2011 Miami Hurricanes Football: Miami @ Florida State

The storied Miami-Florida State rivalry continues Saturday in Tallahassee, Florida, with a little luster lost from the glory days.

For a decade or more, this game was almost assured to be a matchup of top 10 teams and national championship contenders, but when the Hurricanes and Seminoles tangle on Saturday, they will be playing for pride. Neither team has a realistic opportunity to even win its division in the ACC at this point. Miami sits at 5-4 overall, 3-3 in ACC play, while Florida State enters the game with a 6-3 record, 4-2 in ACC competition.

To be sure, the rivalry has lost its capacity to enthrall not just the national college football world, but even the Miami fan base. Of the 6,000 tickets distributed to the University of Miami by Florida State, several thousand were returned to FSU unsold. Florida State fans quickly snatched them up, but such an occurrence would have been unthinkable in the 1980s or ‘90s. Additionally, last year’s game, a 45-17 FSU blowout, seemed to signal the beginning of an era of two teams that are no longer equals. Florida State has landed consecutive top-five recruiting classes and appears to be ascending, while Miami has struggled and things only appear to be getting worse after the offseason scandal involving rainmaking booster Nevin Shapiro was revealed.

This year’s Miami squad has been up and down, but the Canes are back at full strength after several key members of the team were suspended for the first half of the season. The defense is still fast and athletic and will provide a different challenge for a Florida State team that has spent the past four weeks beating up on four teams that are arguably the worst four in the conference. FSU quarterback EJ Manuel will have to run the ball because, unlike last year, Florida State probably cannot count on a traditional rushing attack against Miami. Miami’s defensive line is tough – it held Georgia Tech’s powerful rushing attack to 134 yards, and has been solid against the run all season. At the same time, Florida State has struggled to run between the tackles and has really only had success running either against overmatched defenses or running by nontraditional means, such as designed QB runs or the option, which Manuel excels at implementing.

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Manuel has been impressive through the air, on the other hand, and Miami has struggled at times defending the pass. FSU is 18th in the nation in passing yards, with nearly 300 yards per game through the air, while the Seminoles are 91st in rushing yards with only 126 per game. Despite missing nearly two games this season due to injury, Manuel has already thrown for nearly 2,000 yards and is completing two out of every three passes he throws, and has a 14-8 TD-INT ratio. Manuel has a host of very young but very talented receivers to throw to, with four of the top five receivers on the team being either freshmen or sophomores, along with junior Rod Smith, who has overtaken electric true freshman Rashad Greene as the team’s leading receiver (only because Greene has missed the past few games with an ankle injury). Devonta Freeman, also a true freshman, has moved to the top of the depth chart and now takes the bulk of the carries. His 70 rushes are twice as many as the next closest running back, and he’s averaging 5.2 yards a carry.

Florida State’s defense is also very young, but the Noles have come of age since the Clemson game, when they were gashed all game long. The defensive line has been outstanding, with ends Brandon Jenkins and Bjorn Warner controlling the edges and providing a lethal pass rush, while a host of interior linemen, including true freshman Tim Jernigan, have been impressing holding the line against the run. They’ll face their biggest challenge of the game defending Lamar Miller, who appears to be a lock to be first team all-ACC at running back. He has already run for 1,000 yards and averages nearly six yards per carry, with 8 TDs.

However, the real surprise for Miami on offense has been quarterback Jacory Harris, who is hitting 64 percent of his passes on the year for 1,757 yards and has an outstanding 18-4 TD-INT ratio. The Florida State secondary will have its work cut out; it has tended to aggressively overplay the running game on play action, a habit that Miami can take advantage of. Tommy Streeter and Travis Benjamin provide two great options for Harris to throw to, with each catching 32 balls on the season, with Streeter significantly higher in total yards and TDs.

Harris will likely have to win the game through the air, since Florida State will most likely stack the box to stop the run. If Harris can have early success running the ball, it might open up the passing game for Harris. Otherwise, he’ll have to prove that he can make throws under pressure to beat the FSU secondary. If recruiting trends continue, this might be Miami’s last, best chance to beat its rivals from Tallahassee, as NCAA penalties for last summer’s recruiting scandal will likely continue to widen the gap between these two old rivals.

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