Florida State visits No. 3 Miami on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Kickoff is 6 p.m. Central (7 p.m. ET) on ESPN. Miami is a favorite of about three touchdowns.
Miami's offense
The Hurricanes are 5-0 (3-0 in the ACC) under fifth-year coach Mario Cristobal, and no one in the country is moving the ball like they are: 554.8 yards per game, tops nationally, and roughly 50 points a game. Miami has scored 40 or more in four of its five games, beating Stanford 45-6, Florida A&M 77-7, Wake Forest 33-20, Central Michigan 52-3 and Clemson 41-13 on the road. The defense is the ACC's best, allowing 9.8 points per game.
Quarterback Darian Mensah, a Duke transfer and a Heisman candidate, is completing 84.2 percent of his passes for 1,438 yards and 15 touchdowns with no interceptions.
Florida State's season
The Seminoles are 3-3 (1-2 in the ACC) in Mike Norvell's seventh season. They have beaten New Mexico State, Central Arkansas and Virginia, and lost to SMU 27-24 at home, at Alabama 50-36 and, last Friday, at Louisville 44-20. In that game Florida State led 14-0 and was outscored 44-6 the rest of the way, giving up 537 yards. Quarterback Ashton Daniels threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
The rivalry
Miami leads the series 37-33 in 70 meetings, dating to Oct. 5, 1951. The Hurricanes have won the last two: 28-22 in Tallahassee on Oct. 4, 2025, and 36-14 in Miami Gardens on Oct. 26, 2024. Florida State won the three before that, 27-20 in 2023, 45-3 in 2022 and 31-28 in 2021. Florida State's longest winning streaks in the series are seven games, in 1963-72 and 2010-16.
The rivalry is also known for the missed kicks. In 1991, Florida State's Gerry Thomas missed wide right with under a minute left in a 17-16 Miami win. In 1992 it was Dan Mowrey, wide right again, in a 19-16 Miami win. In 2002, Xavier Beitia's miss to the left decided a 28-27 Miami win.
Game day
Hard Rock Stadium holds 64,767 for football.