Take no game for granted! Miami Football must bring A game vs. FSU

Saturday night the Miami football program will once again be the center of the college football universe as they take on long time bitter in-state rivals Florida State.

For Miami football fans not quite as old as others, in the 1980s and 1990s, the games against Florida State literally determined national championships. A loss by either team could have taken them out of the hunt for a national championship.

What do you think of all the great Miami Hurricanes players that have gone professional? How many of them participated in what was the most eagerly anticipated game of the season? Looking back to the one sack Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson got for the entire season it was against Charlie Ward in the Miami-FSU game.

This is all prefaced all with an admitted sense of being highly biased towards the Miami Hurricanes, but also being very realistic and saying this, the Miami football team needs to bring their  A-game. Miami finally has a high tempo offense and needs to use it.

Pedal to the metal from the very first snap to the very last step and take nothing for granted in between. It doesn’t matter what the score is, it’s completely irrelevant as the Hurricanes are not trying to impress the pollsters, they are simply trying to win one more game in a series of wins needed to move this program to the next level.

People who about what happens if Miami beats Clemson are particularly annoying only because this weekend the Hurricanes do not play Clemson. Let’s talk about what if Miami beats Clemson when it’s time to play the Tigers and not one game before. Focus on only Florida State Saturday.

Miami has not earned the luxury to look towards what-if scenarios based on assumptions that the Hurricanes are just going to win any games. Miami needs to earn victories and they will beat FSU because they are the more talented team.

The presence of a legend like former Miami safety and current football chief of staff, Ed Reed on the sidelines is one where the intangibles may not be noticeable but ask any of the players just how meaningful they really are. Miami has beaten FSU in dramatic fashion over the last few years.

Florida State is coming with everything they’ve got. Many of the Florida State and Miami football players grew up playing together. This game is more than just an in-state rivalry, It’s personal. It’s personal for the players and it’s personal for the fans.

The game being personal makes for a very dangerous situation if everyone is not fully prepared to wage the kind of battle that will take place. To all the Miami players, give this your best effort. The Hurricanes and Seminoles are the ESPN College GameDay and ABC PrimeTime match up for the second week in a row. Make this count!