2024 Miami Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 8: Florida State
One of the biggest rivalries in the ACC comes ahead once again on Oct 26, 2024. It is close to Halloween which means its spooky hours for one of the programs between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes.
This rivalry has been going back and forth over the past number of years but recently the Seminoles have been getting the best of the Canes. They have won the previous three matchups between the teams and gone 6-4 in the last ten. This game will be one of the biggest games in the ACC during this season with the expectations that Florida State will still have a similar season as last year.
Going undefeated is a great accomplishment and winning the ACC championship with a third-string quarterback will be remembered for ages, however, a bad taste in the Seminole's mouth for being snubbed out of the 2023 College Football Playoffs will have the team returning with more hunger than before. While most of their talented defensive and offensive players were drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft, Florida State has regrouped and recalibrated. Here is a look at the 2024 Florida State Seminoles.
Offense
Last season the Seminoles were the No. 1 scoring offense in the ACC and that was even with the injury to quarterback Jordan Travis. Now he has been drafted, new QB DJ Uiagalelei, the former Clemson star who transferred to Oregon State for a year, will not take the reigns. With the return to the ACC, the quarterback will have some questions about his game and leading this team back to a No. 1 scoring offensive when he has a career completion percentage of 59 percent.
Other players with most of the production in the offense have also been drafted into the NFL as well. Wide receiver Keon Coleman (No. 33 overall, Buffalo Bills), Trey Benson (No. 66 overall, Arizona Cardinals), and Johnny Wilson (No. 185 overall, Philadelphia Eagles) generated most of the offensive production last season. This season will be one of question marks around who will make up for that production.
Hakeem Williams will have major involvement as a wide receiver now that the production of the Seminoles top guys needs to be replaced. Ja’Khi Douglas averaged over 17 yards per catch last season, and transfer Malik Benson comes in from Alabama to try and kickstart his career with a fresh opportunity.
Even with Benson leaving the team will still have talent at the running back rosters with senior Lawrence Toafili who averaged 6.7 yards a carry and finished with 463 yards on the season.
The offensive line looks to be better on paper with a majority returning to the line and new additions with Richie Leonard (Florida) and TJ Ferguson (Alabama) being brought in from the transfer portal.
Defense
The defense for the Seminoles last season was stout with NFL talent. Jared Verse (No. 19 overall, Los Angeles Rams), Braden Fiske (No. 39 overall, Los Angeles Rams), safety Renardo Green (No. 64 overall, San Francisco 49ers), and defensive back Jarrian Jones ( No. 96 overall, Jacksonville Jaguars) each had a massive impact on what was one of the best defense in the country. Even with those losses, the defense will still be one of the best in the country.
Patrick Payton will be returning after battling alongside Verse on the line. He finished his season with seven sacks and 14.5 tackles. With him is also Georgia transfer Marvin Jones Jr. lining up next to him.
Last season they had one of the best passing defenses in the country and their top corners are still on the roster for next season. Fentrell Cypress broke up eight passes last season while also making 40 tackles. These stats are outstanding but something that also has to be noted is that teams will try to stay away from him. Even with that, Azareye'h Thomas is on the other side with two more pass deflections in ten.
DJ Lundy will likely be the top linebacker in the room and with the addition of Shawn Murphy transferring in from Alabama, the linebacker room has had a complete turnover. Lundy is the only senior in the room with the rest of the linebackers being redshirt sophomores or younger. It is a young room but with that brings a lot of opportunity.
While there were several turnovers on the defensive side of the ball, there will still be many key pieces that will return to lead the team.
Schedule
These back-to-back games for the Hurricanes against Lousiville and Florida State will be the most difficult stretch on the team schedule. They will follow this game and head to Durham to face the Duke Blue Devils in the week following. This could be the point in their season where the Canes will have an understanding of what needs to be done to finish out the season strong They could be undefeated or they could have one or three losses at this point,
Outlook
The each team, this will be a massive game to see where the ACC standing will line up going forward. These two teams will be battling it out for who will be in the ACC championship game as well as a spot or two in the College Football Playoffs. For each team, a win will be a great on their resume. At this point in the season, each team will know what they will likely be competing for. For Miami, it will be a bowl win and for the Seminoles, it will be a chance to rewrite the wrong that left Florida State out of the playoffs last season.
The Game
Date: October 28
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
Location: Hard Rock Stadium
Series: Miami leads 35-33 against Florida State
Last Matchup: The Seminoles defeated the Hurricane in a close matchup 27-20 on Nov 11, 2024. This was one of the many times freshman Emory Williams started and played a decent game before suffering a season-ending injury. Jacolby Geroge had a monster game catching two touchdowns on 153 yards in the loss.
Miami Hurricanes 2024 Football Schedule
August 31 at Florida
September 7 Florida A&M
September 14 Ball State
September 21 at USF
September 27 Virginia Tech
October 5 at California
October 12 Bye Week
October 19 at Louisville
October 26 Florida State
November 2 Duke
November 9 at Georgia Tech
November 16 Bye Week
November 23 Wake Forest
November 30 at Syracuse
