Saturday’s upcoming game between the Miami Hurricanes and Florida State will not have the same cache it would have had three weeks ago. If Miami and Florida State had played as originally scheduled week three both teams would likely have entered the game 2-0.
Since then, the game originally scheduled for September 16 has had to be rescheduled for this Saturday, October 7, Florida State has suffered an upset loss at home to North Carolina State and almost lost at Wake Forest. Both the Miami Hurricanes and Florida State have both had one game canceled.
Miami’s game at Arkansas State and Florida State’s home game against Louisiana-Monroe scheduled for September 9 were both canceled because of Hurricane Irma. The Hurricanes have started the season 3-0.
Miami won their first game after a three-week layoff against Toledo on September 23. They added to that with a win over Duke on Friday.
Which school will be more desperate for a win. The Miami Hurricanes would desperately like to end a seven-game losing streak to Florida State. If we look at the game in the capsule of this season, the Seminoles need the win more.
Florida State began this season 0-2. It was the first time since 1989 the Seminoles began the season with two losses. FSU was on the ropes at Wake Forest on Saturday. In a bizarre parallel college football universe, Florida State entered the game winless and Wake Forest was 4-0.
The Seminoles were very fortunate to escape Winston-Salem with a victory. Despite having the ball for almost nine and half minutes longer, Florida State had nearly 100 yards less than Wake Forest.
A third loss this season would be devastating for Florida State. It would also be their second ACC loss, basically eliminating them from the race in the Atlantic Division, just three games into their schedule.
It seems to be that Miami is the school with higher aspirations this season after Florida State’s shaky start to the season. Miami’s schedule eases a bit after they play Florida State Saturday. If the Hurricanes can escape Tallahassee with a win the rest of the season sets up nicely.
Miami plays Georgia Tech, Syracuse and North Carolina the following three weeks. Syracuse is 2-3. UNC 1-4 and Georgia Tech 3-1.
Saturday Blitz
The Yellow Jackets one loss was to 2-2 Tennessee. The Volunteers just got whacked by Georgia 41-0. If Miami gets through the next four games without a loss that would set up an epic showdown with Virginia Tech at Hard Rock Stadium on November 4.
The Seminoles have played in a Major Bowl game in four of the last five seasons. If Florida State loses Saturday, the Seminoles are likely staring at their first four-loss regular season since 2011. That was Jimbo Fisher’s second season. The Seminoles lost four games in each of his first two years in Tallahassee.
In the three seasons that followed, Florida State lost just three games combined. They had three losses in each of the last two seasons.
The pressure on Miami to win is two-fold. They desperately want to break their seven-game losing streak to Florida State. Every year when Miami gets off to a good start to the season the question is infinitely is the U back?
The wins the last two weeks over Toledo and Duke were impressive. The step up in talent this week is significant. Toledo had a more high-powered offense and Duke a better defense, but Florida State has more talent on both sides of the ball.
The key could come down to how well Florida State true Freshman quarterback James Blackman plays. He has only completed 55.9 percent of his passes. In the narrow victory over Wake Forest Blackman threw for just 121 yards. The Seminoles used the ground game to move the offense on Saturday.
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Miami is giving up 129.7 yards per game on the ground, but 246.3 passing yards per game. If Florida State is going to defeat Miami it’s likely going to have to be through the air. Miami Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz is likely to bring the blitz early and often to rattle Blackman.