A good night cap for Saturday’s slate of college football features the Seminoles and the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss at Florida State

Saturday, Sept. 9

7:30 p.m. CT, Tallahassee

ACC Network

Florida State and Southern Miss have a long, fun rivalry that goes back to 1952. Over the years the teams have faced each other in games played in Hattiesburg, Tallahassee, Mobile, Jacksonville and Shreveport. All cities filled with characters pulled straight from an Elmore Leonard novel.

The last meeting between the schools came in 2017 when FSU whipped Southern Miss 42-13 in the Independence Bowl. The last regular season game in the series was in 1996 and the last win by the Golden Eagles was in 1989.

That ‘89 Southern Miss team had Curley Hallman as the head coach and Brett Favre as the quarterback. In front of over 48,000 fans at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, the Golden Eagles won 30-26 over a no. 6 ranked FSU team to start the season.

A week after beating LSU in the 2023 opener, Florida State is up to no. 4 in the latest AP Poll.

Florida State is a 30-point favorite on Saturday and after watching Southern Miss beat Alcorn and then watching FSU beat LSU, that seems like a fair number.

The Seminoles have wide receivers that towered over the LSU defensive backs. They have an offensive line that gave quarterback Jordan Travis enough time to check down through his progression and then check his email before making throws against the Tigers. They have a defensive line that runs in and out a cadre of huge dudes, many of them transfers, who crashed against the LSU offensive line like breakers hitting a beach.

So, give it your best shot Golden Eagles, and remember that you’ve shocked the world and Florida State before. Try to have fun and if you can’t have fun, then try to stay healthy because you’ve got Tulane coming to Hattiesburg next week.

Check back next hour for a preview on Jackson State.