For decades,Miami and Florida State was must-see television.
The rivalry brought us Miami's Michael Irvin running 73 yards down the sideline at Doak Campbell Stadium in 1987. Florida State's Marvin Jones flattening Miami's Larry Jones with a poster-producing tackle. Wide Right I, II, III. Warrick Dunn going 80 yards in the Orange Bowl in 1976 to lead an FSU route.
And Bobby Bowden quipping, "They're going to chisel on my tombstone, 'But he played Miami.' "
Ah, the good ol' days.
So what has happened? What has happened to a rivalry that had no equal for more than a quarter century? None. Not Ohio State-Michigan. Not Alabama-Auburn. Not Texas-Oklahoma.
A rivalry in which
both teams were ranked at game time 21 times from 1981-2006 - but just four times in the last 20 years.
Both programs have played their part in tarnishing this one-time grudge match over the last two decades. But recently, most of that has fallen on Florida State.
Now, as we prepare for the next installation of this rivalry Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium, the game comes with the backdrop of Miamicruising through a very forgiving schedule thanks to the ACC, and FSU coach Mike Norvellplaying the part of a dead man walking.
Miami Hurricanes using entire season as tune-up to Notre Dame game
Number 3 Miami (5-0) will use this as another warmup before its one-game regular season, Nov. 7 at Notre Dame. It's another opportunity for a four- to five-touchdown beatdown.
The Hurricanes are in an ideal situation to pad QB Darian Mensah's Heisman Trophy resume and WR Malachi Toney's shot at the Biletnikoff Award. Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith is the leading candidate for both awards.
That's the benefit when you play in the worst Power Four conference and the best defense you have encountered this season is ranked 50th in the country.
The Seminoles fit nicely into that schedule with the No. 122 ranked total defense.
If neither No. 3 Miami or No. 2 Notre Dame stumble in the next three weeks, Catholics vs. Convicts Part IX will be the most anticipated since the original version in 1988 when No. 4 Notre Dame hosted No. 1 Miami, with the Irish celebrating a 31-30 victory.
For Miami, that game will be a measuring stick considering Notre Dame likely will be its only regular-season game against an opponent ranked at kickoff.
Will Florida State fire Mike Norvell after Miami game?
By that time, Florida State (3-3) could be on its third interim head coach since 2017.
If all goes as expected — Miami is a consensus 22.5-point favorite — the ideal time for FSU to move on from Norvell would be following the Miami game. The Seminoles are off the following week.
The issue, though, is money and if FSU is willing to pay the approximately $46 million buyout and approximately $100 million to dump all the coaches.
Florida State is not Texas A&M, which bought out Jimbo Fisher for $76 million. It's not LSU, which sent Brian Kelly away for $53 million. This is an athletic department carrying more than $430 million in debt because of a large-scale facility and infrastructure projects centering around its football stadium renovation.
That's a lot to ask of the deep-pocketed Golden Chiefs.
Additionally, the Seminoles already are being outspent by Miami on its roster by somewhere between $15 million and $20 million.
And to add to the dumpster fire, the Seminoles are without a fulltime athletic director.
Yep, things could not be much worse in Tally Town.
After the Seminoles' shameful performance at Louisville last Friday, a 44-20 loss in which they were blitzed for 35 consecutive points after taking a 14-0 lead, Norvell sounded beaten.
Almost daring the administration to pull the trigger.
"An extremely poor performance by us," he said. "Too many times we didn't show the detail, the discipline, the mental toughness that's necessary on the road. And it starts with me. … Honestly it sucked.
"Bad plays are going to happen. You know, freaking rise up, do your damn job, and go play the next play."
Twice he made sure everyone knew he was taking full blame.
Admirable. But also something that certainly was heard by the university's administration.
When Florida State walks onto the field at Hard Rock Stadium and watches Miami run through the smoke, it will have been 1,057 days since the Seminoles won a true road game, dating to a 24-15 victory at Florida on Nov. 25, 2023.
Barring this team proving everything we saw the final three quarters in Louisville was an aberration, that streak will grow by another 21 days entering its next road game at Boston College.
So now we wait and see if Miami is the team that ends the Mike Norvell era at FSU.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Hurricanes have chance to end Mike Norvell era at FSU | D'Angelo
