Canes Corner: Miami and Florida State Meet In Rivalry Match

The Canes and Seminoles have played each other 70 times.

Miami leads 37-33 in the heated rivalry that began with a 35-13 Miami win on October 5, 1951, at the Orange Bowl, which was known as Burdine Stadium at that time.

Miami is coming off a bye week but, even so, rose to No. 3 in the AP poll after Texas was knocked out of the top spot by Oklahoma in their Red River Shootout. The Canes now only trail Georgia and Notre Dame in the AP rankings.

The Miami (5-0, 3-0 ACC) vs. Florida State (3-3, 1-2 ACC) rivalry's 71st kickoff will be on Saturday night at 7:00 at Hard Rock Stadium and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

FSU is coming off a 44-20 loss at Louisville last weekend. Canes Corner and the South Dade News Leader would like to offer congratulations to Homestead's local hero in Louisville's win.

Homestead High 2024 graduate Isaac Brown, who led the Broncos to two state championship games and has garnered ACC Rookie of the Year and All-ACC honors in his freshman and sophomore campaigns, was named ACC Running Back of the Week after his 17 carries for 235 yards and two touchdowns led to the Cardinals' win over the Seminoles last Friday night.

Congratulations, Isaac Brown!

On to Miami's game.

FSU is led by dual-threat QB Ashton Daniels, who has completed 91 of 153 throws with eight TDs and seven interceptions. On the ground, Daniels has 70 runs for 323 yards and 10 scores. RB Ousmane Kromah has 100 carries for 565 yards and five touchdowns. No Noles WR is averaging as many as 50 receiving yards per game.

The Seminole defense is coming off an abysmal effort. Louisville ran 58 plays on offense and gained 537 yards, an average of 9.25 yards per play. The Cardinals gained 9.2 yards per play rushing on 43 carries and 9.3 yards per play on 15 throws.

Miami has one of the nation's top offenses and defenses. The Canes rank first nationally in rushing defense at 42.6 yards per game allowed and are also first in total offense at 554.8 yards per game.

Miami had some good news on injuries over the bye week. Edge rusher Marquise Lightfoot, who leads the defense with five sacks and five tackles for loss, will be back in the lineup. LB Ezekiel Marcelin and cornerbacks Damari Brown and starter Xavier Lucas, who has been out since opening day, will all play against FSU. Offensive guard Max Buchanan suffered a knee injury against Clemson and will miss a few weeks.

Canes Corner was at head coach Mario Cristobal's Monday press conference, where the coach offered his opinions on the rivalry.

“FSU, I think we all know, for Miami and for me personally, it's always been the greatest rivalry in sports. They've got a really talented football team, several NFL prospects, a lot of future draftees on their current roster, a lot of experience, very talented, very experienced. They play hard. They play physical. They're explosive on both sides of the ball. They're disruptive on defense and explosive on offense. A really good football team.”

Canes Corner will be in the press box for the contest and will comment on the results in next week's edition.

It's the time of year when there are multiple sports events going on at the same time. Football is midseason, and both women's and men's basketball are about to start.

Both volleyball and soccer play their home games on campus and offer free admission. I highly recommend trying to get to some of these games.

Many of our readers' families have children who play soccer or volleyball. Come on out. If you do, you will come back.

Here are the schedules for the next few weeks. All games except football, which is played at Hard Rock Stadium, are on campus unless otherwise noted.

Football: Pitt 10/24 at noon; at North Carolina 10/31; at Notre Dame 11/7.

Women's Basketball: 10/18 Lynn University, 2 p.m. (exhibition); 11/2 FAU, 7 p.m.; 11/6 Jacksonville, 7 p.m.; 11/8 Stetson, 2 p.m.

Men's Basketball: 10/23 Vanderbilt, 6 p.m. (exhibition); 11/2 Florida Gators (in Tampa), 6 p.m.; 11/6 Wagner, 9 p.m.; 11/9 North Florida, 7 p.m.

Soccer — FREE ADMISSION: 10/18 Iona, 1 p.m.; 10/24 Boston College, 8 p.m.; 11/1 Florida State, 4 p.m.

Volleyball — FREE ADMISSION: 10/23 Notre Dame, 6 p.m.; 10/25 Louisville, 3:30 p.m.; 11/6 Stanford, 7 p.m.; 11/8 California, 1 p.m.

I hope readers come to a game or two with their families, especially with elementary, middle and high school children. When you come, feel free to walk around the campus. It's always open to the public, and let the children see what a college experience could be for them.

Basketball games are played at the on-campus Watsco Center. Soccer is played at Cobb Stadium on San Amaro Drive, and volleyball at Freeman Indoor Stadium at the Knight Sports Complex, just west of Cobb Stadium, also on San Amaro Drive.

I truly hope readers understand how welcome they will be when they attend University of Miami athletic events alone or with their families.

That's it for now. Be well all and Go Canes!