On Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN the Seminoles will be in Miami Gardens to play the #3 Miami Hurricanes. Miami is 5-0 on the season with wins against Stanford, Florida A&M, Wake Forest, Central Michigan and Clemson. FSU is 33-37 versus Miami all time. The last time the ‘Noles beat the Canes was in 2023, 27-20.
Observations from the last game
The Seminoles played about as well as a team can play the first 20 minutes then as bad as a team can play for the next 30 minutes. As soon as one thing went wrong it was an avalanche of Louisville big plays and mistakes by FSU.
After giving up only 37 rushing yards to Virginia the defense gave up a whopping 397 yards to Louisville.
Ousmane Kromah continued his stellar season with 88 yards rushing and 4 catches.
Florida State offense versus Miami defense
This side of the ball will be strength against strength. FSU likes to run the ball and has done a good job at it while Miami has been great at stopping it, ranking first in FBS giving up only 44 yards per game. Florida State might have to use the pass to set up the run this time. Miami rank 94th in passing yards given up. The most important matchup here is left tackle Xavier Chaplin versus defensive end Marquise Lightfoot, who has 5 sacks. If Chaplin and the rest of the line can hold up, Ashton Daniels needs to hit his receivers for some big plays. Other players to watch for on the Hurricane defense are defensive lineman Armondo Blount and Damon Wilson and defensive backs Omar Thornton (21 tackles and 2 sacks) and Ethan O’Connor.
Florida State defense versus Miami offense
The quarterback of the explosive Miami offense is Darian Mensah, who has 1,438 yards passing, an 84% completion percentage, 17 total touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Mensah’s favorite target in Malachi Toney. Toney has 39 catches for 604 yards and 6 TDs. Receivers Cooper Barkate and Daylyn Upshaw along with tight end Elija Lofton are playmakers in the passing game as well. Before last week FSU had played great against the run. To fix this they need the defensive line to get more of a push and the linebackers to stay in their lanes and tackle better. Doing this will be easier said than done against running backs Mark Fletcher and Javian Mallory and the talented offensive line. Florida State needs big games from defensive tackles Kevin Wynn and Daniel Lyons and linebackers Chris Jones and Caleb LaVallee.
Special Teams
Push. UM kicker Jake Weinburg (FSU transfer) has been great this season just like FSU’s Gabe Panikowski. The return game hasn’t been a strength since Sam Singleton got hurt.
Prediction
FSU struggles against mobile quarterbacks, quick wide receivers, physical running backs and a good pass rush, Miami has all four. Florida State continues to find ways to lose on the road.
Florida State 17 Miami 45
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