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Florida State football: Seminoles, Jimbo Fisher try for six in a row against Miami Hurricanes

By The Sports Xchange
The Florida State Seminoles and Head Coach Jimbo Fisher host the Miami Hurricanes this weekend and will try to win their sixth straight game against their Sunshine State rival. Susan Knowles/UPI
The Florida State Seminoles and Head Coach Jimbo Fisher host the Miami Hurricanes this weekend and will try to win their sixth straight game against their Sunshine State rival. Susan Knowles/UPI | License Photo

By Danny Aller

The Sports Xchange

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --Let's be honest: The storied rivalry between Miami and Florida State is not what it once was.

No one will argue that.

But while both teams have had their ups and downs since past national championships were decided on games -- known simply these days as "Wide Right" and "Wide Left" -- in the 1990s and early 2000s, don't think for a second the importance of the annual bragging rights showdown is lost on anyone involved in this series.

"Heck no!" Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said with a bit of fire in his voice Monday when asked if the new breed of Seminoles needed to be reminded of the bitter history these two teams share. "They know the Miami rivalry. They know what it means."

Saturday's primetime showdown at Doak Campbell Stadium would've meant a lot more -- maybe even earned the honor as the feature game of the week by ESPN's College Gameday -- had Miami taken care of business last week against Cincinnati and entered the contest unbeaten.

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Instead, No. 12 Florida State (4-0 overall, 2-0 in the ACC) will host a Hurricanes team fresh off their first loss of the year in the 60th all-time meeting between the two programs. Sure, the Hurricanes (3-1, 0-0) still might lead the overall series 31-28, but in recent years, the Seminoles have closed the gap in a big way.

As in, five straight Florida State wins against Miami -- a streak that coincided with Fisher's first year as head coach.

"I think it's a fun game for everybody. It's a rivalry game" said Fisher, who has been stellar against teams from the state of Florida since taking over in 2010, going 12-1 against FBS programs from the Sunshine State. "These are the big games you (come to Florida State for) to play in."

And come Saturday, the Seminoles will be playing with a statement to make and point to prove.

That's because for the second straight time, Florida State was dropped in The AP Top 25 Poll on Sunday. Two weeks ago, the Seminoles were idle -- but coming off a shutout road win against Boston College -- and fell to No. 11.

Last week, they beat Wake Forest, 24-16, on the road and were dropped another spot -- this time being jumped by five teams: Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Clemson. Some college football analysts went as far to call Florida State the worst unbeaten team left in the Top 25.

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Fisher certainly would disagree, but he did say following the Wake Forest that this year's team still doesn't have the "killer instinct" he's become accustomed to.

"(The Wake Forest game) was really a game that challenged us to get that mindset coach Fisher was talking about -- that killer mindset. Get that dog in us," Florida State star cornerback Jalen Ramsey told the school's website, Seminoles.com, following the win against the Demon Deacons. "Now we have to go into practice this week, prepare for Miami, make corrections and come out and be ready.

"I mean, we're 4-0, so we're happy. But we're not content at all."

The Seminoles are also not content about the sudden uncertainly surrounding their star player: star RB and Heisman candidate Dalvin Cook. Cook, a Miami native who played his high school ball at Miami Central, left the Wake Forest game late in the first quarter after injuring his hamstring and did not return. The injury occurred when Cook, who ripped off a 94-yard TD run midway earlier in the first quarter against Wake Forest, caught a short pass out of the backfield, went out of bounds and immediately grabbed the back of his thigh.

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Fisher only offered this Monday about Cook's status for the game against Miami: "He's day-to-day."

The mere chance Cook might not play has to be music to Miami's ears: The former hometown kid burned the Hurricanes for two touchdowns and 92 yards -- on only just seven carries -- last season during the Seminoles' 30-26 victory in Miami Gardens.

Fisher, however, doesn't seem too concerned -- despite the fact if Cook doesn't play, the Seminoles will have to go with a freshman (Jacques Patrick) and sophomore (Johnathan Vickers) at running back. Neither player has ever started a game. Vickers did get the bulk of the carries last week when Cook left, rushing for 33 yards on 10 carries and scoring a crucial second quarter touchdown to extend Florida State's early lead.

"I feel very good about Vickers and Patrick. Very good. Those guys are good players," Fisher said of relying on his third- and fourth-string running backs -- a situation that was created when second-string RB Mario Pender was hospitalized two weeks ago with a collapsed lung he suffered in practice and still hasn't returned. "Vickers was doing well against (against Wake Forest); had a nice red zone run, caught a nice screen, picked up a blitz, knew what to do, where he was going. And Patrick did well when he was in there.

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"I feel very confident going in (with those two guys)."

Then again, you would too if you'd never lost to your rival in five tries.

The first victory for Fisher came in 2010 -- on the road, as a significant underdog -- and the head coach reflected on that win Monday. He called it, among other things, a monumental step back to prominence for the Seminoles.

"It was significant in that it woke people and said, 'Hey, Florida State does have a chance to be that program again,' " said Fisher, who turned 45 years old the same night his Seminoles trounced the Hurricanes, 45-17 -- and this year he'll turn 50 the day before the Miami game. "That was a big game. I remember that night. That was a great night for Florida State. It gave people hope for the future.

"And once you get hope, anything can happen."

NOTES, QUOTES

PLAYERS TO WATCH

--RBs Johnathan Vickers and Jacques Patrick-- Vickers and Patrick will need to step up huge this week with the Seminoles being down one, and possibly two, running backs. Dalvin Cook (hamstring) is questionable and backup Mario Pender (collapsed lung) is just trying to get healthy so he can get out of the hospital and return to school -- much less the football field. Vickers, a sophomore, performed well against Wake Forest, rushing for 33 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, while Patrick -- the five-star freshman recruit Seminole fans have been dying to see -- didn't get a single carry. Fisher said he plans to involve Patrick more in the game this week, especially if Cook can't go.

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--DB Trey Marshall -- The heralded top-rated high school safety is beginning to make a name for himself in Tallahassee, earning ACC Defensive Back Player of the Week from the conference Monday after stepping up big for the Seminoles against Wake Forest. Marshall posted a team-high 11 tackles (most by an FSU defensive player this year) and broke up a pass during the 24-16 win, while helping hold the Demon Deacon's top-ranked ACC passing attack to just 215 yards.

--WR Kermit Whitfield -- Here's a stat that'll blow Florida State fans' minds: Whitfield scored last week for the first time since the 2013 BCS National Championship Game against Auburn. One of the team's stars of 2013, Whitfield -- whose kickoff return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter against Auburn gave Florida State its first lead of the title game and eventually the crown -- fell off big time last year. It's still a mystery whether his conditioning dipped or if he got in the coach's doghouse for something unrelated altogether -- Fisher never really said -- but Whitfield burst back on the scene Saturday in the way many, including Fisher, had expected him to this year. The junior caught four passes for 24 yards and one score, and he also made a huge impact in the return game with four kickoff returns or 111 yards -- Florida State's best output on special teams all season.

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SERIES HISTORY: Miami leads Florida State 31-28, but the Seminoles have won five in a row, and six of the last seven meetings.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Sometimes you get caught up in wanting to win. Don't get caught up in wanting to win. Get caught up in wanting to play well. I say, 'Don't look at the scoreboard.' You should never look at the scoreboard. How you going to control the scoreboard? By how you play. You play well, guess what? Sometimes that scoreboard will change in your direction. I think we get so caught up in the outcome. Don't get caught up in the outcome, stay in the process. And just keep playing." -- FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher clarifying his comment about his team needing to develop that "killer instinct" after jumping out to a big early lead against Wake Forest but failing to finish the game and needing a late defensive stand to hold off the 19-point underdog Demon Deacons.

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