5 Observations
1. Give Florida the weekend victory. They weren't as ambitious in their scheduling as Miami or FSU, but they did everything they were supposed to do in their victory over Charleston Southern. They should have won big, and they won big. We still don't know how it will transfer to the big boys, but the Dan Mullen lovefest continues.
2. The biggest disappointment, by far, was FSU. The Seminoles were home, and they couldn't dent the end zone. The Seminoles had five turnovers, and quarterback Deondre Francois was sacked five times. For the first time, new coach Willie Taggart didn't look like an even swap for the departed Jimbo Fisher.
3. USF has to do a better job closing out, and they have to tackle better this week against Georgia Tech. But the Bulls have some athletes who can run. If they can get past the Yellow Jackets, they can run for a while.
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo)!
Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
4. Oklahoma could have named whatever score it wanted against FAU, which was coming off an 11-3 lead and had some locals whispering about an upset. It wasn't close. It was 28-0 after one period and 42-0 at the half.
5. No, I guess Miami isn't back, is it?
Ranking the State
1. Florida
2. UCF
3. USF
4. Florida A&M
5. FSU
6. Miami
7. FIU
8. FAU
9. Bethune-Cookman
5 National Thoughts
1. I would have believed that Jim Harbaugh might return to the NFL soon. I never thought the Michigan faithful would drive him to whichever stadium he prefers.
2. Bobby Petrino was almost right about Louisville upsetting Alabama. Hey, the Cardinals came within 37.
3. Penn State certainly made a statement against Appalachian State. That statement was this: Whew!
4. Is it too early for Jeremy Pruitt to ask for an extension at Tennessee?
5. So far, Chip Kelly's stay at UCLA has been much like his journey through the NFL.
Ranking the quarterbacks
National Rank Name, School Total Yards
9. McKenzie Milton, UCF 396
22. Blake Barnett, USF 330
49. Malik Rozier, Miami 266
55. Feleipe Franks, Florida 253
80. Deondre Francis 205
They said it
"They understand that. They know who we're playing. We'll talk about it being an SEC game and that makes it different. We've got to concentrate on ourselves. I do like our guys having confidence in what we did. We also have to understand that we have to become a lot better, and not because Kentucky is a lot better than Charleston Southern. We have to be a lot better if we want to be a good football team."
-- Florida coach Dan Mullen
“When you lose, everybody is upset. Nobody’s more upset than I am. I’m upset that we didn’t get it done for our fan base and we didn’t get it done for each other. But we’re not going to sit around and blame anyone. … Whenever you lose, of course, it’s going to put a damper on things, but it’s not the end of the world.”
-- FSU coach Willie Taggart
"You look at it, we're a Group of Five, we're not Power Five. So then when you do get a chance to play a Power Five team (like Georgia Tech on Saturday), you have to go play well. Because what that does is, it opens up people's eyes."
-- USF coach Charlie Strong
“As far as a coaching error, in my opinion, we had too much run game where the quarterback could pull or not. And because of it, Malik (Rosier) ends up with 16 carries. I want the ball in our backs’ hands more than that. We’re going to run zone reads, we’re going to run QB draws, but we probably had the quarterback running a little bit more than I wanted him to run.
-- Miami coach Mark Richt
“That is why when a week or two ago in an interview and someone asked, 'Did you start too low in the rankings to be able to make the playoffs? What are you thinking about discussing FAU in the playoffs? That's ridiculous.”
-- FAU coach Lane Kiffin
Ranking the Defenses
16. Florida 225
18. USF 234
39. Miami 296
51. FSU 319
95. FIU 465
101. UCF 486
121. FAU 650
Ranking the Offenses
7. UCF 652.0
34. USF 515.0
57. Florida. 444.0
96. Miami 342.0
97. FSU 327.0
97. FIU 327.0
99. FAU 324.0
Leading Rushers
66. Anthony Jones. FIU 88
76. Cam Akers FSU 82
107. Dameon Pierce Florida 73
116. Darriel Mack UCF 70
118. Devin Singletary FAU 69
171. McKenzie Milton UCF 50
198. Johnny Ford USF 43
198. Greg McCrae UCF 43
Leading receivers
24. Randall Felix , USF 7 143
30. Jeff Thomas, Miami 5 132
51. Tre Nixon, UCF 5 101
66. Dedrick Snelson, UCF 6 90
96. Darnell Salomon, USF 3 77
117. C.J. Wharton, FIU. 5 69
174. Travis Harrison, FAU. 4 57
174. Freddie Swain, Florida 2 57
191 Keith Gavin, FSU. 3. 54
196. Tony Gaiter IV 4 53
Ranking This Week's Games
1. Florida-Kentucky
2. USF-Georgia Tech
3. Air Force-FAU
4. Savannah State-Miami
5. FSU-Samford
6. FIU-Old Dominion
Ranking This Week's Games
1. FSU at Syracuse
2. USF at Illinois
3. Miami at Toledo
4. Colorado State at Florida
5. FIU-UMass
6. Bethune-Cookman at FAU
5 Top National Games
1. Ohio State at TCU
2. LSU at Auburn
3. Boise State at Oklahoma State
4. Alabama at Ole Miss
5. USC at Texaas
{ 0 comments… read it below or Subscriptions }