I know Craig T. Smith wrote that Canes-Gators is his favorite Canes rivalry, and that’s cool. That’s fine. I’m not gonna yuck his yum.
But I’m here to share with you all that MY favorite Canes rivalry is unquestionably Miami vs Florida State. And, if we’re being honest, it’s not even close.
As most of you know, I didn’t grow up a Miami fan. Before you start yelling, I’m from Detroit and grew up as a Michigan fan. Even with that being the case, I was a huge Miami Baseball fan, and would watch the 1
or 2 Canes games each year that were on TV up North (this was the late 1980’s/early 1990’s before every game was available everywhere), and often, that game would be Miami vs Florida State.
I loved the passion between these teams. They would be screaming at each other and hitting HARD and doing everything they could to win. And, again, growing up watch “3 yards and a cloud of dust” ball in the Big 10, seeing the explosive plays and athleticism in Miami-Florida State was a revelation for me.
Nearly a decade ago now in 2016, we did an SB Nation-wide feature series about the origins of our fandom. Our series here at SOTU “Why I became a Miami Hurricane” was a great success, and in that series, I got to tell the story of my fandom. You can read my entry in the series here.
Central to my Miami fandom, really cementing it fully, was the 2000 game between Miami and Florida State. It was my first Miami-FSU game as a freshman in college, and it was everything.
I know they do it still, but the swagger dripping off of Florida State when they entered the Orange Bowl, took off their helmets, and walked defiantly into the face of the West End Zone fans was on a different level. That’s when Florida State was great, they knew it, and they let you know about it.
Not to be outdone, however, Miami entered with tons of swagger, pissed off after 5 consecutive losses to the rival Seminoles (and 6 losses in 7 years, if we’re counting), but ready to write their own story and push for the BCS Championship game.
There were stars all over the field. Chris Weinke. Travis Minor. Anquan Boldin. Snoop Minnis. Jamal Reynolds. Ken Dorsey. Santana Moss. Reggie Wayne. Jeremy Shockey had his coming out party in this game. Bryant McKinnie. Clinton Portis. Najeh Davenport (who I had a class with this same semester). Dan Morgan (the best Miami LB ever). Phillip Buchanon. Ed Reed. Mike Rumph. The players on the field were truly an elite group.
And that’s before you get into the head coaches. FSU’s icon, Bobby Bowden, looking for another ring. And Miami’s shepherd through the Bell Grant scandal in the late 90s, taskmaster Butch Davis, who was looking for his first win over FSU in his 6th year coaching the Canes.
All of that set the stage for an epic game, which saw Miami race out to a lead, FSU come back, then the legend himself Ken Dorsey walk Miami down the field for the game-winning touchdown to then-unknown TE Jeremy Shockey. FSU had a chance late, driving to get in position for a long FG, but Matt Munyon missed it for Wide Right 3 and Miami earned their first victory over FSU in 6 years!
For me, that day in the heat at the Orange Bowl was the day that my Miami fandom was fully matured. And, seeing that game in person is the reason why Miami-FSU is my favorite Miami rivalry.
As I’ve learned more about the history of Miami-FSU, including and especially featuring the fact that the Noles would have somewhere between 4 to 6 MORE championships if not for the fact that they kept losing to Miami, my stance that this is the best rivalry involving Miami continued to grow. I see the arguments for Canes-Gators like Craig said, or even something like a Miami-Notre Dame, but we don’t play those teams enough (thanks to UF ducking Miami) for those rivalries to rise to the level of Miami-FSU in my eyes.
After the Canes win in 2000, there have been plenty of great Miami-FSU games in the last quarter century. The iconic “I’m hurt dawg”/“JOAQUIN SAID DOMINATE” game up in Tallahassee in 2001.
How about Willis McGahee’s 67 yard screen pass to set up the winning score by Jason Geathers in 2002?
Oh yeah, I can’t forget Xavier Beitia with Wide Left to lose the game for FSU this day.
Cool. I see that iconic play, and raise you an all-time game by the late, great Sean Taylor in the pouring rain in Tallahassee in 2003.
How about Jacory Harris with a DIME — one of the best throws you’ll ever see — to Travis Benjamin in 2009 to set up the winning touchdown?
Could I possibly interest you in Darrell Langham’s game winning TD in 2017 to break FSU’s 7 game winning streak against the Canes?
How about MY GUY N’kosi Perry leading Miami from a 27-7 to a huge comeback win over the Noles in 2018?! Those back to back throws to Jeff Thomas and Brevin Jordan were incredible!
Like I said, I became a Hurricane in 2000, so yeah, those highlights start there, but the rivalry goes back a long way. Wide Right I in 1991, which kept FSU from a title (smiley face).
A year later in 1992, Wide Right 2 kept FSU from ANOTHER title lmaoo.
The list of iconic games and plays in this rivalry goes on and on, but I’ll leave things there.
When you have moments, plays, icons, and games like this, even with the losses mixed in, it’s easy to see why Miami-FSU is my favorite Canes rivalry.
We all have our favorites, and that’s fine. But for me, Miami-FSU is far and away my favorite Canes rivalry, and I can’t wait to see the latest installment of it on Saturday night.
Do you agree with Craig that Canes-Gators is your favorite rivalry? Are you on my side with Miami-FSU? Or is there another Miami rivalry you love more? Hop in the comments and let me know.
Time for war.
#BeatFSU
Go Canes
