Long-time rivals Florida State and Miami wound up on opposite sides of the ACC when the league expanded more than a decade ago. It used to be that the FSU-Miami rivalry defined a college football season as the winner would often move on to play for the national title -- and frequently win the crown as well. But until recently, the ACC chapter of the rivalry was mostly one-sided. Jimbo Fisher only lost once to Miami as Florida State's coach, running off seven straight wins from 2010-16 against the Hurricanes. Though it was in the midst of three ACC championships and a BCS national title run, Miami -- which just played for the ACC championship for the first time last season -- never seemed that far away from snapping the streak, losing four of those games by five points or less.
The last Florida State win was arguably the most heartbreaking for Hurricanes fans, as celebration for an apparent game-tying touchdown was muted by DeMarcus Lawrence blocking the extra point in a 20-19 win. Miami finally snapped the streak in 2017 with a wild 24-20 win in Tallahassee, using that win as a launching pad into the national conversation and finally winning the ACC Coastal Division for the first time in program history. Though we are only a few years separated from the time when FSU owned this rivalry, things are much different here in 2018. Miami, not Florida State, is the team contending for a conference title while the Seminoles are in total rebuild mode under first-year coach Willie Taggart.
Viewing information
Date: Saturday, Oct. 6 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Hard Rock Stadium -- Miami Gardens, Florida
TV: ABC | Live stream: WatchESPN
Storylines
Florida State: Willie Taggart's first ACC win was awfully hard to come by, and no one thought heading into the year we'd be waiting until Week 5 to discuss the Seminoles' first conference win in 2018. Florida State trailed by 14 points in the second half and by 10 in the fourth quarter before scoring the game-winning touchdown with 1:13 remaining against Louisville in a 28-24 victory. The offensive struggles have been the biggest talking point surrounding this FSU team, with Deondre Francois trying to get in a rhythm with Taggart's Gulf Coast Offense behind an offensive line that has trotted out five different starting lineups in as many weeks.
Miami: Redshirt freshman quarterback N'Kosi Perry got his first career start against North Carolina last week in a 47-10 win, but the high-scoring runaway victory was mostly thanks to the efforts of the defense. The Turnover Chain 2.0 -- a 4,000-stone encrusted model of Sebastian the Ibis -- got plenty of wear and tear as the Hurricanes totaled six turnovers and even scored three touchdowns, the most for a Hurricanes defense since 2000. That group, led by Gerald Willis, Joe Jackson and Shaq Quarterman, currently ranks No. 1 in the country in third down conversion rate and tackles for loss, and is leading the way while the offense settles into a rhythm with Perry under center.
Perry needs to have a big game here to give the offense some juice with back-to-back road games against Virginia and Boston College coming up on the schedule. Miami can still think of itself as a College Football Playoff contender as long as it avoids a second loss, but the chances of that are going to require more consistent play from Miami on offense.
Game prediction, picks
Mark Richt is 14-3 in Hard Rock Stadium since taking over as Miami's coach. The atmosphere should be electric and the Hurricanes will win the game, but I don't know if there's going to be enough offense in this game -- on either side -- to cover 13 points. When the over-under is low (currently at 48.5 at the time of this writing), I always favor the double-digit dog. Pick: Florida State +13
Which teams should you back in Week 6 of the college football season? And which national title contender will get a massive scare on the road? Visit SportsLine right now to see the projected score for every single FBS matchup, all from the model that has returned over $4,000 in profit to $100 bettors over the last three seasons and is 49-36 on its top-rated picks this season.
