The University of Miami has agreed to play a three-game football series with Florida Atlantic, both schools confirmed on Saturday.
The Hurricanes and Owls will play at Sun Life Stadium, the Hurricanes’ home field, on Aug. 31, 2013 in the season opener. They will play at FAU Stadium in 2015 and the ‘Canes will host the Owls at Sun Life in 2016. Dates for the 2015 and 2016 games will be announced at a later date.
The two schools, whose campuses are separated by a little more than 50 miles, have never played each other in football. They’ve discussed doing so since FAU began its program since 2001, but a deal could never be reached.
FAU has opted for big paydays when playing BCS opponents in road games to help balance its budget, and has been getting close to $1 million for games against SEC opponents. Financial details of this series with UM were not disclosed.
FAU’s inaugural coach Howard Schnellenberger, who founded the Owls’ program, led Miami to the 1983 national championship — the first of the school’s five national titles – in his fifth and final season at UM. Schnellenberger retired as FAU’s coach after this past season.
“I’m thrilled to death that FAU and UM are going to face-off on the gridiron,” Schnellenberger told UM’s website. “It is part of the big plan and may develop into a wonderful addition to south Florida football.”
Carl Pelini was hired as Schnellenberger’s successor in December.
“It’s a great match-up,” Pelini said. “Miami is a prestigious program of which we would like to immolate. It will be great for our players to challenge the names they played against in high school and for the fans to have a close away game to attend.”
Miami is the first school from a BCS conference scheduled to play in FAU’s new on-campus stadium, which opened last season. The 2015 game will mark the first time UM will play in Palm Beach County and the first time the Hurricanes have played an away game south of Tampa.
The Hurricanes’ 2013 schedule now features four games against in-state opponents: FAU, Florida, South Florida and Florida State.
