonville – will need to dig out of an 0-1 hole once again.

“This is something that’s going to test us,” Wright said. “A good team’s going to stay together and see them back in Jacksonville. And right now, we have to move on. We have to put it behind us.”

Thanks to Cismesia, FSU kickers past – Gerry Thomas, Dan Mowrey, Matt Munyon and Xavier Beitia – may finally feel some relief. Each missed pivotal chances late in games against Miami in recent years, a trend that long befuddled the Seminoles.

Thomas missed in 1991, Wide Right I.

Mowrey missed the next year, Wide Right II.

Munyon’s miss was in 2000, Wide Right III.

And Beitia missed three in his career against Miami.