MIAMI (AP) -When trying to come up with motivational tricks for the week, Miami coach Randy Shannon needed only to dig up a score from 2007: Appalachian State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32.
M (4-0) Saturday night.
This is the first Miami game this season against someone outside the AP Top 25, and given the hype over the Hurricanes’ first four games against Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma, Shannon sounds genuinely worried about the prospects of his squad coming out flat against the Rattlers.
blah-blah and all those things,” Shannon said. “Appalachian State and Michigan. … That’s all I can say.”
M 30 years ago and has won all six meetings since, the smallest margin of victory in those games being a 38-0 triumph in 1992.
The Rattlers have played 11 teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision since 1999 and lost every one, by a combined score of 509-78.
But Tallahassee’s other team – even when struggling, Florida State remains the king of Florida’s capital city – is brimming with confidence. Not only are the Rattlers unbeaten this season, they’ve won seven straight games going back to last year, their longest winning streak since an 11-game stretch in 1998.
M quarterback Curtis Pulley, who’s led his team to a 10-1 record since last October by throwing 21 touchdown passes against only four interceptions. “We’ve got a lot of guys from South Florida, and they’re excited to go back home for this game.”
M’s two-deep, 37 hail from Florida – and more than a few of them once dreamed of playing for the Hurricanes.
That’s one of the many reasons why Shannon expects the Rattlers to be highly motivated for this game.
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The Rattlers were off last week, so they had plenty of time to rest and prepare for the Hurricanes. And even FAMU coach Joe Taylor didn’t deny that the chance to play one of the Sunshine State’s so-called “Big 3” programs is a huge perk for his team.
“Our guys are very excited,” Taylor said. “Most of our guys played with or against a lot of those guys in high school.”
Pulley is FAMU’s leading passer and rusher, but he might not be the Rattler getting most of Miami’s attention.
Leroy Vann has returned four punts for touchdowns already this season and has 10 TDs on kickoffs and punts in his last 16 games. And Miami’s coverage teams have been victimized more than once this season by long returns.
M will treat this like a championship game.
“It’s a great opportunity for both teams, but I’ve been on that other side and I know that you don’t have to say a whole lot,” said Miami offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, who won a Division I-AA national title at Massachusetts. “We’ll get a great effort from them and we expect a great effort from our guys.”
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