The sun has clearly set on the FSU-Miami rivalry

Sporting News, The, Oct 21, 1996 by Ivan Maisel

Florida State had represented the last link connecting Miami to the Hurricanes' dynasty years but, alas, that link has been broken, too.

The Hurricanes' decline was signaled when their NCAA-record home winning streak ended two years ago and their dominance of the Big East faded. (They have claimed the league championship outright only once in the last three seasons.) But the Hurricanes still had that Orange Bowl hex over the Seminoles, having defeated Miami five consecutive times there. That disappeared in the first quarter last Saturday on a windy in the old stadium abutting Little Havana.

After two quick Miami turnovers, the Seminoles led, 17-0. After Miami made a game of it in the second quarter, Florida State scored on its first possession of the second half to reset its lead at 27-16. The Seminoles' defense, the best in the nation, held the Hurricanes scoreless in the second half and Florida State won, 34-16.

Not only did the Seminoles beat the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl for the first time since 1984, but this Florida State senior class leaves with three dominant victories in four years over the 'Canes. The Seminoles won by 18 points in 1993 and by 24 points a year ago. The mantle of the nation's best rivalry now stretches from Tallahassee to Gainesville, not Tallahassee to Miami.

"We know how to beat Miami," Florida State senior cornerback dames Colzie said before the game. "It's pretty obvious they know how to beat us. If we come out and do our job, well be fine."

So they did, revealing Miami's 4-0 record was built of flimsy bricks. The Hurricanes' three Division I-A victims have a composite record of 5-12 against I-A competition (not counting their losses to Miami). That excludes I-AA The Citadel, which the Hurricanes beat last month.

Another sign that this rivalry has lost that certain something: Thad Busby became the first quarterback to win his first start in this grudge match since 1989. That overreported statistic overlooked one important factor: Busby didn't have to win the game; he just had to keep from losing it. Busby completed 8-of-17 passes for 125 yards. The Miami defense, which had been allowing 3.3 points per game, did retain one virtuous number. The Hurricanes still haven't allowed a passing touchdown.

With Busby, the Florida State offense has sputtered. The Seminoles' offense averages 352.2 yards per game, nearly 200 fewer than last year, and ranks in the bottom half of the country. Coach Bobby Bowden hasn't had an offense perform so poorly in more than 10 years. He remains committed to Busby, who didn't begin to show the form expected from Seminoles quarterbacks until the Clemson game two weeks ago.

"He missed more scrimmages than any quarterback I've had," Bowden says. "He missed our spring game. He missed our last scrimmage before the season."

In both cases. Busby had suffered nagging injuries. He threw so much early in practice this fall that his arm became sore. That only recently began to work itself out. "Every ballgame, we find out what he does best," Bowden says. "I felt like against Clemson we could let him throw the ball more." Busby threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns three of them long Passes (37, 60 and 23 yards), in a 34-3 victory over the Tigers.

"I would say the key to the game is no major blunders," Bowden said. "Both defenses are so good, the only way somebody is going to score is if somebody makes a mistake. It will be awful hard for either team to go 80 yards methodically."

Midway through the first quarter the Seminoles' Shevin Smith returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown. On Florida State's next possession, Warrick Dunn used a kneelocking feint to get to the sideline and and run 80 yards, anything but methodically, for a score.

Miami linebacker James Burgess says he "feels humiliated." As the night settled on south Florida last Saturday and the Seminoles celebrated the gap that separates them from their former tormentors, it became apparent that the sun had set on more than the Orange Bowl.

False advertising

So much for a showdown. Texas Teach's Byron Hanspard rushed for 190 yards against Kansas, but Jayhawks tailback June Henley managed only 43 yards against the Red Raiders. Entering the game, the backs had combined to average 392.2 yards.

They had a tough standard to meet. Perhaps the biggest performance by two well-known opposing running backs came at Notre Dame Stadium in 1979, when Charles White of USC ranked first in rushing and Vagas Ferguson of the Irish ranked seventh. Ferguson lived up to expectations by rushing for 189 yards. However, he fell far short of White, who rushed for a carreer-high 261 yards in the Trojans' 42-43 victory. Their combined 450 yards was astounding, yet more than a football field short of the NCAA record by opposing backs in a game. In 1991, Ryan Benjamin of Pacific rushed 167 yards while an unknown opponent, San Diego State freshman Marshall Faulk rushed for a mind-boggling 386.

Hanspard is an ordained minister who came to Lubbock as a highly sought recruit. He said the Lord directed him to Texas Tech while he (not He) took a shower. When someone asked Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes about Hanspard leaving early for the National Football Leugue, l Dykes said, "So far we have done a good job of making Byron take baths."