No. 11 Miami quickly moving on from win over Florida State

Oct 8, 2017 - 8:34 PM Miami's 24-20 victory over Florida State lifted a big weight off the program. The Hurricanes are hoping that snapping a seven-game losing streak to their Sunshine State rival serves as a springboard toward bigger goals. The 11th-ranked Hurricanes (4-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) have had their season defined recently by their performance against the Seminoles. In 2014 and last year, losses to FSU started four-game skids. Two years ago, it started a run of three losses in four games and the subsequent firing of Al Golden after a 58-0 loss to Clemson. "The past few years when we lost (and) it was like the luck changed," defensive end Chad Thomas said. "I know we won and everyone back home is praising us, but the biggest thing is we have to stay focused." Miami has won their first two ACC games for the first time since 2013, but if they are going to win the Coastal Division for the first time there remain challenges. The first one comes Saturday against Georgia Tech, who is also 2-0 in conference play, followed by Virginia Tech on Nov. 4. Even during the week leading up to the Florida State game, coach Mark Richt was discussing the team's main goal of reaching the conference title game for the first time. Richt kept the focus on that during the postgame comments. "We obviously have a long way to go but being 2-0 is a good start," he said. "We've got meat of our Coastal Division coming up. Obviously, Georgia Tech is resting up pretty good while we have exerted every ounce of energy you could hope for. There is a long way to go as far as that race." The Hurricanes also have a couple injuries that could factor into the upcoming week. Mark Walton, who is third in the conference in rushing yards per game (107.0), continues to be hampered by a right ankle injury and did not play the final five minutes. Starting right guard Navaughn Donaldson (leg) and wide receiver Ahmmon Richards (hamstring) are also questionable. Darrell Langham, who caught the 23-yard, game-winning touchdown pass with 6 seconds remaining, came in and played where Richards would usually line up. What Miami does have though is confidence in Malik Rosier. The junior quarterback, who won a four-man competition during the preseason, was 19 of 44 for 254 yards but did throw three second-half touchdowns. The defense has also been solid, leading the conference in sacks per game (3.75) and second in tackles per loss (9.0). Rosier's biggest concern is preventing a letdown and making sure the Hurricanes are focused on Georgia Tech quickly. The Yellow Jackets will be coming off a bye week and their triple-option offense usually prevents problems. "We have to let this win go as quickly as possible. We can't be in so high that we go into the next game thinking about it," he said. "Tech is physical and fast. We are going to have to be ready." ___ More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 ___ Follow Joe Reedy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/joereedy