It’s not a secret that Florida State has had the upper-hand on rival Miami over the last several years. In the series, the Seminoles have won five straight, including a 30-26 comeback win last year. The current streak for FSU over the Hurricanes however, could be much larger.
Going back to the 2004 season-opener, the Seminoles and Hurricanes have met 11 times. In each of those contests, FSU has either won or led in the fourth quarter. In two of the three meetings before that, the Seminoles missed go-ahead field goals in the final quarter.
Florida State is 8-3 in those 11 meetings, but the three defeats for the Seminoles came by a combined 16 points and each in heartbreaking fashion.
In the 2004 opener in the Orange Bowl, Miami rallied from 10-0 down in the fourth quarter. Miami receiver Sinorice Moss scored a 30-yard touchdown on a screen pass with under a minute to play to force overtime where Frank Gore scored the winning touchdown for the Hurricanes from 18 yards out.
FSU led 29-24 at Doak Campbell Stadium in 2007 before Miami quarterback Kirby Freeman found tight end Dedrick Epps in the end zone with 1:15 remaining to go up 30-29. The Hurricanes would pad the lead by returning a fumble from FSU quarterback Xavier Lee for a touchdown in a 37-29 victory.
In the 2009 Labor Day opener in Tallahassee, Miami went ahead for good on a touchdown run by Graig Cooper with 1:45 to play, but FSU had its chance to score late. With seconds remaining and the ball at Miami’s 2-yard-line, Seminoles’ quarterback Christian Ponder fired for Jarmon Fortson in the end zone. Fortson dropped the pass as time expired and FSU was defeated 38-34.
Obviously, it’s unrealistic to expect a team to win every close game in a rivalry — although for FSU fans, there was a time when Miami seemed to — but the case could be made that the Seminoles’ current winning streak over Miami could be 11.
Supporters of the Hurricanes could claim that the recent domination by FSU could have easily gone the other way. Miami may be 2-8 in its last 10 games against the Seminoles, but five of those losses came by four points or less.
As the schools get set to renew their rivalry on Saturday night in Tallahassee, it’s safe to say that the rivalry is in a strange place. Since the start of 2012, Florida State has the best record in the country and since taking over as FSU head coach in 2010, Jimbo Fisher has more wins than anyone else. Miami hasn’t won 10 games in a season since 2003.
At the turn of the millennium, the teams were at the opposite end of the spectrum. Miami was a mainstay in the top 5 while FSU was beginning what its fans unaffectionately refer to as the “Lost Decade”. FSU has never defeated the Hurricanes in six straight seasons, but that could change with a win on Saturday.
Miami is coming off a disappointing 34-23 loss to Cincinnati while Florida State, though 4-0, has huge concerns after a pair of ugly road wins. But regardless of where the teams have been on the national scale over the last decade, the games between the schools generally seem to carry a common threat — they’re wildly entertaining and usually pretty close.
