It takes heroics to end a losing streak. A year ago, Miami scored a late touchdown to seemingly tie the game against Florida State and potentially force OT with a chance to end a six-game losing streak to the Seminoles. But FSU blocked the PAT and preserved the streak.

On Saturday in Tallahassee, it appeared the streak would continue again. But Malik Rosier and Darrell Langham had other ideas. The two connected for a 23-yard touchdown with six seconds left, and Miami took down the Noles for the first time since 2009, 24-20.

With two quarterbacks — Rosier and FSU's James Blackman — each starting their first rivalry game, and with Miami running back Mark Walton fighting a nagging ankle injury (he’s since been announced as out for the year), it was all but a given that both teams would play things conservatively early. Lord, did they.

Five of the game's first seven passes were thrown to targets behind the line of scrimmage (only three were completed), and neither team completed a pass farther than seven yards downfield until the second half.

Consequently, it was a game of field position for most of the first 30 minutes. Big running plays allowed FSU to earn a field goal and tilt the field — Miami didn't advance into FSU territory at all before halftime — but the Noles could only carve out a 3-0 halftime lead.

Then Braxton Berrios struck.

In a game loaded with former four- and five-star recruits, a three-star senior made some of the game's biggest plays. Berrios caught two passes (including a third-down strike) on a Miami field goal drive, and after the teams traded interceptions, he returned a punt 44 yards to the FSU 21. This helped to flip the field position battle. It also helped to put the ball in the end zone.

On Miami's next snap from scrimmage, he caught a 21-yard lob for a touchdown and a 10-3 lead.

In the fourth quarter, with no choice but to open things up a bit, both quarterbacks began to make plays.

After a 46-yard run by Cam Akers, Blackman fired a third-down dart to Ryan Izzo for a 15-yard score to tie the game.

Rosier responded with a 15-yarder to Berrios, a 37-yarder to tight end Christopher Herndon IV, and a gorgeous lob to Berrios in the back of the end zone for a six-yard score.

Blackman's turn again! A 14-yarder to Izzo, a nine-yarder to Jacques Patrick, and a 15-yarder to a gimpy Auden Tate set up what seemed to be the game-winning pass, a 20-yard strike to Tate. It would have been Tate's second game-winner in as many weeks.

Miami still had 84 seconds, though. After two quick incompletions, Rosier hit Berrios on a 17-yard crossing pass, and after two runs by Travis Homer (in for an injured Walton) gained 24 yards, Roser fired incomplete twice, then found Berrios for 11 yards with 11 seconds left.

Miami had time for maybe two more plays before attempting a field goal that would send the game to overtime. The Canes needed only one. Rosier found Langham downfield for his first catch of the day; Langham caught the ball at the 2, then spun and lunged for the end zone with six seconds left. He barely got in before his knee hit the ground.

That was that. A desperation FSU kick return ended near midfield. The streak was over.

Cue the surrender cobras.

What this means for Florida State:

Bad things, of course. Coaching changes can shift rivalries, and after never losing to Al Golden, FSU’s Jimbo Fisher is now 1-1 against Mark Richt. Key recruits were elementary school students the last time the Canes had beaten the Noles, which was something you could use in recruiting, but the streak’s over now.

Beyond that, though, this honestly doesn’t mean much.

With two early losses, FSU had already been all but eliminated from the national title race, so there’s not much difference between Loss No. 2 and Loss No. 3.

Plus, Blackman’s fourth-quarter heroics could pay off down the line. The true freshman grew up quite a bit, completing eight of 10 fourth quarter passes for 121 yards and two scores. Granted, the offense’s struggles in the first three quarters backfired, but you can grow from that. It stinks to lose to your rival for the first time in forever, but long-term, this game might end up seen as a growth experience.

What this means for Miami:

Everything. This rivalry tends to work in streaks; only five times in the last 45 years has a team in this rivalry failed to win at least two years in a row. Miami’s FSU losing streak lasted nearly a decade, but Richt needed just two tries to end it.

That’s just symbolic, though. Miami has tangible, realistic goals on the table, and FSU has stood in the way of these goals for years.

Miami had the tendency to collapse after losses to FSU.

A 7-0 start in 2013 turned into a 2-4 finish, prompted by a 41-14 loss to the Noles. A 6-3 start begat an 0-4 finish in 2014, prompted by a 30-26 loss to FSU. Miami nearly upset FSU in 2015 but fell, 29-24. Two weeks later, the Canes were destroyed by Clemson, and Golden was fired. Miami nearly took down the Noles last year, too, but fell via late blocked PAT, 20-19. And the Canes lost their next three games as well.

It’s one thing to lose to FSU — it’s another to let that loss wreck your season every year. Miami actually cleared that hurdle for the first time this decade. The Canes remain undefeated and now enter mid-October as the favorites to win their first ACC Coastal crown. They entered the game ranked 11th in S&P+, within shouting distance of fifth-ranked Clemson, the defending champion and likely ACC Atlantic champ.

In other words, Miami enters mid-October a national title contender.

A long shot, sure, but a contender until proven otherwise.

The next trick: responding to a win over FSU better than they tended to respond to a loss. They face a tricky test at home against a good Georgia Tech next week, but they have only two remaining road games. The table is set if the Canes can take advantage.