RALEIGH, N.C. - It’s too early in the season to call it The Drive.

But Florida State’s fourth-quarter, come-from-behind 70-yard march into the end zone said wonders about the Seminoles, and what they’re made of.

“It seems like we were supposed to lose,” FSU coach Bobby Bowden said of his team’s 26-17 win over North Carolina State Thursday night. “Maybe we’re beginning to grow up a little bit.”

It took 4:04 as Ponder led the Seminoles, taking them from a 17-13 deficit to a 20-17 lead they would never relinquish.

“The momentum switched so much back and forth, back and forth,” Reed said. “I felt like that last touchdown put a dagger in them.”

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Brenda Monk, the former Florida State “Learning Specialist” who is a key figure at the center of the university’s academic fraud case, broke her silence this week and told the St. Petersburg Times that she is “not a dishonest person.”

In a story published Tuesday, Monk told the newspaper that she would appear Saturday in Indianapolis before the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

“I want the NCAA to know I’m not a dishonest person,” Monk said, according to the Times.

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On Saturday, officials from FSU will meet in Indianapolis for a hearing about the academic fraud scandal that ensnared approximately 60 FSU athletes in 10 sports.

There in Indianapolis, before members of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, FSU will respond to several allegations — among them serious charges of unethical conduct by university employees and failure to monitor the academic support program for athletes.

The meeting represents the beginning of the end for the more than yearlong ordeal, but it will not offer Florida State a finite resolution. That’s not likely to come for several more weeks. The infractions committee will review the case to determine if it will add to the penalties FSU has already imposed on itself.

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Florida State coach Bobby Bowden confirmed Thursday that senior FB Joe Surratt is no longer with the team.

“Joe right now has been dismissed from the team,” Bowden said. “It was an administrative decision.”

Surratt, a Pace native, led FSU with six rushing TDs as a starter in 2006, but missed the entire 2007 season with a fractured fibula.

While he was injured, Surratt and former teammate Geno Hayes were involved in an altercation outside of a bar near the FSU campus in September of 2007. Surratt was arrested and charged with one felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer.

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It’s difficult to pick Christian Ponder’s best play on a night of many - even for an offensive coordinator.

Jimbo Fisher said he needed more time but figured there about five in the running, including Ponder’s scramble for 13 yards on third-and-11 on FSU’s final scoring drive might be at the top.

“That one. I think the third-and-14 vertical that he hit to Taiwan (Easterling for 27 yards in the third quarter) that helped changed momentum,” Fisher said. “(Ponder’s 45 yard run) — he audibled into that. He made some mistakes but he was able to come back and make big plays after the mistakes.

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You can say this wasn’t real football. You can claim Florida State’s 41-39 victory over Miami was sheer circus — at least UM’s part of it. But don’t dare say it wasn’t the most watchable Hurricanes game since Maryland nosed them 42-40 way back in 1984.

Because it was.

Seems to me Miami had Maryland down by something like 31-0 at one point in that classic nearly a quarter century ago in the now-gone Orange Bowl.

So, too, Saturday night at Dolphin Stadium, FSU had UM down and drowning 24-0 just before halftime.

Then Miami cut it loose. Flea-flickers, reverses, a touchdown run by a tackle, fumbles, interceptions, a dozen near-breakaways, even in addition to all that really were.

It was purely eye-popping stuff. It is what we go to games hoping to see.

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Dave Hyde:  How hard can you question UM?

Andrew Carter:  Florida State is now Christian Ponder’s team

Mike Bianchi:  A game worthy of the legendary Miami-FSU rivalry

Graham Gano knew the questions were coming.

After all, this is Miami week. And he’s the starting place-kicker at Florida State.

So the senior from Penascola wasn’t exactly shocked when reporters brought up a couple of memorable field-goal misses from years gone by.

“People say it’s a curse and stuff, but that’s baloney,” said Gano, who was 3 for 3 last week against Colorado, including a career-long 52-yarder. “You’ve just got to go out there and kick it straight. If you kick it straight, it will go in.”

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Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher saw enough of Christian Ponder in Florida State’s victory over Colorado last Saturday and in this week’s practice to think his starting quarterback could go the distance against Miami.

But if Fisher has to replace him, Drew Weatherford will come in at quarterback.

Weatherford, a winner of two consecutive games against Miami (2005-06), did not play last week after being demoted to No. 3 before the season-opener.

No. 2 quarterback D’Vontrey Richardson did not participate in practice on Tuesday and has seen limited work since. He will be available, according to Fisher.

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To get a feel for why the Miami Hurricanes’ game against Florida State on Saturday is important for reasons other than the rivalry or the Atlantic Coast Conference, consider the recent scene at Khalil Jones’ church.

Jones, UM’s senior wide receiver and Miami Northwestern product, was worshipping Tuesday night when he noticed something.

“I saw someone with a ‘Canes jersey,” Jones said.

You still see the same kind of thing everywhere in South Florida. Many remain devoted to the Hurricanes - in their hearts (or at least their wardrobes) if not in their seats at Dolphin Stadium.

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It’s Miami - but not as deeply talented and feared as it once was.

That said, Florida State offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher had a point when the questions outside the FSU locker room following Saturday’s 39-21 victory over Colorado turned to the next opponent.

This remains a Hurricanes’ team to reckon with.

Two days of watching film has not altered Fisher’s thinking that Miami poses plenty of challenges for his mostly young offense. Miami has the ACC’s top rushing defense, just ahead of FSU, plus more speed with intimidating size up front.

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Randy Shannon:  Considering ‘changes’ to UM’s struggling secondary