With Rivalry Rejuvenated, Florida State Routs Miami TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida State crowd, a Doak Campbell Stadium record of 84,409, decided it was going to be impatient, brush off the final month of the season, ignore unbeatens Oregon and Ohio State, and just declare what was on its mind. "We want Bama" the crowd chanted. 3 Seminoles were finishing up a 41-14 thumping of No. 7 Miami on Saturday night to improve to 8-0, 6-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference when the fans" chorus started. Some of the F.S.U. players said they did not hear it, or pretended not to hear. Junior nose tackle Tim Jernigan reveled in the crowd's glee. He heard, loud and clear, and was asked, "Do you want No. 1 Alabama, like the crowd? "We do," he said. Florida State, molded in the likeness of Alabama and Nick Saban by Coach Jimbo Fisher, bears a resemblance to the powerhouse Tide. The Seminoles are a complementary football team of physical offense, fast-closing defenders and solid special teams, just like Alabama, and they proved it Saturday. The Seminoles were physical, rushing for 192 yards and allowing just 83. The Seminoles were efficient, scoring on all six trips in the red zone. They converted 11 of 15 third downs and pressured the quarterback Stephen Morris (two sacks, one hurry). They were solid on special teams allowing only 18.9 yards on kick returns. These are all hallmarks of Saban's team. Fisher worked with Saban at Louisiana State and he recruits the same type of players as Saban. Fisher summed up his Seminoles team in a few simple words after their 27-point dismantling of the Hurricanes (7-1, 3-1), in the last game between two unbeatens this season. "We are a great team," he said, the Seminoles backing that up by outscoring their last four opponents, 204-45. Here was the key evidence to support Fisher's assessment. The redshirt freshman Jameis Winston, who was ranked second nationally in passing efficiency, finally played like a first-year starter and threw two first-half interceptions. He sailed throws over his receivers heads and looked spooked by the atmosphere of a big rivalry game. Florida State led just 21-14 at the half in a game it was favored to win by 22 points because Winston was wobbly. Yet, the Seminoles were still in control of the game emotionally at halftime. They had adjusted to Miami's running game after the Hurricanes" second series. Duke Johnson led Miami with 97 rushing yards, but he found things much more difficult as the game progressed. When Winston regained his form in the second half, Florida State pulled away. He completed all seven of his passes in the third quarter as the Seminoles scored two touchdowns to stretch their lead to 35-14. "I told guys at halftime I wasn't going to commit another turnover, they know I meant business," Winston said. When it's coming out of my mouth I mean it. The game, one of the most highly anticipated in Florida in the last 10 years, was a revival of the passionate games the teams played in the 1980s and "90s, when the teams claimed six national titles between them. Florida State disappeared from the national stage because of an academic scandal and a bitter separation with coach Bobby Bowden. Miami lost to Ohio State in the championship game after the 2002 season and then started its slide out of the national picture, just as the Southeastern Conference began to move into prominence. The Hurricanes also endured a scandal, involving a rogue booster, which has just recently been resolved. The SEC capitalized on the downturns by Miami and Florida State to snatch recruits to help the conference win seven straight national championships, including two by the Florida Gators. Miami, in its third season under Coach Al Golden, is not as far along in its revival as the Seminoles, but the fact Florida State is hunting a national championship is motivation enough for the Hurricanes to climb back toward the national stage. Fisher might even motivate them more because he called a timeout to kick a field goal with 1 minute 3 seconds remaining. "Playing for the state championship of Florida is more important to some guys than playing for the national championship," said Twan Russell, who played for Miami in the mid-1990s and is the director of youth and community programs for the Miami Dolphins. The national ranking is a byproduct. The reason these games are so spectacular is they are fighting for something not tangible. You're fighting for pride. It's a different kind of fight.