Florida State's Rivalry Matchup Against Miami Heavily Discussed on ESPN's College GameDay
There are only a couple of hours remaining until Florida State kicks off its annual rivalry game against Miami. The Seminoles are preparing to pursue their third straight victory in the series with the Hurricanes trending in the wrong direction after dropping three of their past five games.
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The heated feud was a major topic of discussion during the latest edition of ESPN's College GameDay on Saturday morning. Live from Athens for Georgia-Ole Miss, the panel of co-hosts shared their respective insights on the contest.
There aren't many weaknesses in Florida State's defense, especially after the unit held three consecutive opponents under 300 yards and didn't allow a passing touchdown in October. However, Desmond Howard believes that Miami's key to an upset is finding success on the ground if the team turns to true freshman quarterback Emory Williams rather than Tyler Van Dyke.
The Hurricanes have four different running backs with 250+ rushing yards this season and typically ride with the hot hand each game. The Seminoles are ranked No. 58 in the country in rushing defense, allowing 140.2 yards on the ground per contest.
"We just got through talking about Miami and Tyler Van Dyke, how he's been turning the ball over," Howard said. "They may go to Emory Williams, freshman quarterback who played against Clemson and they won that game. Miami has a chance to maybe the run ball, they've got a stable of running backs, they can rotate three guys."
"Florida State, they've been getting gashed by teams on the ground so if they're [Miami] going to have a shot, they're going to have to definitely establish the line of scrimmage and run the ball," Howard continued. "If Emory is going to be the quarterback, he's going to have to take some shots down the field but he's going to have to use his legs too if they're going to upset Florida State."
Pat McAfee agreed with Howard's analysis, noting how much Van Dyke's ten interceptions in his last four starts have hampered Miami.
"The Tyler Van Dyke turnover thing doesn't obviously just affect the offense when you're losing out on possessions. It also affects the defense," McAfee said. "The defense is very good but the other teams are getting the ball in great field position on a very regular basis. You talk about that run game, whenever you think about the Florida State defense, top-10 points per game, I mean, they've been fantastic."
"Top-5 third-down, top-15 red zone defense, the only thing that they lack, to your point, is they're 53rd in run defense, so if Miami can keep this stable going, hold onto the ball, and keep Jordan off the field, he has been magnificent. I think that is a way for Miami to win this but I love this Florida State team," McAfee added.
At least one member of the show believes that the Seminoles are going to win 'convincingly' against the Hurricanes. Instead of getting caught up in the rivalry, Kirk Herbstreit thinks Florida State will come out with a chip on its shoulder.
Herbstreit also injected a point about how he believes FSU's victory over Miami in 2021 changed the current trajectory of the program.
"Yeah, this game is important for a lot of reasons. One of the reasons for me, when you go back and think about 2021 when Florida State played Miami. Jordan Travis found a way to win that game that day and to me, that was a turning point in the Mike Norvell Era," Herbstreit said. "They're 21-4 since that day that they won that game against Miami. That energy, that rivalry game, instead of it being like anything can happen, I think it's going to motivate Florida State. They're playing at home. I think they're going to win and win convincingly today against Miami."
The oldest member of the revered show and Florida State legend, Lee Corso, capped the segment with a hilarious story. He recalled a moment from one of his games at Miami when he played for the Seminoles.
"I want you to listen to this. 70 years ago, I returned to Miami as a freshman quarterback at Florida State against the University of Miami. We ran the spread option until they decided to eliminate the option. I lasted one quarter."
FSU received good news earlier this morning when it was announced that Johnny Wilson and Keon Coleman had made enough progress to return to the lineup when the Hurricanes come to Tallahassee.
The Seminoles and Hurricanes are scheduled to kick off at 3;30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ABC.
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