The biggest rivalry in college football is finally back, the University of Miami face off against Florida State University in Tallahassee on Saturday, Oct 7 at 3:30 pm. UM is looking for its first win since 2009 when Jacory Harris threw for 386 yards and led the Hurricanes into Doak Campbell Stadium and beat the 18th ranked Seminoles 38-34 after a late TD drive.
Since that stunning defeat in front of 32,306 fans, the Seminoles have run rampant over the Hurricanes in the head to head series winning the last 7 encounters between the two schools. Luckily for Miami, they still lead the all-time series 31-30.
Tons of things have transpired since UM owned the State Of Florida, let’s look back at the different paths these two schools have taken since the last time UM managed to beat Fsu.
FSU
It's only right we start with the school who has absolutely dominated the matchup winning 10 of the last 12. The Jimbo Fisher era started the program in 2010 and boy has it worked. Fisher started red hot on the recruiting trail securing the #1 and #2 rankings on ESPN and Rivals and he didn't stop there. Later that year he took his team to the ACC championship game for the first time 2005, an impressive accomplishment. Unfortunately, the Seminoles lost but you could tell things were turning in the right direction under Fisher.
In 2013, the process had worked and National Championships started to roll in. Fisher guided his team to a perfect 14–0 record and defeated Auburn late with now NFL star Jameis Winston. 2014 came along and it was more of the same, winning. Fisher led another undefeated team into the college football playoff where they lost to Oregon in the semi-finals.
Not all was lost, however, in the meantime, they were still stomping all over UM and UF claiming reign to the state of Florida.
At the moment, FSU are struggling mightily. After losing starting QB Deondre Francois for the year against Alabama in the season opener they have fallen to the cellar of the ACC, losing to NC State at home and barely squeaking out a win against a poor Wake Forest team.
Freshman signal caller James Blackmon hasn't lived up to the lofty expectations placed on him. Surely time will help but Blackmon has an array of talent that he has yet to put all together. Blackmon's strengths include arm talent, athleticism and height, and release.
UM
The Hurricanes have been in a completely opposite world since their last win in Tallahassee. Randy Shannon struggled a ton during his tenure with the program (2007-2010), it was obvious he was better suited for an assistant coaching role. The program floundered under Shannon, consistently underachieving with top-level talent.
In a shocking move, UM lowered their standards even further asking a coach from Temple to run the team.
Bogged down by NCAA sanctions, Al Golden was never able to get out of his own way. Golden went 6-6 and 7-5 in his first two seasons, completely unacceptable for a football program like Miami's. The bowl bans were tough on the program, Miami self-imposed some post-season punishments and finally in 2013 the NCAA declared that "the committee acknowledged and accepted the extensive and significant self-imposed penalties by the university." Therefore, no further bowl ban would be enforced. It was time to shine.
Golden no longer had any excuses for poor performance, the scandal was behind the program meaning recruits would be lining up at the door and post-season play was back in the fold. Yet, Miami still struggled.
On October 25, 2015, following the worst loss in school history, losing 58-0 at home vs. Clemson, Golden was fired by athletic director Blake James. Golden had a career record of 32-25. Pitiful.
The Marc Richt era began and boy has it been fun. Right was hired as the school's 24th head football coach on December 4, 2015. Right managed to do what no other head coach could do in Miami. In his first year at the helm, Richt led the Hurricanes to a bowl victory in the Russell Athletic Bowl against #16 ranked West Virginia.
Canes nation can finally start to feel the swag coming back to South Florida, Richt understands the culture, having attended the university from 1979-82. The athletic department finally made a sensible hire and it's starting to pay off.
Who wins?
Because of a looming storm in the Gulf of Mexico kickoff for UM FSU is in doubt, scheduled to start at 3:30 pm the Tropical Depression might be arriving in the panhandle Saturday evening. The game might be moved to 12 pm. (follow me for further updates).
As for the game, Miami is rolling both offensively and defensively, UM went into Duke's home and beat a top 5 rush defense by 25 points. FSU, on the other hand, is struggling to find a rhythm with Freshman QB Blackmon. Despite my opinion that UM is far better talent wise, rivalry games tend to stay close until the 4th quarter. I think UM finally breaks this curse that has been over them for 7 years and defeats the Seminoles 24-20.