CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The way Miami wide receiver Xavier Restrepo was talking Tuesday, it would seem as if the sixth-ranked Hurricanes are getting ready for a Top 25 matchup this weekend against a fellow undefeated team.
He certainly didn’t sound like Miami (7-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) was prepping for a Florida State team that — at 1-6 overall and 1-5 in ACC play — is already teetering on the brink of being assured of a losing season.
“You know, we have tons of respect for those guys, defending ACC champions, a really, really talented football team,” Restrepo said. “You watch their defense, all five DBs can line up in your face and play man, they run around, have great ball skills. The D-line gets pressure, their linebackers play really solid and defend the pass very well as well. … We have to be as prepared as we can be.”
Translation: No, Miami is not taking Florida State lightly going into their Saturday night matchup at Miami Gardens. In this rivalry, that would be a bad idea.
Consider last season, when Miami was somewhere between a 14- and 17-point underdog when it went to Tallahassee to take on the then-undefeated Seminoles. The Hurricanes had the ball with a chance to tie in the final minutes, before losing 27-20 in a game that was much closer than oddsmakers expected.
This year, it’s Miami that BetMGM Sportsbook has listed as a 21-point favorite.
“Obviously, this is a huge week for our football program,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “I mean, this game is a game that we have an emphasis on 365 days a year because we’re fortunate to be at a place that you get two rivalry games every single year that mean a ton to our football program.”
Florida State plays its other in-state rival, Florida, on Nov. 30 in its regular-season finale.
The last time there was something this close to a disparity among records between the teams going into a Florida State-Miami game was 1974, when the Seminoles were 0-8 and the Hurricanes were 5-2. Florida State won 21-14 to snap a 20-game losing streak — doing so in Miami, on the Hurricanes’ homecoming weekend.
It’s a reminder of why records don’t matter much in this rivalry.
“As a player, we never looked at the record of anyone we’re playing against,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “Whatever the record of any team is in this rivalry, you’re going to get the best version of them and they’re going to get the best version of you. And that’s what makes this game so incredibly intense.”
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
