By Mark Long
The Associated Press

MIAMI - Florida State's Xavier Beitia dropped to his hands and knees as the kick sailed wide left. The tears may have started then, and they didn't stop for at least an hour.

Beitia became the fourth kicker since 1991 to miss a last-second field goal against Miami that could have tied or won the game. The 19-year-old sophomore missed a 43-yarder wide left as time expired Saturday, allowing No. 1 Miami to hold off No. 9 Florida State 28-27.

He didn't - and probably couldn't - talk to reporters after the game. The school released a statement, with Beitia saying, "It was a blur." But even an hour after his miss, he was still crying.

The emotions of missing a kick in this series, with all its history of misses, overwhelmed him.

"I haven't seen a player take anything worse than him," team chaplain Clint Purvis said. "A lot of people look at these guys and think they're professionals, you think they are 30-year-old men playing this game. He's just a kid, and he puts all the blame on himself because he says he let his teammates down. He didn't. He's really broken and crushed."

More than Gerry Thomas in 1991, more than Dan Mowrey in 1992 and more than Matt Munyon in 2000, Purvis said. And Purvis would know. He was there for each kicker's miss and each kicker's tears.

"I knew them all," Purvis said. "This one is different."

Different because of Beitia's reaction.

He sat on a bench in the locker room, sobbing as reporters entered. Purvis quickly whisked him into the trainer's room, where he continued to cry. He moved to another room, where he awaited the arrival of his parents. He was still bawling.

His mother, father and several police officers escorted him to the team bus, and the tears still flowed. A few Florida State fans applauded Beitia as he made his way to the bus, but it did little to erase his somber feeling.

No one knows what this will mean for Beitia's future.

Thomas missed a 34-yarder wide right in 1991 that gave Miami a 17-16 win over Florida State. Mowrey missed a 39-yarder wide right the following year that gave the Hurricanes a 19-16 win.

The games were known as Wide Right I and Wide Right II - and both former Seminoles kickers have refused numerous interview requests since.

Two years ago, Matt Munyon missed a 49-yarder as time expired and Miami won 27-24 in Wide Right III. Munyon later transferred to Troy State.

"At least this one was wide left, not wide right," long snapper Brian Sawyer said. "Bad luck, bad omen, I have no idea. Things always happen to us. Nothing really can explain why it always happen to us. I just wish maybe it would happen to Miami some."

Clinging to a one-point lead, Miami's Freddie Capshaw shanked a 3-yard punt that gave Florida State excellent field position. Chris Rix completed two passes to Talman Gardner to put the Seminoles in field-goal range with a first-and-10 at the Miami 25.

FSU tried to get closer, but Greg Jones was stopped for no gain. Rix spiked the ball to stop the clock with a second remaining.

Beitia jogged onto the field, having made two earlier field goals from 45 and 42 yards out and having made 13-of-15 this season - including all six from outside 30 yards.

The snap was a little low, but was it bad?

"Humidity had made the ball a little slick," Sawyer said. "I was trying to keep it low. If anything, I wanted to keep it high, but it was a little lower than I intended. It may have thrown (Xavier) off a little bit, but personally I think it's a fluke. The guy never misses."

How about the hold?

"The snap was fine. I've had a lot worse," holder Chance Gwaltney said. "It just didn't feel comfortable because once you pick the ball up, it kind of throws the kicker's rhythm off."

Then the kicked sailed left, with plenty of distance. Beitia dropped to the ground - and a Miami fan started taunting him. But Beitia didn't need anyone to tell him the significance of the miss.

No one did.

"I simply can't believe we lost the game like that again," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "I thought we had it. I went out to shake his hand. I thought he hit it. I've had that picture so many times before in my career. I can't stand it."