History being made again in UM-FSU football series
If you knew at the beginning of the season that one team would be ranked 13th and the other unranked going into the always anticipated Miami-Florida State week, which would you have chosen for No. 13?
You likely would have been wrong.
The University of Miami, which meets FSU at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC) in Tallahassee and has lost seven consecutive games against the Seminoles, rose from No. 14 to 13 in the Associated Press Poll on Sunday.
The Amway Coaches Poll moved the Canes (3-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) up one spot to No. 12.
Florida State (1-2, 0-1), which began the season ranked third, is unranked in both polls this week, after being voted No. 25 by the coaches last week.
This is the first time since 1983 – the year of UM’s first national championship – that the Hurricanes will be the only team ranked in this huge rivalry.
The Seminoles dropped out of the coaches poll after rallying in the last minute to beat previously undefeated Wake Forest 26-19 on Saturday.
Last week, the Seminoles dropped out of the AP Poll for the first time since Nov. 26, 2011.
UM (3-0, 1-0) defeated Duke 31-6 on Friday night in Durham, North Carolina.
During UM’s past seven losses to FSU, the Canes were ranked higher than FSU twice – last year when they were No. 10 and the Noles were No. 21; and in 2010, when they were 13th and FSU was 23rd.
Miami started the season ranked 18th in both polls.
When asked after the Duke game how UM felt about its defense going into FSU week, linebacker Shaq Quarterman said this: “We feel good. We got back to the basics of doing what we’re supposed to do and playing to the standard. Maybe the first couple of weeks, since having those high expectations from last season, we felt like we had to play perfect. But it’s impossible to play perfect.
“So, we went back and just played hard and played physical. As long as we do that, we just continue to keep it going.’’
Regarding FSU in particular, Quarterman said he was “just ready to prepare for this week and travel to Tallahassee.”
“If you just go back through tradition,’’ he said, “there’s always a chip on our shoulder when it comes to this week. But there’s always a chip on our shoulder when it comes to every game.’’
This story was originally published October 1, 2017 at 3:19 PM with the headline "History being made again in UM-FSU football series."