Sunshine Seven: Week 2 Review

Most of the Sunshine Seven finished up week two on a high note. How did each team do? Check out the details below:

1) FSU 2-0, victory over Charleston Southern, 52-8

The Noles broke out early scoring the first 35 points in the contest and won this one going away. However, the notable loss for FSU has to be their young defender Derwin James who went down with a knee injury. He is scheduled to return by the end of the season after successful surgery on Wednesday but for a team that was getting gashed in the secondary against Ole Miss last week, this has to be concerning looking ahead to their conference play. Up next they have a meeting with top 10 Louisville which is oddly scheduled for an afternoon slate next weekend. Have this one on your small screen while you watch the Canes.

2) Florida 2-0, victory over Kentucky, 45-7

Will the real Gators please stand up? In week one the Gators came out sluggish and uninterested against lowly UMASS and pulled out an unconvincing victory. Week two? They throttled one of their SEC rivals, the Kentucky Wildcats to start off the season 1-0 in conference play and improve their overall record to 2-0. It’s hard to figure out which unit of the Gators played better in this showing. Their run game churned out a respectable 244 yards with two touchdowns to complement their efforts and the passing attack lit up the Wildcats secondary for 320 yards and four scores of their own. The Gator defense is always good and held the Wildcats to a paltry 149 yards. The Gators next opponent is North Texas. We’ll see which team comes to play when they face off again at home.

3) Miami 2-0, victory over FAU, 38-10

The Canes started out very sluggish against the Owls but in the end ran away in this contest for the win. You could almost say they literally “ran away” as the ground game again took center stage for the Canes offense as they almost reached the 300 yard plateau again (279 and 5 touchdowns). The concerning aspect for the Canes offense has to be the sputtering of their passing game. Brad Kaaya, the offensive line and his pass catchers haven’t really gotten going as the Miami fandom had hoped the season would get off to. On the other side of the ball, the defense has been fantastic flying to the ball. Even though FAU liked to snap the ball at a frenetic pace the Canes kept up and even took advantage by getting after the quarterback seven more times on the season. Next week the Canes head to Boone North Carolina to take on the dangerous App State Mountaineers.

4) USF 2-0, victory over NIU, 48-17

The Bulls have something really positive brewing in Tampa. They very much will be a foe to be reckoned with in the AAC. If not for Houston you could argue USF would be the outright favorite for the conference. Against a solid MAC school USF doled out the pain both on the ground (293 yards and two touchdowns) as well as through the air (365 yards and four scores). Once the Bulls went to Flowers full time as the starter at quarterback last season there has been no stopping his scrambling abilities and his passing. The Bulls play at Syracuse this weekend which could mean that points will be given away like candy for both teams. May want to turn this one on after the Canes game at 3:30…

5) UCF 1-1, lost to Michigan, 51-14

Playing away in college football is hard. Playing away against a power 5 program makes it more difficult. Playing away against a power 5 program who is rated in the top 10? Nearly an impossible task. UCF had that responsibility last week and failed in predictable fashion. They spotted the Wolverines the first 31 points by the second quarter and by the end of the game the Knights were looking up at half a hundred given up on the score board. The next opponent the Knights have is slightly (sarcasm) easier in that they play at home against the University of Maryland.

6) FAU 1-1, lost to Miami, 38-10

At least the Owls can hang their hats on the fact that they weren’t embarrassed by Miami in this one. Their passing defense was an annoyance all game as Brad Kaaya never really got comfortable in the pocket. Their offense is a work in progress as they try and learn and execute the frenetic pace their new offensive coordinator Travis Trickett likes to run. Their next chance to show progression in this regard will be against Kansas State in the Little Apple this upcoming weekend.

7) FIU 0-2, lost to Maryland, 41-14

Here we are, the team that is usually taking up the caboose on our Sunshine Seven train, the FIU Golden Panthers. Even though FIU played host to newly hired Head Coach DJ Durkin of Maryland, Coach Ron Turner and his squad couldn’t use the home field advantage to flip the odds in their favor. FIU gave up the first 17 points by the early second quarter and the Terrapins never looked back. The game turned into a route and ended 41-14. Adding insult to injury, starting quarterback Alex McGough went down hurt after making a tackle on one of his own interceptions (of course). Backup Maurice Alexander came in for most of the second half as a precaution to further injury for McGough and didn’t fare much better throwing for a modest 131 yards and one touchdown. Up next for the Golden Panthers is a trip to UMASS. Of these three out of conference games FIU really needs to pull this one out even though it’s an away game. After their trip up north they get into the meat of their Conference USA schedule and that could be.. a difficult journey..

What did you think of the rankings? Move anyone around? Should Miami be #4 behind USF? Post your thoughts below!