FSU fans share Miami football rivalry memories from beating champs to Jordan Travis heroics
There's no love lost when it comes to Florida State football, Miami and their respective fans.
One of the most heated rivalries in college football puts on its 67th show on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Doak Campbell Stadium, with tickets sold out for weeks.
No. 4 FSU (9-0, 7-0 ACC) is having its best season since 2014, when it qualified for the first-ever College Football Playoff, while Miami (6-3, 2-3) is looking to recover after a handful of narrow losses.
FSU is a 14-point favorite to win Saturday's game, but before kickoff, fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their favorite memories from one of the fiercest rivalries in college football.
1989: FSU upsets defending national champion Miami
1989 game was my first FSU-Miami game. Junior year of high school. Got a friends girlfriend’s student ticket. You could pay and get it upgraded to a regular ticket then. Drive the 4 hours to Tallahassee by myself and stayed with family. When Dexter Carter hit that 37 yard TD…
— Ronnie Whitaker (@RonnieWhitaker) November 9, 2023
It’s still top 3 loudest I’ve ever heard a football stadium. It was insanely loud. When he put the flag on Bernard Clark’s head it made the night so much better. Good guys won 24-10.
— Ronnie Whitaker (@RonnieWhitaker) November 9, 2023
My favorite game of all time was the 1989 Miami game at Doak. The very first play of the game was an interception by Leroy Butler and the second play was Dexter Carter running 50 yards for a TD. Back in the innocent days before the Wide Rights.
— FloridaMissouriMan (@FloridaMissour1) November 9, 2023
The sound in Doak as Dexter Carter ran in the first Td in 89
— R A Andrews (@RA_nole71) November 9, 2023
This was in the midst of when Miami was dominating the college football world, but FSU was on the rise. The Hurricanes were fresh off their fourth straight national championship and were sitting at 6-0. The Seminoles, despite losing their first two games, had won five straight.
The moment that Ronnie Whitaker describes here is when FSU running back Dexter Carter made a 37-yard rush to the end zone to put the Seminoles up 7-0 in the first quarter. The Seminoles upset the No. 2 ranked Hurricanes, 24-10, in front of a sold-out Doak Campbell Stadium.
That was Miami's only loss that season en route to another national championship.
Whitaker also describes when Carter picked up a penalty flag and put it on Miami linebacker Bernard Clark's head.
It's also worth noting that before the game, Miami's mascot Sebastian the Ibis was tackled by a group of police officers for attempting to put out Chief Osceola's spear.
2005: The Miami Muff
2005, first game as a marching chief. The craziest, loudest environment at doak. The muffed kick. Couldn’t imagine a better first game.
— Ryan Douglass (@RyanJDouglass) November 9, 2023
2005 Labor Day night. Awful game but the Noles pulled off the win after a botched attempt for a field goal by Miami where the ball literally fell over. Miami hecklers were still out and this Nole fan says to them “we may be wide right or wide left, but at least we can get it up”.
— Jessica Canfield (@jesscanfield) November 9, 2023
Known as the "Miami Muff," No. 14 FSU opened up its season against No. 9 Miami at home in one of the lowest-scoring games in the rivalry. In a defensive struggle, down 10-7 in the final two minutes of the game, the Hurricanes would attempt a 28-yard field goal to push the game to overtime.
Miami placeholder Brian Monroe mishandled the snap and the Hurricanes never got the attempt off as the Seminoles went on to win.
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for FSU against Miami.
2021: Fourth and 14
2021 was the first Miami/FSU game my sister was able to attend in person as a student. I as an alum was happy to take her. The team gave us that epic 4th and 14 we saw live and will never forget. The kid is a good luck charm.
— Nick Snider (@Tigerpawz20) November 9, 2023
A more recent memory of this rivalry, and win that played a major role in FSU turning around the program. Down 28-21 at home, facing fourth and 14 from the Miami 25, FSU quarterback Jordan Travis found Andrew Parchment for a 24-yard gain and an improbable first down.
Three plays later, Travis rushed in the touchdown and the 2-point conversion for a 31-28 FSU win at Doak Campbell.
The victory snapped a four-game losing streak against the Hurricanes and stands as one of the turning points in FSU's return to the top of the college football world today.
2003: Stanford Samuels' big-time hit on Roscoe Parrish
I’ll never forget the sound that the crowd made when Stanford Samuels LEVELED Roscoe Parrish back in 2003.
— Nick Dombek (@ndombek13) November 9, 2023
While this was a 22-14 loss for FSU, Seminole fans fondly remember this game for a moment that happened halfway through the second quarter. In a rainy and wet game at Doak Campbell Stadium, Miami quarterback Brock Berlin targeted Roscoe Parrish on a pass, but the wet ball slid out of his hands.
Milliseconds later, FSU cornerback Stanford Samuels rocked Parrish on a huge tackle met by a thunderous ovation from Seminole fans.
1987: Coming up just short
‘87 game, was a newlywed and got food poisoning night before game, wife was worried, was sick, went to Doc in a box and they got me stabilized, was heading home, wife asked did I need anything, pulled our tickets out and said yeah take a right on Gaines St….
— ATLNole (@stbrown100) November 9, 2023
This is a nice little personal memory that's being included in the story despite, the outcome of the game, and a result that was a little harder for FSU fans to swallow. The Seminoles went up 19-3 over the Hurricanes at Doak Campbell before Miami came back in the fourth quarter to score 23 unanswered points.
FSU scored a touchdown in the final 42 seconds of the game, but instead of attempting an extra point, the Seminoles went for the win. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful and FSU lost, 26-25. Miami went on to win the national championship, but the Seminoles got their revenge the next season.
GAME INFORMATION
Who: No. 4 FSU (9-0, 7-0 ACC) at Miami (6-3, 2-3)
When/where: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Doak Campbell Stadium
TV/Radio: ABC/94.9 FM
Live game updates: www.Tallahassee.com; @Ehsan_Kassim, @jackgwilliams and @JimHenryTALLY on X, formerly Twitter
Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football fans share favorite Miami rivalry memories
