The Miami football team’s 20 point comeback against Florida State in 2018 was the biggest in rivalry’s history. It was not the first time Miami staged an epic comeback to defeat the Seminoles.
Although the Florida State-Miami football rivalry is not as old as some of the nation’s other storied rivalries few have had the national impact historically as much as the Canes and Seminoles.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it would take more than one hand to count the number of times that Miami and Florida State met what would eventually have an impact on the outcome of the National Championship. The most notable of those meetings was the 1991 Wide Right I game.
The 1987 game was the first time that Miami and Florida State met when both were ranked in the top five. The Hurricanes entered the game ranked third and Seminoles fourth for the showdown in Tallahassee. That began a seven-year streak of games between the Canes and Noles when both teams were ranked in the top ten.
Miami and Florida State have played each other 14 times when both teams were ranked in the top ten. Six of those meetings both teams were ranked in the top five. The last time the teams played each other ranked in the top five was 2013 when Florida State was third and Miami was seventh.
The Seminoles throttled the Hurricanes 41-14. Miami won the last meeting when both teams were ranked in the top five in the 2004 season opener. The Canes were ranked fifth and Florida State fourth in UM’s inaugural game as a member of the ACC.
Playing for the third time in 11 months with both teams ranked in the top 10 all three times Miami won 16-10 in overtime.