It was a weekend to remember for South Florida’s football teams – as both the Miami Hurricanes and Miami Dolphins staged double digit comebacks to defeat teams from Atlanta last weekend and continue their push toward the playoffs in both college football and the NFL.
This weekend, the Dolphins will welcome a hated rival to Hard Rock Stadium – while the day before, the Hurricanes will host an ACC foe who may have pulled off the biggest upset of the college football season last week against the defending national champs.
At the same time, one of the state’s other big three college programs faces another must win to salvage their season while several teams get some free time this weekend. Here’s a breakdown of all the action.
Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets
Just one month ago, the Dolphins were walking out of MetLife Stadium in suburban New Jersey wondering what the heck just took place after getting embarrassed by their long time divisional rivals – salvaging some respect with a touchdown on the final play of the game to avoid a shutout.
Since then, Miami has won two of their last three games including a comeback win last week over the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons. The games haven’t been pretty, but quarterback Jay Cutler has the Fins with a winning record with a favorable schedule in the coming weeks for a playoff push.
Miami Hurricanes vs. Syracuse Orange
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If you have a heart problem, watching the Canes this season might not be the best thing as they yet again waited until the final seconds to take the lead, kicking a field goal to cap their comeback against Georgia Tech to stay undefeated and in the driver’s seat for the ACC’s Coastal Division.
Their opponent this week, a foe they know from their days as members of the old Big East conference, are coming off a win over the formerly second ranked and defending national champion Clemson Tigers. So basically, you can sit back for the first three quarters and pay attention come the final 15 minutes.
Florida State Seminoles vs. Louisville Cardinals
Speaking of winning ugly, FSU got their second win of the season thanks to a fourth quarter touchdown over Duke last weekend. At 2-3, the Seminoles need to win four of their last six games to qualify for a bowl game for the 36th straight season.
While this game looked like an easy Louisville win weeks ago, the Cardinals and reigning Heisman Trophy winner (and Pompano Beach native) Lamar Jackson have lost their last two games and are desperate to find their identity. If the Seminoles are going to even their record, they couldn’t have picked a better time to face the men from Kentucky.
Other State Games
Both the Florida Gators and FIU Panthers are off this weekend, while the FAU Owls will host North Texas and UCF will look to stay unbeaten when they travel to play Navy. USF will also be on the road when they face Tulane while FAMU will also be traveling as they take on Hampton.
In the NFL, the Tampa Bay Bucs will head to the western part of New York when they take on the Buffalo Bills while the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Indianapolis Colts in the Hoosier State.
