Florida College Football Power Rankings: Week Six

After an abysmal first week of October for the state of Florida, week six was an opportunity for most teams to bounce back. To that end, FSU had the performance of the week as they marched into Chapel Hill, controlled the game, and won 35-25 over UNC. Strangely enough, the Seminoles now have the longest active winning streak in the state with two straight victories as quarterback, Jordan Travis, has been lights out.

Outside of the Noles, Miami was dealt a big blow during the bye week as they starting captain QB, D’Eriq King, for the rest of the season. They will now rely on second-year freshman, Tyler Van Dyke. UCF told the Canes to hold their beer as they have been without Dillon Gabriel for over three weeks now as true freshman QB, Mikey Keene, earned his first victory this past weekend in a nail-biter. For FAU, former Miami QB, N’Kosi Perry, has been held out of practice for portions of this week, so they may also be facing some adversity at the quarterback position.

On the other side of the token, the Gators quarterback, Emory Jones, impressed against a lowly Vanderbilt team and should maintain the starting position over uber-talented redshirt freshman, Anthony Richardson.

As the season moves forward with or without key signal-callers, below is the current state of the state of Florida football Week Six rankings:

1: Florida Gators (4-2) (Previous: 1st)

Ranking: 20th (AP Top 25), 17th (USA Today Coaches Poll); 24th (The Athletic Power Rankings); 17th (CBS Sports Power Rankings)
Week Six Result: 42-0 Win over Vanderbilt
Week Seven Matchup: @ LSU (3-3) (-10.5)

The Gators tight loss against Kentucky is slightly justified after the Wildcats crushed LSU this past weekend. Even more, Kentucky’s matchup against Georgia this upcoming weekend is now what the Florida-Georgia game was supposed to be at the end of this month. Instead, the Gators will now travel to LSU prior to their bye week, and then hope to surprise some people the following week against Georgia. QB, Emory Jones, looks like he’ll hold onto the starting position for the foreseeable future, barring any setbacks, as he had a fantastic day against Vanderbilt.

If they maintain strong SEC play, a New Year’s Six Bowl is still attainable.

2: Miami Hurricanes (2-3) (Previous: 2nd)

Ranking: 47th (The Athletic Power Rankings); 70th (CBS Sports Power Rankings)
Week Six Result: BYE WEEK
Week Seven Matchup: @ North Carolina (3-3) (+7.0)

It’s been an eventful bye week for all the wrong reasons in Coral Gables as the Canes lose their leader and QB1, D’Eriq King, for the remainder of the season. The time also announced other key injuries to captain and starting Center, Corey Gaynor, and true freshman QB, Jake Garcia. As Manny Diaz announced after King’s departure, it’s now second-year freshman, Tyler Van Dyke’s team. For the eternal optimist, the ACC Coastal is still wide open, and obviously TVD will be looking to win. For the common Canes fan, the once highly anticipated trip to Chapel Hill to face UNC is now met with immense apprehension, as the pessimism increases by the day.

3: UCF Knights (3-2) (Previous: 3rd)

Ranking: 53rd (The Athletic Power Rankings); 57th (CBS Sports Power Rankings)
Week Six Result: Win over East Carolina 20-16
Week Seven Matchup: @ Cincinnati #3 (5-0) (+21.0)

UCF barely edged out a mediocre East Carolina team this past weekend. However, their struggles are largely a by-product of costly injuries as the Knights lost their starting QB, Dillon Gabriel, due to a broken clavicle, as well as Northwestern transfer RB, Isaiah Bowser, and WR, Jaylon Robinson, and defensive tackle, Ricky Barber. True freshman QB, Mikey Keene, earned his first career win, which required a last minute come-from-behind drive versus the Pirates. One of the bigger bright spots was linebacker, Tatum Bethune, who played despite an injury and tallied 17 total tackles. Bethune has been all over the field for the Knights this season and was named AAC Defensive Player of the Week this week.

UCF’s trip to play No. 3 undefeated Cincinnati was once considered one of the premier group of five matchups on the FBS slate, but will now be met with trepidation by Gus Malzahn and company. It could be a long day against the Bearcats.

4: Florida State Seminoles (2-4) (Previous: 5th)

Ranking: 72nd (The Athletic Power Rankings); 80th (CBS Sports Power Rankings)
Week Five Result: 35-25 Win over UNC
Week Seven Matchup: BYE WEEK

FSU somehow rode the momentum from an underwhelming 33-30 Syracuse victory to pull of the convincing 35-25 upset over UNC in Chapel Hill. Dual-threat QB, Jordan Travis, has apparently found his own as he went 11-for-13 for 145 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 14 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns. During the two-game win streak, Travis has accounted for ten total touchdowns (five passing and five rushing), as well as 510 total yards. Travis has at least one rushing and one passing touchdown in six of his eight games as starting quarterback.

After this week’s bye, the Seminoles have an easy matchup against UMass before they travel to Clemson.

5: Florida Atlantic Owls (3-3) (Previous: 4th)

Ranking: 99th (The Athletic Power Rankings); 87th (CBS Sports Power Rankings)
Week Six Result: 31-14 Loss to UAB
Week Seven Matchup: BYE WEEK

After a flawless week against FIU where he was named Conference-USA Player of the Week, N’Kosi Perry took a step back as signal-caller as he threw 3 interceptions against a decent UAB program. Of note, Perry has been held out of practice this week due to a foot injury. The Owls do have a bye week before they travel to play Charlotte next Thursday. Due to Perry’s quality career resurrection to date for FAU, head coach Willie Taggart would be wise to ensure Perry is good to go for the remainder of the season.

6: South Florida Bulls (1-4) (Previous: 6th)

Ranking: 126th (The Athletic Power Rankings); 115th (CBS Sports Power Rankings)
Week Six Result: BYE WEEK
Week Seven Matchup: vs. Tulsa (2-4) (+8.5)

Against quality opponents, USF has played decent. Most recently last week, the Bulls lost by only one score against 15th ranked BYU. Despite losing to now-ranked SMU 41-17, they pulled within ten points going into the fourth quarter. Freshman QB, Timmy McClain, has built rapport with freshman WR, Jimmy Horn Jr., so there is promise for the future. In the SMU matchup, McClain through 14 completions for 223 yards, five of the completions going for 102 yards to Horn Jr.

After a bye week, USF takes on Tulsa where they are a single-digit underdog. Tulsa gives up an average of 285.7 passing yards per game, which is 118th most in college football.

7: Florida International Panthers (1-5) (Previous: 7th)

Ranking: 125th (The Athletic Power Rankings); 125th (CBS Sports Power Rankings)
Week Six Result: 45-33 Loss to Charlotte
Week Seven Matchup: BYE WEEK

Since beating Miami 30-24 in 2019 at Marlins Park, the Panthers are 1-12 overall and 0-10 against Major/Mid-Major opponents. Charlotte was unable to cover the spread against Charlotte this past week but their QB, Max Bortenschlager, slung the ball around as he went 19-for-30 for 466, four touchdowns, and one interception, en route to 33 points. FIU heads into a much-needed bye week where they hope to build momentum to get out of the FBS cellar.