MIAMI -- Outside it was a carnival, drunken revelry in the city of eternal summer. Women competed to see who could wear the least clothing, men competed to see who could be the drunkest. Garnet and gold vs. green and orange, Florida State vs. Miami is what the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party would look like with a night kickoff. Babylon drenched in deep humidity. If only the game had matched the intensity of the party. Instead, Florida State delivered a deliberate and consistent beating in all phases of the game that left little doubt which program is ascendant. In its fourth season under Randy Shannon, Miami has gone up against Ohio State and Florida State and been found severely lacking.
If the Hurricanes are truly ready to reclaim their position among college football's elite, Saturday night's game offered no evidence to help make that argument. Jimbo Fisher's Florida State Seminoles jumped out to a 21-0 first-half lead behind three Jermaine Thomas touchdowns and were never seriously challenged after that. Eventually, the Seminoles scalped the Hurricanes with a 45-17 victory that, on the same night the Florida Gators fell victim to another Les Miles miracle, left an argument as to which is the best football team in the state of Florida. After several years of living in the Gators shadow, Florida State has a chance to lay claim to that title come November.
Until then, with three consecutive ACC wins -- by 31, 20 and 28 points -- how good is Florida State? Good enough to be favored in every game until the final contest for state pride against the Gators. In his first season at Florida State, it now looks like Jimbo Fisher (pictured above) may win 10 games, potentially 11. Be still those Seminole hearts. So let's not down downplay how big this game was for Fisher or Florida State: a road win in a rivalry game that used to define college football. Sure, this game is a pale comparison to the contests that once determined national title contenders, but Fisher is not getting lost in Bobby Bowden's shadow.
After the 30-point defeat at Oklahoma, many Seminole fans worried that Fisher had secretly been in control of the program for the past few years anyway. That the program's descent into mediocrity wasn't just Bowden's fault. No longer. Fisher has a signature victory all his own, he's earned his war paint, become a Seminole in full. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
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