By: Dan Hauser
Wide Right….Wide Left….The Miami
Muff. When someone hears these names chances are only one thing comes to mind. The
University of Miami Hurricanes vs The Florida State Seminoles. Over the last
35+ years Miami and Florida State have played in some of the biggest games in
college football, couple that with the fact that these two teams play in the
same state and battle it out for recruits every year and its no wonder that
their games have produced some of the highest television ratings in college
football history. However since Miami joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in
2004 the game has grown kind of stale. While the rivalry was still there, the
stakes were not nearly as great. The days of the winner going to on to play for
national championships and wide rights and lefts had been replaced with
lackluster performances and mediocre teams. The dominance of the 1980s, 90’s
and early 2000s were replaced with the inconsistency of the late 2000s. In fact
one could argue that since both team have played in the same conference that
the game has been nothing more than just another ACC game from a national
perspective.
However all of that is about to
change when the two teams meet in Miami on Saturday night at 8 PM. Both teams
come into the game at 3-1 in the ACC and both are firmly in control of their
own destiny when it comes to winning their respective divisions. The winner of
this game will likely be a lock to play in the ACC championship game and it is
likely that the two will face each other again on December 1st in
Charlotte at the ACC title game. Florida State comes into the game ranked 14th
in the country and posting both a top 15 offense and defense in the country.
Led by EJ Manuel at quarterback and a wide receiving core that is 6 foot 1 and
taller their offense averages 46 points a game through seven games.
Then you have Miami. Miami enters
the game in the bottom half of the country in both offensive and defensive
numbers and it has been a tale of two seasons for the young Hurricanes team.
There is the lackluster Miami team that suffered blowout losses to Kansas State
and Notre Dame and just couldn’t get into a rhythm last week in the loss to
North Carolina. Then there is the Miami team that battled adversity to win
games against Boston College, Georgia Teach, and NC State while putting up big
numbers on the offensive side of the ball and locking down on defense when it
counted in the fourth quarter.
On paper Florida State should have
no problem winning this game. However, in rivalry games you throw out all the
numbers because to these kids and coaching staffs this is the most important
game of their season. For the players the winner gets bragging rights. For the
coaching staffs they get the leg up in recruiting for the upcoming season. And
for the fans, the game finally means something again.
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