Looking back at the weekend’s college football

by Gary Shelton on September 5, 2018 · 0 comments

in College Sports in Florida, Florida State University, general, University of Florida

Mullen got off a good start with the Gators./CARMEN MANDATO

Mullen got off a good start with the Gators./CARMEN MANDATO

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.

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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?

Charlie Strong says his team has to be better./STEVEN MUNCIE

Charlie Strong says his team has to be better./STEVEN MUNCIE

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.

Blake Barnett on the run./STEVEN MUNCIE

Blake Barnett on the run./STEVEN MUNCIE

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

Franks looked much sharper for Florida./CARMEN MANDATO

Franks looked much sharper for Florida./CARMEN MANDATO

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

Florida's Miller and Houston celebrate a tackle./CARMEN MANDATO

Florida's Miller and Houston celebrate a tackle./CARMEN MANDATO

Ranking the Defenses

16.     Florida                 225

18.     USF                      234

39.     Miami                 296

51.      FSU                    319

95.     FIU                     465

101.    UCF                   486

121.   FAU                    650

Wilcox gains yardage for the Bulls./STEVE MUNCIE

Wilcox gains yardage for the Bulls./STEVE MUNCIE

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

Randall St. Felix hlad a great debut/STEVEN MUNCIE

Randall St. Felix hlad a great debut/STEVEN MUNCIE

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

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