FSU Football: Top 10 best Nole games to re-watch this summer

This game is my personal favorite in the historic series between Miami and Florida State. I was much too young to understand the rivalry during its peak.

I only began to watch and understand sports during the lost decade at FSU. During that time, Miami was struggling under sanctions, and the games were one-sided for quite a while.  From 2014-2018, the rivalry reached a new peak.

Setting the scene, fresh off the National Championship season, the Seminoles went down south to Miami Gardens to extend their record-setting winning streak. This game, in particular, stood out to me as I remember it as Jalen Ramsey’s best game in garnet and gold and a great Dalvin Cook performance.

While the offense struggled to get a footing in the game, he, Mario Edwards, and Demarcus Walker headed one of the better defenses I have seen in college football. Jalen Ramsey’s strong performance begins with a forced fumble and ends with a game-sealing interception, a QB pressure (that should have been another fumble), and four pass breakups.

Offensively, the team is very frustrating. You can see the beginning of the offensive line issues we face today, with turnovers, drops, and injuries.

During this season, they won five games in which they trailed at the time of the Miami game, and this one was no different. In this game, the Seminoles trailed by 16 points twice, before taking a 30-26 lead before the game-sealing interception and final whistle.

Many of the FSU players at the time keep you thinking about “what could have been” for both their careers and the FSU program as a whole. However, the game is a great watch from start to finish.

The audio of the game re-air is very good. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are a very good commentary duo, and the Warchant and the Marching Chiefs, even in hostile territory, dominate the crowd. Herbstreit and Fowler did say something about Miami trying to re-find their relevance, which is hilarious as they still are.

Competition-wise, Miami was improving. Kaaya was a decent quarterback, and Duke Johnson was an absolute stud. I have always been a fan of Johnson and he gave us a few problems in this game before his injury.

In a macro-view of the game, the legislation of the game was much more different after the 20-year gap in between this game and the Choke at Doak. Many more pass interference penalties, horse collar penalties, and most notably spearing and targeting penalties.

The reviews do slow the game down overall but this game moved quicker than most of the games I remember from that era. I also remember this era being the one of every team moving toward more mobile quarterbacks. I think the shift was gradual before, but it was a total flip within a couple of years around this game.

This game was one of the best overall productions, which makes sense as it’s one of the most recent on the list.

4 out of 5 footballs