On October 4, 1997, the Miami Hurricanes suffered their worst loss in the history of the yearly series with rival Florida State in a 47-0 defeat. This past Saturday's 45-3 beatdown by the Seminoles may not have been as bad when it comes to the point differential, but it was maybe the worst loss in the history of UM football.
Why? Quite simply because of what this year's team was thought to be. In 1997, the 'Canes were in the middle of a rebuild mode during the probation era. This season, Miami was the preseason pick to win the ACC's Coastal Division as Mario Cristobal was expected to be the saving grace for this season.
Nine games into the 2022 season, those two teams have identical 4-5 records and the latest edition is close to ending the season the same was as the version 25 years ago: by missing a bowl game.
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Saturday night, the 'Canes finished with 188 total yards on offense - a number inflated by a 45-yard run from Miami running back Jaylan Knighton. At the same time, the defense gave up a combined 454 yards of offense to a Seminoles team who is far from being the No. 4 ranked team when the rivals met in 1997.
For Miami, the problems started when quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was named the starter for this game. It's not because Van Dyke isn't the best signal caller on the Miami roster, but this was a man who was helped off the field and couldn't move his right arm in a blowout loss to Duke two weeks before and missed the following game against Virginia.
Van Dyke would finish the game completing just four passes for 24 yards before leaving with another injury that could be season ending. His two replacements, Jake Garcia and Jacurri Brown, combined to complete six passes for 38 yards. Well, eight completions if you count the two interceptions FSU had.
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More importantly, this loss was maybe the worst in UM history because the way the Hurricanes lost should have never taken place against their hated rivals. In a nationally televised night game in front of a sold out stadium, there is no reason why Cristobal had to do anything more than write "FSU" on the board to get the emotions going with this team.
"Trust me. No one feels this more than I do. I hate it for our people," Cristobal said after the game. "I hate it for our fans. I hate it for our players. We’re in a building process. We’re laying a foundation and have to go to work. It ain’t fun. Days like this are really painful."
So, what's the solution? Is it a wholesale change of the assistant coaching staff, who seem to be in over their heads? Is it waiting for certain players who seem to have mailed it in (looking specifically at the secondary) to move on from the program?
The answer needs to be found soon because, at this point, no amount of NIL money or living in the past about national titles won decades ago will make Miami relevant again if they can't even get hyped to play their biggest rival.
