By the Numbers: How FSU’s Fisher, Louisville’s Petrino Have Fared in Top-10 Contests

The ACC opener for Florida State on Saturday happens to be the first top-10 match-up of the 2016 college football season as the No. 2 Seminoles head to Kentucky to take on 10th-ranked Louisville.

The spotlight this week has shone mainly on the two young quarterbacks as Louisville sophomore Lamar Jackson hopes to keep his Heisman Trophy hype going against FSU redshirt freshman Deondre Francois, who has passed for nearly 700 yards in two games. The knee injury to Seminoles’ sophomore safety Derwin James has garnered some headlines as well, but lost in the mix is that this contest features two very accomplished head coaches.

Jimbo Fisher, who is in his seventh season as the head man in Tallahassee, already has 70 wins to his name to go along with three ACC championships and a national title. For Louisville, Bobby Petrino is in the third year of his second stint. Petrino has had success just about everywhere he’s gone in the college football ranks, leading both Louisville and Arkansas to BCS bowls.

With this being the first match-up of AP top-10 teams this college football season, we decided to look at how both Fisher and Petrino have fared in their head coaching careers in such match-ups. For Petrino, this will be the seventh such game he’s coached in and for Fisher the ninth.

For Fisher (at FSU)
Sept. 17, 2011: No. 5 FSU lost to No. 1 Oklahoma, 23-13 (Tallahassee)
Sept. 22, 2012: No. 4 FSU defeated No. 10 Clemson, 49-37 (Tallahassee)
Nov. 24, 2012: No. 10 FSU lost to No. 6 Florida, 37-26 (Tallahassee)
Oct. 19, 2013: No. 5 FSU defeated No. 3 Clemson, 51-14 (Clemson)
Nov. 2, 2013: No. 3 FSU defeated No. 7 Miami, 41-14 (Tallahassee)
Jan. 6, 2014: No. 1 FSU defeated No. 2 Auburn, 34-31 (Pasadena, BCS National Championship)
Oct. 18, 2014: No. 2 FSU defeated No. 5 Notre Dame, 31-27
Jan. 1, 2015: No. 2 FSU lost to No. 3 Oregon, 59-20 (Pasadena, Rose Bowl)

For Petrino (at Louisville and Arkansas)
Dec. 31, 2004: No. 7 Louisville defeated No. 10 Boise State, 44-40 (Memphis, Liberty Bowl)
Nov. 2, 2006: No. 5 Louisville defeated No. 3 West Virginia, 44-34 (Louisville)
Sept. 25, 2010: No. 10 Arkansas lost to No. 1 Alabama, 24-20 (Fayetteville)
Jan. 4, 2010: No. 8 Arkansas lost to No. 6 Ohio State, 31-26 (New Orleans, Sugar Bowl)
Nov. 5, 2011: No. 8 Arkansas defeated No. 10 South Carolina, 44-28 (Fayetteville)
Nov. 25, 2011: No. 3 Arkansas lost at No. 1 LSU, 41-17 (Baton Rogue)

Here’s a more comprehensive breakdown:

Additional Analysis: Obviously, past history will have no baring on Saturday’s contest in Louisville, but it’s worth noting that Bobby Petrino is 2-1 in such games at home. Fisher on the other hand, is 1-0 on the road with that one being a 51-14 drubbing of third-ranked Clemson in 2013.

As the higher ranked team, Fisher’s Seminoles are 4-1 while Petrino’s teams are 1-3 as the lower ranked team. If Petrino’s team were to pull off the upset on Saturday and beat No. 2 Florida State, it would be the highest ranked team he ever defeated and not just while his team was in the top 10.

For Petrino-coached teams, 44 points seems to be the magic number as that is the exact total his teams have scored in all three wins. Petrino’s teams have scored 26 points or fewer in each of the three losses. Louisville enters the week, leading the nation with an average of 66 points per game. Fisher’s FSU teams have also scored 26 points or fewer in each top-10 contest loss. 31 is the fewest his team has scored in a win.

In such games decided by single-digits, Petrino’s teams are 1-2 while FSU is 2-0 under Fisher. Fisher was won four of his last five match-ups of top-10 teams with no losses in the regular season since the 2012 finale.

Under Fisher, FSU is 1-1 against top-10 teams while playing as the No. 2 team in the country and 1-0 when playing against the No. 10 team in the country. Petrino is 0-1 in top-10 match-ups as the 10th-ranked team in the country and has never faced a team ranked No. 2 while in the top-10.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson