Hurricanes and Seminoles Square Off in Season Opener

Aug. 31, 2004

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Game 1:MIAMI HURRICANES (#6 AP/#5 ESPN/USA TODAY)
vs.
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES (#5 AP/#6 ESPN/USA Today)

When: Monday, September 6, 2004, at 8:07 p.m. EDT.
Where: Orange Bowl (natural grass; 72,319) in Miami, Fla.
TV: ABC will televise the game live with Brent Musburger (play by play), Gary Danielson (analysis) and Jack Arute (field reporter).
Local Radio: The Hurricanes Radio Network (WQAM, 560 AM) will carry the game live with Joe Zagacki (play by play), Don Bailey Jr. (analysis) and Brian London (sideline reporter). Josh Darrow is the studio host.
National Radio: Westwood One will carry the game with John Tautges (play by play) and Fran Curci (analysis).
Radio En Espanol: Radio C (WSUA 1260 AM) will broadcast the game in Spanish with Roly Martin (play by play) and Joe Martinez (analysis).
Websites: Miami (www.hurricanesports.com) and Florida State (www.seminoles.com)

MIAMI’S 2004 SEASON
Miami opens its 79th season of college football and its inaugural game in the Atlantic Coast Conference with intra-state rival Florida State on Labor Day night. The Hurricanes make the move to the ACC from the BIG EAST Conference after capturing their fourth consecutive conference title and eight overall with a 11-2 overall record and 6-1 league mark last season. The Hurricanes shared the conference title with West Virginia but earned the league’s automatic Bowl Championship Series berth by virtue of a 22-20 victory over the Mountaineers last Oct. 2. Miami’s new conference home — the ACC — promises to provide new challenges in 2004, as the Hurricanes go in search of their sixth national championship and their first-ever ACC crown. Miami and Florida State are meeting for the third time in less than 11 months, with the Hurricanes sporting a five-game winning streak in the series, dating back to a 27-24 win at the Orange Bowl in 2000. UM knocked off the Seminoles 22-14 in their regular-season meeting on Oct. 11, 2003, and 16-14 in the FedEx Orange Bowl showdown on Jan. 1 of this year.

Miami has won eight straight games on opening day, the longest streak in school history. Miami is 53-24-1 in season-opening games and has not lost on opening day since a 31-8 loss at UCLA in 1995. The last time Miami lost a season opener at home was 1985, a 35-23 loss to Florida. The last loss in a home opener was Sept. 13, 1997, a 23-12 loss to Arizona State. The last time Miami played a highly ranked team on opening day was in 1999, a 23-12 win over ninth-ranked Ohio State in the Kickoff Classic. The last time Miami and Florida State met in the opening game for each school was in 1988, when the Hurricanes handed the Seminoles a 31-0 setback on Sept. 8, 1988.

Overall, the two schools have faced each other eight times to open the season. FSU holds a 5-3 edge in those games, but Miami has won the last two season openers between the two teams. In fact, all three Miami opening day wins over Florida State have been shutouts: 27-0 in 1953 (the first time the two schools opened the season vs. each other), 47-0 in 1976, and 31-0 in 1988. The 1988 game is the last time UM has shut out FSU. Florida State has shut out Miami two times in season openers: 24-0 in 1963 and 14-0 in 1964.

MIAMI-FLORIDA STATE SERIES HIGHLIGHTS

• The Labor Day showdown at the Orange Bowl with Florida State marks the 49th meeting in the 54-year-old series that dates back to 1951. Miami leads the series 28-20.
• Miami has won five straight games in the series: a 27-24 win in 2000 at the Orange Bowl, a 49-27 victory in Tallahassee in 2001, a 28-27 thriller at the Orange Bowl in 2002, last year’s 22-14 win in a rain-soaked Doak Campbell Stadium and the 16-14 win in the 2004 FedEx Orange Bowl Classic. There have been 10 combined win streaks in the series, seven by Miami and three by FSU. Prior to the last five meetings, FSU had won five straight over Miami (1995-99), which came following UM streaks of three (1990-92), four (1985-88) and two games (1980-81). The largest win streak in the series is FSU’s seven-game stretch from 1963-72. UM started the series with consecutive win streaks of five (1951-57) and three games (1959-62).
• The 2002 Orange Bowl game was highlighted by Miami’s furious fourth quarter comeback from a 13-point deficit, when senior quarterback Ken Dorsey led the Hurricanes down the field twice in the final quarter to erase a 27-14 deficit for the eventual 28-27 win.
• Miami’s 49-27 victory in 2001 at Tallahassee ended FSU’s NCAA-leading decade-long 37-game home win streak and 54-game home-unbeaten streak dating back to a 17-16 loss to Miami on Nov. 16, 1991.
• A combined 126 players from the UM and FSU rosters hail from the state of Florida, including 61 on UM and 65 on FSU.
• A combined 37 players from the Miami and Florida State rosters attended high school together. Five of the 11 high schools are located in the Dade/Broward/Palm Beach area. Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas and Tallahassee Lincoln leads the way with six players from UM and FSU.