- Associated Press - Thursday, October 4, 2018

Florida State (3-2, 1-2 ACC) at No. 17 Miami (4-1, 1-0), 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

Line: Miami by 13.

Series record: Miami leads 32-30.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Miami is seeking its 13th consecutive home regular-season victory and its first win at home over Florida State since 2004. The Seminoles can reclaim bragging rights over their rival, and take a big step toward bowl eligibility.

KEY MATCHUP

Florida State WR Nyqwan Murray vs. Miami S Jaquan Johnson. Murray is two catches away from 100 for his career, with a penchant for making big plays when he’s got room to move. Johnson is a huge part of Miami’s secondary, and in his first game back after missing the last 10 quarters with a hamstring strain he’ll have to keep an eye on Murray at all times.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Florida State: RB Cam Akers. He ran for 121 yards against Miami last season, the most any ACC running back managed against the Hurricanes in 2017.

Miami: DE Joe Jackson. He has two forced fumbles and has an interception-return TD already this season, with three sacks and four quarterback hurries.

FACTS & FIGURES

For the first time since 2012, neither team is unbeaten going into this rivalry game. … This is the 50th consecutive season that Miami and Florida State have faced off. It’s Miami’s longest-running active series and Florida State’s second-longest (behind its series with Florida, which will play the Seminoles for a 61st consecutive season later this fall). … Miami’s defense is ranked No. 1 nationally in passing yards allowed (138.8 per game) and third-down conversion defense (with stops 82.9 percent of the time). The third-down matchup could be big; FSU’s offense ranks 122nd out of 129 teams nationally in that department so far this season (29.7 percent). … This is the first time since 2007-08 that consecutive Miami-FSU games will have started in daylight. Most of their games over the last decade have been 8 p.m. kicks.

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More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25

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