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Florida college football power rankings: Week two

State teams will look to bounce back from a slow start to 2019 this week

NCAA Football: Florida at Miami
Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz looks on during the second half of his team’s 24-20 loss to Florida on August 24. The Hurricanes take on North Carolina on Saturday.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

All seven of the state of Florida’s FBS teams have played their season openers and the results have been underwhelming at best thus far.

Only two programs (Florida, UCF) started the season with a victory and only Florida’s 24-20 victory over Miami on August 24 was against a fellow FBS team.

On the flip side, there were lopsided losses by USF, FAU and FIU and a blown lead at home against a group of five program by Florida State.

Of the four FBS teams whose games had spreads during week one (UCF’s game against FCS FAMU did not), only FAU covered. It also seemed like FAU was the only losing team that competed for most of its game, and the Owls will get a bump in this week’s rankings in recognition of that.

#1. Florida Gators (1-0)

Week 1 Result: Bye.

Next Game: Saturday 9/7, vs. TN-Martin, 7:30pm

Bovada Line: N/A

Where Things Stand: Florida is ranked No.11 in the AP poll and No. 10 in the coaches poll that were released on Tuesday. The Gators need to address their tackling and turnover issues between returning to power five play against Kentucky on September 14.

#2. Miami Hurricanes (0-1)

Week 1 Result: Bye.

Next Game: Saturday 9/7, at North Carolina, 8pm.

Bovada Line: Miami -4.5

Where Things Stand: Miami opens ACC Coastal play with a huge road game against the Tar Heels this week. North Carolina looks improved on both sides of the ball and Miami will need to pressure true freshman quarterback Sam Howell to make him uncomfortable in the pocket.

#3. Central Florida Knights (1-0)

Week 1 Result: #17 Central Florida 62, Florida A&M 0.

Next Game: Saturday 9/7, at FAU, 7pm.

Bovada Line: UCF -10.5

Week 1 Positives: The score should say it all. UCF dominated both sides of the ball and the outcome of this game was never in doubt. The Knights stayed relatively healthy and were able to play 82 different players in the game.

Week 1 Negatives: Notre Dame transfer quarterback Brandon Wimbush was not at his best. Wimbush was just 12-for-23 throwing the ball while true freshman backup quarterback Dillon Gabriel was 9-for-13. Knights coach Josh Heupel said this week that he will continue to rotate the two in and out of practice and game reps.

Where Things Stand: If UCF had beaten an FBS team by that score, it would have jumped Miami in this poll. We will learn a lot about the Knights during the month of September as their first three games are on the road against FAU, home against Stanford and at Pittsburgh.

#4. Florida Atlantic Owls (0-1)

Week 1 Result: Ohio State 45, Florida Atlantic 21.

Next Game: Saturday 9/7, vs. UCF, 7pm

Bovada Line: FAU +10.5

Week 1 Positives: Chris Robison got the start for FAU at quarterback and was 22-for-34 for 178 yards and a touchdown while not throwing an interception. The Owls also outscored Ohio State 15-10 in the fourth quarter after a putrid start.

Week 1 Negatives: FAU was outscored 28-0 in the first quarter when new Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields exploded for four touchdowns. The Buckeyes also had over double the amount of total yards (469-228) and held the Owls to 0.7 yards per carry.

Where Things Stand: This certainly was not FAU’s best performance but it moved up three spots in the poll because it competed into the second half with Ohio State. That’s more that can be said for the three teams behind it in the poll.

#5. Florida State Seminoles (0-1)

Week 1 Result: Boise State 36, Florida State 31.

Next Game: Saturday 9/7, vs. Louisiana-Monroe, 5pm

Bovada Line: FSU -21

Week 1 Positives: The Seminole offense got off to a fast start as FSU led Boise State 31-13 in the second quarter. Florida State finished the game averaging 6.9 yards per play and new starting quarterback James Blackman passed for 327 yards and three touchdowns while not throwing an interception.

Week 1 Negatives: This space is not big enough to detail them all. The Seminoles were scoreless in the second half and blew an 18-point lead to a team starting a true freshman quarterback in his first collegiate playing action. FSU surrendered 621 yards of total offense to a group of five program that travelled across the country to play it. The offensive line gave up 11 tackles for loss and four sacks.

Where Things Stand: Willie Taggart is now 5-8 in 13 games as Florida State’s head coach and it is reasonable to think that Florida State will be an underdog in six of its next nine games at minimum. Florida State needed a season-opening victory more than any state FBS program and did not get it. More importantly, last season’s problems with the offensive line and defense don’t seem to be fixed.

#6. Florida International Panthers (0-1)

Week 1 Result: Tulane 42, Florida International 14.

Next Game: Saturday 9/7, vs. Western Kentucky, 7pm.

Bovada Line: FIU -7.5

Week 1 Positives: There were not many for the Panthers on this night. FIU did pass for more yards than Tulane (208-195) and was only penalized four times for 35 yards. Other than that, not much.

Week 1 Negatives: The Panthers gave up 545 yards of total offense in a game that was never in reach to win. FIU only rushed for 2.3 yards per carry while allowing Tulane to rush for 7.1. The spread on this game was three points and the Panthers trailed by as many as 35 points in the third quarter.

Where Things Stand: FIU had a chance for a season-opening statement victory on the road against an AAC team and instead lost by four touchdowns. The Panthers have to shake that off immediately as they open Conference USA play back in Miami against Western Kentucky on Saturday. The defense must improve on Saturday to start C-USA play with a win.

#7. South Florida Bulls (0-1)

Week 1 Result: Wisconsin 49, South Florida 0.

Next Game: Saturday 9/7, at Georgia Tech, 2pm.

Bovada Line: USF +6

Week 1 Positives: Oklahoma State transfer Patrick Macon was maybe the only positive for the Bulls on the night. He finished the game with 15 tackles (four for a loss), one sack and a forced fumble. No other Bull had more than five.

Week 1 Negatives: Jonathan Taylor (183) finished the game with more total yards from scrimmage than USF (157) did and also scored four more touchdowns than the Bulls. USF averaged just 2.8 yards per play, fumbled the ball four times (losing one) and threw two interceptions.

Where Things Stand: Charlie Strong and the Bulls have now lost seven consecutive games dating back to last season after starting the 2018 campaign 7-0. While USF was a 10-point underdog at kickoff and not expected to win this game, losing by 49 points in your home opener in the midst of a 6-game losing streak is not acceptable. USF has huge issues stopping the run and needs to make vast improvements executing new offensive coordinator Kerwin Bell’s offense this week against Georgia Tech.

Poll

Which losing state of Florida team was least impressive in week one?

This poll is closed

  • 7%
    Florida International
    (12 votes)
  • 1%
    Florida Atlantic
    (2 votes)
  • 41%
    South Florida
    (64 votes)
  • 49%
    Florida State
    (77 votes)
155 votes total Vote Now