Canes Focused as FSU Rivalry Week Begins

By David Villavicencio
HurricaneSports.com
 
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The stage is set for one of the best rivalries in college football.
 
The annual meeting between the Miami Hurricanes (3-0, 1-0 ACC) and Florida State Seminoles (1-2, 1-1 ACC) is always one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. College football fans had to wait a little longer for this year’s clash, after Hurricane Irma forced the game to be rescheduled from Sept. 16 to Oct. 7.
 
The wait ends Saturday at 3:30 p.m., as the No. 13/12 Hurricanes will finally meet their in-state rival Seminoles, who are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Amway Coaches polls.
 
“We’re getting ready for Florida State this week,” Miami head coach Mark Richt said. “As we all know, it has been a game that a lot of people look forward to besides the players and coaches. Maybe people put it on their calendar more than most games. It’s a big one for us. We understand that. We know it’s very important for conference play, and it’s also important to get an opportunity to play a great team in a great venue to see how we can handle that as well. We’re looking forward to the battle. Coach [Jimbo] Fisher has done a great job. Obviously, his winning percentage is one of the best in America, if not the best. They’ve done nothing but win over there.”
 
The Hurricanes will be the only ranked team in the matchup for the first time since 1983 – the year Miami won the first of its five national championships. Miami enters this year’s Florida State game against FSU having won its last eight games dating back to the 2016 season. The Canes lead the all-time series, 31-30, but the Seminoles have won the last seven meetings between the two programs.
 
“This is probably the best rivalry in college football,” senior offensive lineman Kc McDermott said. “The tradition behind it, the history with it, the countless All-Americans and first-round draft picks; this is a huge game. You always want to be one of the guys playing in it.”
 
The last three games between Miami and Florida State have been decided by a combined 10 points. Miami fell, 20-19, in 2016, 29-24 in 2015 and 30-26 in 2014, Richt anticipates another highly-competitive contest when the two teams go to battle at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

“More than likely, it’ll be a tight ballgame,” Richt said. “I can’t imagine it not. I mean, of course, anything can happen. Even the touchdown we scored last year, fourth down play and we throw it to [Stacy] Coley, Coley makes the play. We made the play when it counted the most. That was impressive. We had a great punt return, we set up a chance to score, we score to tie it…what looks like a tie and we don’t get the ball through the uprights. The simplest thing you would think there is in football, we didn’t execute well …we’ve got to take care of everybody’s business and we’ll be fine.”

The Seminoles have talent and depth on both sides of the ball and have had plenty of success under Fisher’s tutelage. With playmakers on offense like wide receiver Auden Tate, running backs Jacques Patrick and Cam Akers and tight end Ryan Izzo, freshman quarterback James Blackman has plenty of weapons at his disposal. And the Noles have an impressive group on defense led by All-American safety Derwin James and an outstanding defensive line that includes standouts Derrick Nnadi, Josh Sweat, Brian Burns and Demarcus Christmas.
 
“Their overall size and strength and athleticism, they’ll line up as strong as anybody in America,” Richt said. “Their personnel is outstanding and they know what they’re doing. These guys have won. They’ve been behind many, many times and come back and won. Nothing fazes them and they’ll be a team that has to be beaten. They’re not going to beat themselves.”

McDermott, who has played in each of the previous three games against Florida State, has played at Doak Campbell Stadium before and he knows that the Seminoles always come ready to play against the Hurricanes.

“Florida State is never down, obviously,” McDermott said. “One thing that I was told my freshman year is, ‘It’s hard to win a college football game, no matter who you play.’ FSU is never a ‘down’ team. They may have a bad game here and there and they may have unfortunate issues that arise, but they are always going to – especially with us – come out playing tough. They are going to give us their very best and we have to be prepared for it. We have to give them our best and that’s part of what the rivalry is.”
 
A big part of the UM-FSU rivalry is the fan support. Both fan bases are always looking to help create a home field advantage for their teams, so the Hurricanes know the fans in Tallahassee will be loud and rowdy on Saturday.
 
“It is loud,” wide receiver Lawrence Cager said. “Every time they make a play, it feels like the ground is shaking. I was told that there were going to be a lot of chops, but I didn’t expect that many. It is an amazing atmosphere, but it really reminds you that it is an away game.”
 
The Hurricanes will look to limit the Florida State faithful’s excitement on Saturday, but they know they will need to play their best to get a win in a tough road environment.
 
“This week is always an exciting one, so everyone is even more locked in than they usually are,” linebacker Shaquille Quarterman said. “The energy is there, we are just putting our time in the preparation that we need to make this weekend one that everyone wants it to be.”
 
While there is a lot of hype any time these two legendary college football programs meet, Richt and his coaching staff are emphasizing the importance of focus and execution leading up to the annual rivalry game.
 
“I think you just have to get them to focus on what really does matter and that’s their job and how do you go about doing it,” Richt said. “Just playing hard and physical and not turning the ball over. Just playing the whole game and knowing that things may start out good, it doesn’t matter. Things may start out bad, it doesn’t matter. You have to play the whole 60 minutes and do what you have to do to finish.”
 
“And I’ll say this, too, guys have to make plays when they present themselves,” Richt said. “You don’t have to make a spectacular play, but you know, if you’re running a slant route and somebody’s all over you and the ball hits you in the hands, you have to make the play. Or DBs have to rake the ball out. There’s going to be so many times opportunities for a linebacker to make the tackle in space. When it’s time for you to make the play, make it.”