The rivalry between the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida State Seminoles really took off in the late 1980s and early 1990s as both teams ascended to national championship contenders as Miami won four national championships between 1983 + 1991 while Florida State finished 14 straight seasons ranked in the top 5 starting in 1987.
So when the two teams met in the 1980 season, it was not a big game on a national level as it was not shown on live television but that did not mean nothing on the line as the two teams prepared to face off for the 24th time since 1951.
Miami came into the game with a 3-0 record under head coach Howard Schellenberger, who was beginning his second season as the Miami head coach after two stints as the offensive coordinator of the NFL's Miami Dolphins, including being the OC during their undefeated 1972 season.
With sophomore quarterback Jim Kelly leading the offense, Schellenberger was hoping to get Miami to a bowl game in the second year of his five-year plan which at the end he believed Miami would win a national championship.
On the other side were the Seminoles, who also came into the game 3-0 but ranked #9 in the country as they began the 1980 season ranked #13 following a undefeated regular season in 1979 as FSU would lose the Orange Bowl game 24-7 to the Oklahoma Sooners to finish the season with a 11-1 record.
The Seminoles were led by head coach Bobby Bowden, who was in his fifth season as the Florida State head coach after leading FSU back from the doldrums after winning just one game during the 1973 + 74 seasons.
On the field, the Seminoles' strength was their defense, led by All-American nose tackle Ron Simmons and All-American defensive back Bobby Butler, that had given up just one touchdown over the first three games of the season.
The Seminoles hoped that their defense would lead the way to another victory over the Hurricanes as the Noles had won the previous two meetings.
After both teams punted on their initial possessions of the game, the Hurricanes would get the ball at their 36-yard-line as Kelly would complete passes of 19 yards to tight end Andy Baratta and 19 yards to wide receiver Pat Walker to help set up a 47-yard field goal attempt by kicker Dan Miller.
But Miller's kick would sail wide left and no good to keep the game scoreless as the Seminoles would take over at their 20-yard-line.
The Canes would force the Seminoles to go three-and-out to get the ball back at their 20-yard-line as they advanced to their 41-yard-line when Kelly completed a seven-yard pass to running back Chris Hobbs only for him to fumble when he was hit by FSU linebacker Paul Piurowski as defensive tackle James Gilbert would recover the ball to give the Noles possession at the Miami 48-yard-line.
The two teams would trade punts until early in the second quarter when running back Michael Whiting lost the football after a 10-yard catch as Miami defensive back John Swain would make the recovery to give the Hurricanes the football at the Florida State 37-yard-line.
Miami seemed poised to cash in the turnover into points as they moved to the FSU 15-yard-line until fullback Gregory Anderson dropped a pitchout from Kelly as Seminoles defensive end Jarvis Coursey would fall on the football at the Florida State 22-yard-line.
The game was still scoreless when the Hurricanes took over at their 24-yard-line with 2:28 to go before halftime as three running plays for 26 yards put Miami at the 50-yard-line when Kelly threw a bomb intended for wide receiver Larry Brodsky, who collided with Florida State free safety Gary Henry as the pass went over Brodsky's head to fall incomplete.
However, Henry would be called for pass interference which in 1980 was a spot foul penalty meaning that the Hurricanes would get the ball at the Florida State one-yard-line where Kelly would sneak it for the touchdown for the only points of the first half as Miami would go into the halftime break up 7-0.
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| Jim Kelly completed 13 of 22 passes for 172 yards and ran for one touchdown. |
Following an exchange of punts to start the second half, the Seminoles got the ball at their 41-yard-line when they drove into Miami territory for the first time in the game as quarterback Rick Stockstill completed four of six passes for 47 yards on a 10-play, 48-yard drive that culminated with a 26-yard field goal by Bill Capece to put Florida State on the scoreboard and cut the Hurricanes' lead to 7-3 midway through the second quarter.
The Hurricanes would start their next possession at their 20-yard-line as Kelly would complete passes of 22 yards to wide receiver Jim Joiner, 15 yards to Walker, and 11 yards to running back Mark Rush on a drive to the Florida State five-yard-line that would end with a 22-yard field goal by Miller to push the Miami lead back to seven points at 10-3 with 2:08 left in the third quarter.
Miami would get a golden opportunity to increase their lead when on the first play of the Seminoles' ensuing possession Stockstill would be picked off by Hurricanes linebacker Mike Scott Nichols to give Miami the ball at the FSU 30-yard-line.
The Hurricanes would only move two yards on three plays as they would call on Miller to kick a 45-yard field goal only for the kick to sail wide left and no good to keep the score at 10-3 as Florida State would begin their next possession at their 28-yard-line.
However, the Seminoles would turn it over on the first play from scrimmage as Stockstill would fumble the football following a sack by defensive end Mike Goedeker as Charles Cook would make the recovery to give Miami the ball at the Florida State 19-yard-line.
But for the second time in a row, the Hurricanes could not convert the turnover into points as Miller would miss another field goal attempt, this one from 35 yards out, as the game moved into the fourth quarter with Miami still ahead 10-3.
The two teams would trade punts until there was 4:32 to go in the fourth quarter when the Seminoles took over at their 45-yard-line with Florida State needing a touchdown.
After a seven-yard pass from Stockstill to wide receiver Hardis Johnson started the drive, the Seminoles would gain no yards on the next two plays to set up a do-or-die 4th & 3 when Stockstill completed a 11-yard pass to Dennis McKinnon to give Florida State a 1st down at the Miami 37-yard-line.
A holding penalty would push the Seminoles back 15 yards to their 48-yard-line to set up 1st & 25 as Stockstill would find Johnson for 17 yards which was followed by an one-yard pass to Whiting to make it 3rd & 7 when Stockstill connected with Johnson again, this time for 15 yards to put Florida State at the Miami 19-yard-line.
Following an incomplete pass on 1st down, Stockstill would complete an eight-yard pass to Whiting to give FSU a 3rd & 2 at the Miami 11-yard-line when Stockstill found a wide open Sam Childers in the end zone for the touchdown to bring the Seminoles to within a point at 10-9 with 39 seconds to go in the game.
Bowden now had a decision to make as the game would most likely end in a 10-10 tie if he sent in the kicking unit to make the extra point as there was no overtime in college football in 1980 or he could keep the offense on the field and go for a two-point conversion that would give Florida State a 11-10 lead.
Bowden decided to go for the win as Stockstill took the snap, dropped back and threw a pass intended for wide receiver Phil Williams, only for the ball to bounce off Miami nose tackle Jim Burt's helmet to fall incomplete and keep the score at 10-9 in favor of the Hurricanes.
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| Despite a bruised shoulder, FSU quarterback Rick Stockstill(11) completed 19 of 30 passes for 182 yards and threw one touchdown. |
The Seminoles would attempt an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff but Miami would recover the kick as Kelly took two knees to run out the clock as the Hurricanes would come away with the 10-9 victory.
Florida State would recover from the Miami loss to upset the Nebraska Cornhuskers 18-14 in Lincoln one week later as the Seminoles would win the remaining games of the regular season to finish with a 10-1 record as they would earn a second straight invitation to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl for the second year in a row.
The Seminoles would fall to the Sooners 18-17 as Oklahoma quarterback J.C. Watts threw a 11-yard touchdown pass to Steve Rhodes, then hit Forrest Valora with the two-point conversion with 1:33 to go in the game as Florida State would finish the season ranked #5 in both the AP and coaches poll with a 10-2 record.
As for Miami, they would lose their next three games before going a four-game winning streak to end the regular season as the Hurricanes would be invited to play Virginia Tech in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
Behind Kelly's 11-of-22 for 179 yards and one touchdown performance, the Hurricanes would knock off the Hokies 20-10 to finish the 1980 season with a 9-3 record as Miami would be ranked #18 in both the AP and Coaches polls.
Schellenberger would lead the Hurricanes to the national championship in 1983, the fifth season of his tenure as the Miami head coach.
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