It seems like it's been forever since the Miami-Florida State game mattered.
From 1999-2006, both teams were ranked in every meeting. Seven of the eight games were decided by ten points or less -- six were decided by one score or less. In the six meetings since, though, Miami hasn't been ranked.
Until now.
No. 7 Miami (7-0, 3-0 ACC) hasn't earned style points the way No. 3 Florida State (7-0, 5-0 ACC) has on its way up the national polls. The Hurricanes have struggled to put away North Carolina and Wake Forest in its last two games, while Florida State has wiped the floor with No. 9 Clemson and N.C. State in its last two games.
Wins are wins, and Miami will take them. But that doesn't mean its head coach, Al Golden, is unaware of the challenges ahead of him this week if his team continues to play like it has been. When asked on a teleconference what his team would have to do to "make a game of it” in Tallahassee, Golden's first response was: "We don't have enough time to cover it.”
However, earlier this week, Golden told reporters he and his staff were trying to find the positives in winning two straight close games, even if the Hurricanes didn't look very formidable in either of them.
"It's really all about you extracting what you can extract that's positive from each of those games," Golden said. "Certainly winning late in those games, overcoming adversity, things not being perfect -- all those things we extract.
"The biggest thing is, are we learning? We have to learn a great deal and improve individually a lot from last Saturday to this Saturday to have a chance in Tallahassee. ... I'm going to look at the film and look if the execution is where it needs to be, but you cannot have breakdowns on special teams, you cannot turn the ball over, you cannot have penalties. All of those elements are factors in this game.”
The question all year has been if Miami is really "back” as a powerhouse in college football. This rivalry can't really be "back, either, until The U is.
The not-so-simple answer is that the Hurricanes are getting there.
Golden has already made some progress getting the program back where it needs to be, especially in terms of this rivalry. The last time Miami came into this game without a loss is the last time it was the season-opening game for both teams (2009). And the last time Miami came in undefeated after having played at least one game was 2003. (The Hurricanes won the national title that year, by the way.)
Golden understands the importance of this game on a national level. Back to a primetime spot on national television, it's getting back to becoming the game it once was -- must-see TV for college football fans across the country.
"It's the passion, the tradition, how much the games meant in terms of the national spotlight or the repercussions in terms of post-season,” Golden said. "It's exciting to have that opportunity. We want to continue to grow the type of team that expects to be in these types of games year in and year out. That's what we're trying to build.”
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher has been in a rebuilding process, too. But he started out ahead of Miami, and he's beaten the Hurricanes by an average of 15 points in his three games against them as head coach.
Of course, FSU has faced an unranked Miami team in all of those meetings and the Hurricanes' best record in that span was last year's 7-5. So Fisher understands this year's opponent is different than the one he's faced in previous years.
"It's one of the great rivalries in college football,” Fisher said. "It's very influential in the ACC race, very influential in the national championship race, and I think it's also great for our conference, understanding how great the ball is in the ACC.”
And he's excited about the direction that both programs are heading in.
It almost feels like the old days, Fisher said.
"We both want to be there. That's the goals of both programs,” Fisher said. "We're prominent again and we're consistent on being up there again and we've been up there for a good while now and you're starting to see us there every week and hopefully we can stay there.”
Miami and Tallahassee are technically cities in the same state, of course. But they're nearly seven hours apart, so it doesn't have quite the geographic impact that some in-state rivalries do ... except when you consider that many of the players on both teams went to the same high school, or played against each other in high school. They know each other. And then this year, there's the added element of Miami offensive coordinator James Coley switching sides just last season, when he was the offensive coordinator at Florida State.
Coley went to Florida State and was the Seminoles' recruiting coordinator, so he would happily tweet out things meant to tweak the Hurricanes from time to time. And after he decided to leave, a lot of FSU fans were mad. College football is a business, but rivalries are bitter.
Everyone is saying all the right things when it comes to this, though. Even his former mentor, Fisher.
"I've watched their offenses -- I've never studied like I would the other side of the ball, but just going through, they've done a great job,” Fisher said of Coley's offense at Miami. "They can run it, they can throw it, they've got good balance. They're creating a lot of plays and doing a great job of coming back late in games and being able to make drives to win games late.
"We knew they have a great group going in as far as player-wise. He's added to what they've done and they're very well-coached all the way around the board -- offensive line, receivers, running backs, and Coley has done a great job. I always said that Coley is a great offensive mind. I think he's a very good coach and a great recruiter and he's got a great future in this business.”
Coley likely won't get a warm reception in his first trip back to Doak Campbell. But neither will the other Hurricanes in attendance.
It's just one more wrinkle in an always-fun rivalry that has evolved since the days of "Wide Left” or "Wide Right”, even if Fisher was asked multiple questions about the confidence of his kicker this week.
(For the record, Fisher said his kicker, freshman Roberto Aguayo - who hasn't missed this season -- is very confident. Not that it's always mattered in this game.)
