‘It’s circled on the calendar’ … Hurricanes talk Florida State rivalry at ACC Kickoff

CHARLOTTE — Florida State was not on the podium Tuesday at ACC Kickoff. However, the Seminoles were still a topic of conversation, especially when the rival Miami Hurricanes took their turn facing the media.

After losing to FSU last season, 45-3, and suffering back-to-back losses in the rivalry, junior UM safety Kamren Kinchens explained how important that game is to the program as a whole.

“Very important. I think that’s one of the games, like everyone says, is circled on the calendar,” Kinchens said. “Every year it’s circled on the calendar, as it should be because it’s a rivalry … we need to get back. That’s all we’re looking forward to.”

Miami went 5-7 in its first season under head coach Mario Cristobal, but the former Hurricanes star lineman emphasized how much better the team has gotten over the offseason.

“We have added some elite components in the personnel department,” Cristobal said. “Some unique additions at the line of scrimmage, outside on the perimeter, in the secondary, at linebacker.”

With so many transfer additions, quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said he could see similarities between Miami in 2023 and Florida State in 2022. He alluded to the fact that the Seminoles improved from 5-7 to 10-3 as a sign of what the Hurricanes can accomplish.

“We’re doing the same thing over here at Miami, adding the right guys we need to make our program excel,” Van Dyke said.

The veteran quarterback also said he is “excited” about facing FSU once again. In last year’s game, he sustained an early injury and only completed 4 of 8 passes for 24 yards.

“I’m excited. I said the same thing last year,” Van Dyke said. “Didn’t know I was going to be hurt, so I’ve got to take it a day at a time, one game at a time. … Hopefully it’s a good game.”

Another layer to the rivalry is the fact that several players on both sides used to be teammates in high school or at previous universities. One example is Miami offensive lineman Matt Lee, who transferred to Miami from UCF, where he was a teammate and a part of the same signing class as Florida State linebacker Tatum Bethune.

“It’s cool. Me and Tatum, we both came into the same recruiting class together in 2019 at UCF,” Lee said. “I’ve known Tatum for, you know, I played with him for three years and then he was at FSU last year for the 2022 season. He had already transferred, but it will be cool.

“I haven’t played against an ex-teammate yet. I will at least a few times this year — that probably being the biggest example of it especially since he’s a linebacker. I’ll be physically blocking him. But that’s my boy. That is pretty cool.”

FSU and Miami will square off on Nov. 11 at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell and players Jordan Travis, Jared Verse and Tatum Bethune will take their turn at the podium on Wednesday,

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

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