TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Miami and Florida State have a history of crushing each others’ national title hopes.
It’s a rivalry Miami coach Mario Cristobal has lived as a fan and player. He has a chance to experience it as a coach now too.
“We always knew this as the best rivalry in football coming up,” said Cristobal, who won national titles with the Hurricanes in 1989 and 1991. “College football is the best sport in the world so the fact that people bring up historical moments and whatnot, it’s not surprising. I do think that our players, alumni bases, they all understand how intense this rivalry is.”
No. 3 Miami (4-0) and No. 18 Florida State (3-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) play Saturday night as AP Top 25-ranked teams for the first time since 2016.
Miami has resume-building wins over Notre Dame and Florida and is looking to add Florida State to that list.
Cristobal is a big believer that the College Football Playoff doesn’t start in December. In his eyes, conference games are playoff games, and he pointed out this week that league matchups seem to be tighter than many non-conference contests.
“Conference play is basically playoff football. Everybody’s alive, everybody’s vying for a spot,” Cristobal said. “So the margins for error, the margins between winning and not winning, become smaller and smaller. … I think that’s the best part of college football at this time of year. You’re getting everybody’s best and you’re giving everybody your best.”
Florida State is looking to rebound from a double-overtime loss at Virginia last Friday. The Seminoles know they can rebuild their resume, which includes a season-opening win over Alabama.
“You’ll see a sold-out Doak Campbell Stadium, nighttime, prime time,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “A wonderful stage to be able to show this team who we are, what we’re about, and the response that we’re going to have.”
Beck’s rule of thumb for home dogs
The Hurricanes are 4 1/2-point favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Miami quarterback Carson Beck, however, feels the Hurricanes will start the game trailing 7-0.
The way he sees it, a good crowd is worth a touchdown.
“In all these loud stadiums and big-time matchups, I think you can see that throughout these first five weeks of college football,” Beck said. “But for us, if we just have elite communication, we can just kind of block that crowd out and just execute and do what we do.”
Beck is chasing Berlin’s mark
Beck is 4-0 against Florida and Florida State. A win Saturday would make him the first quarterback since Brock Berlin to go 5-0 against the Gators and Seminoles. Berlin, who transferred to Miami from Florida, did that across the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
The only players in the last 15 seasons to go 2-0 against Florida and Florida State in the same year: Miami’s Cam Ward (2024) and Beck, who did it with Georgia in 2023. Beck led Miami to a win over Florida last month, so he could join that list again.
Strength versus strength
Running back Gavin Sawchuk (234 yards rushing) and quarterback Tommy Castellanos (217 yards rushing) lead Florida State’s ground attack, which ranks second in the FBS at 336.3 yards a game. Miami is tied for eighth in the FBS in rushing defense at 76.3 yards a game.