MIAMI GARDENS — This one wasn’t supposed to be fun.

Miami, the sports books predicted, would win by about three touchdowns, and the Seminoles would see their road losing streak grow to 12.

The latest iteration of one of college football’s most storied rivalries was supposed to be nothing more than another indictment of Mike Norvell’s tenure in Tallahassee, more evidence that even while mired in a debt of over $400 million, Florida State’s athletic department would have to assess — and appraise — the damage of having a once great program in disarray.

The third-ranked Hurricanes (6-0,4-0 ACC), for their part, would continue to perform like a team capable of avenging its national championship loss last season in the weeks before a showdown in South Bend against Notre Dame, a marquee matchup even after the Fighting Irish’s narrow loss to BYU in Provo on Saturday night.

But as surefire as they might have seemed, none of the prognostications proved true. Instead, Miami’s 43-35 double-overtime victory in front of an orange-wearing, towel-waving crowd of 66,790 at Hard Rock Stadium was something else.

It was a rivalry at its best.

“Everyone knows, when these two teams get together, it’s a bloodbath,” Miami head coach Mario Crisotbal said.

The Seminoles (3-4,1-3) recovered four turnovers against SMU and still lost their home opener. They squandered a 21-6 advantage at Alabama and wasted a 14-0 lead over Louisville. When the Hurricanes took a 28-21 lead with less than three minutes remaining Saturday night, the opportunity to upset a fierce rival seemed to have passed them by.

It took 10 seconds for that to change. Ashton Daniels delivered a strike to Duce Robinson, who was outpacing his defender down the left sideline. The trailing cornerback and safety sprinting over to help tripped over each other, and Robinson jogged in for a stunning 75-yard touchdown that sent the game to overtime. Then Robinson put Miami on the ropes with a 20-yard touchdown catch to open overtime.

Miami, however, had a response — a 25-yard Javian Mallory touchdown run to force a second overtime — and a counterpunch courtesy of Malachi Toney, who seems as worthy a candidate as any to be in attendance when the Heisman Trophy is awarded in December. Toney caught a 3-yard touchdown and then threw the mandatory overtime two-point conversion attempt to Cooper Barkate to put Miami ahead for the final margin.

These were the final acts of a masterpiece from Toney, who finished with 185 yards — 154 of them receiving, 31 rushing — and two touchdowns. But the game’s conclusion would not arrive without chaos and controversy.

It was ourth and 21 and Florida State, pushed back to the 36-yard line, had only a final heave remaining. Daniels dropped back to near midfield as Miami’s pass rush pressured and unfurled a prayer that for a moment Micahi Danzy appeared to have answered. A two-point conversion attempt to prolong Saturday’s stunner seemed on deck, but a holding penalty on Florida State erased the play and pushed the Seminoles 10 yards further.

Daniels again attempted a heave, and again it did not land harmlessly. Robinson and Miami cornerback Bryce Fitzgerald wrestled for the throw as they leaped in the end zone, both grabbing the ball with two hands. But Fitzgerald pulled at it as he fell, holding onto it enough for the referees to call an interception on the field, a ruling that was upheld after review.

After a Saturday filled with ranked losses, Miami might find itself as the country’s top-ranked team Sunday. But the Hurricanes were fortunate to not join the crew of national contenders left licking their wounds. Miami’s play was uncharacteristically messy.

Defensive back Zechariah Poyser committed an ill-advised targeting penalty in the first quarter that, because of the automatic ejection that comes with the infraction, cost him just about the entirety of the game.

Two Hurricane penalties on a second-quarter punt — a facemask and an unsportsmanlike conduct after a fight ensued at midfield — made it awfully easy for Florida State to tie the score at 14 before halftime. Officially, it was a three-play, 15-yard drive that lasted 28 seconds.

Miami was marching to start the second half, but quarterback Darian Mensah inexplicably forced a first-down throw toward Barkate, who was blanketed in the end zone, for his first interception of the season.

Perhaps the negated Danzy touchdown catch belongs on this list, too.

But it’s the victory that counts. A year ago, Miami faltered against Louisville and lost one of two games that nearly derailed its postseason aspirations. This time, they found a way to win.

“Credit to our guys because I could sit here and rattle off a million mistakes and errors that we need to correct, but we just kept playing,” Cristobal said.

“We just kept battling.”

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