What bothers me is that the team (and coaches) appear to take their foot off of the gas and do not close out games.
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The classic Florida rivalry continues.
And the feeling he had walking off the field at Sun Life Stadium after last year’s 30-26 loss to the Seminoles is one he hasn’t forgotten as he prepares to face FSU for the second time in his Miami career, especially since the Hurricanes controlled much of that game. His track record at Oregon and reputation as a game-changing offensive mind don’t lie and if you thought Oregon’s offense was impossible to stop, imagine Kelly running it with the speedy players he could recruit from all over South Florida.
If they are, they’ll get a quick reminder. I don’t think you can carry anything forward, except the experience.
Now, the Seminoles have the opportunity to all but finish off another rival: Miami’s Al Golden. And while Golden has acknowledged how important – and emotionally charged – he expects this matchup to be, he hasn’t wanted the stage too get too overwhelming for his relatively young team.
The two teams haven’t played since the 2013 season (a 21-16 Miami win), but met every season from 1938 through 1987. The Seminoles have done just enough to win each game they have played against inferior opponents. The blowouts morphed into brinksmanship as the Seminoles came from behind during the second half in five of their victories.
Up in the panhandle Florida State is certainly unproven early this season and seemingly ripe for a fall.
“We have a lot of respect for them”.
“We’ll be fine”, Fisher said on Monday during a news conference. “We have to learn a lot from what we did well and what we didn’t do well”. A victory against the Seminoles (who would go on to win the national championship) would have catapulted the Canes into the top five and put them in the national-title picture. “The city will host Florida State-Ole Miss in 2016, Alabama-Louisville in 2018, and is reportedly “…in negotiations to bring a marquee college football match-up to the Citrus Bowl in 2017”. Everett Golson has thrown for 786 yards and seven touchdowns under center. Golson turned it over at an alarming rate at Notre Dame previous year – throwing 14 interceptions and losing eight fumbles.
FSU’s offense has not racked up many style points this season.
The Seminoles’ defense has its own problem: dealing with Cook’s former teammate at Miami Central, Joe Yearby, who has 424 yards and four TDs.
Fisher loves the ideas of making big gains and setting up long throws on offense; it’s something he thrived at as a player. He completed just three of his final nine against Cincinnati as the Hurricanes tried to erase a late deficit; his passer rating for the game was a mediocre 116.5.
The last time UM defeated Florida State was in 2009 in Tallahassee, two seasons before Golden took over. Defensive end DeMarcus Walker had 1½ sacks against Wake. University of Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya has the desire to win alright! Miami is 87th out of 128 teams in the country in rushing yards allowed per attempt, so stopping Cook will be a challenge even if he’s not 100 percent healthy.
Line: Florida State by 9.
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This is the same simple question I asked Jimmy Johnson during a visit to his home in the Florida Keys over the summer.
