It has been a long time since so many college football fans in Florida were in such a good mood. Who can blame them?
The Hurricanes, Gators, Seminoles, Panthers and Knights all won their openers – some in routs, others in late-game thrilling fashion.
The latest AP Top 25, released on Tuesday, has previously unranked Florida soaring to No. 12. No, that is not a typo! That win against seventh-ranked Utah was huge. Miami moved up from No. 16 to No. 15 and FSU and UCF received votes. The Coaches Poll has Miami at No. 16, Florida at No. 19, with Florida State and UCF receiving votes.
Yes, it’s just the first week, but that sure felt good coming off a season in which the Sunshine State fell out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2011.
Midway through last season, on Oct. 17, 2021, the Gators ended the state of Florida’s 52-week run in the Top 25, leaving the poll with no teams from the state for the first time in 10 years. It was just the seventh time in 638 polls since December 1982 when no team from Florida was ranked by AP voters; the other six times were all in the 2011 season.
This is a state that had 11 AP national champions from 1983 through 2013. There have been no championships to celebrate in this state since. The dominance was replaced by mediocrity and misery.
But there is reason for optimism this fall.
If ever there was a time to proudly wear those Hurricanes, Gators, Seminoles, Panthers and Knights shirts, this is it! Wear your ballcaps, too! If you still have one of those car flags sitting around, dust it off, attach it to your car window and wave it around town. Enjoy the moment because things surely will get more difficult in the weeks to come.
For now, let’s recap one of the most exciting Florida football weekends in recent memory:
FIU 38, Bryant 37
FIU kicked it off last Thursday with a come-from-behind overtime thriller against Bryant in coach Mike MacIntyre’s debut. The Panthers rallied from a 16-0 deficit in a game that featured 53 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Sophomore quarterback Grayson James stepped in for injured starter Gunnar Holmberg (great name for a QB!) and directed the Panthers’ final five scoring drives, including four touchdowns. MacIntyre then showed guts going for two with the Panthers trailing 37-36 in overtime.
The postgame celebration videos from the FIU locker room were heartwarming for a program that has won zero or one game in eight of its 20 seasons, including 1-11 and 0-5 the previous two seasons under Butch Davis. It was extra special because the team is still grieving the recent death of linebacker Luke Knox.
UCF 56, South Carolina State 10
Meanwhile, in Orlando, the University of Central Florida opened its season with a 56-10 thumping of South Carolina State.
John Rhys Plumlee, the former Ole Miss quarterback who most recently spent two seasons as a receiver for the Rebels, passed for 308 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 86 yards and another score in his UCF debut and his return to the QB position. The Knights took a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and cruised from there.
UCF rushed for 292 yards, gained 600 yards on offense and held the Bulldogs to 91 yards (56 passing, 35 rushing).
UM 70, Bethune-Cookman 13
The lopsided scoreline was nothing new for the Hurricanes. In fact, it fell short of the 77-0 drubbing of Savannah State in the Canes’ 2018 home opener, which broke the school record for margin of victory. Five years earlier, in 2013, UM scored 77 points in three quarters in a 77-7 home-opening win against Savannah State.
So, hitting 70 is nothing to get excited about.
Miami is 14-0 in home openers at Hard Rock Stadium, many of them against overmatched teams, but has lost the past three times it faced a ranked opponent to open a season away from home: In 2021 to Alabama, in 2019 to Florida and in 2018 to LSU.
The real test will come in two weeks, on the road against No. 6 Texas A&M in a 100,000-seat stadium. That is when we will see just how good these Canes are under new $80 million coach Mario Cristobal.
There is evidence the culture has changed under Cristobal, and there were promising signs on the field Saturday. Seven touchdowns were scored on the ground and another on an interception return. Tyler Van Dyke, a bona fide NFL prospect, went 13 of 16 for 192 yards with two touchdowns in his abbreviated appearance. So, for now, “It’s Great, to be, a Miami Hurricane!”
UF 29, No. 7 Utah 26
The unranked Gators made the nation take notice by knocking off seventh-ranked Utah, the reigning Pac-12 champion, in UF coach Billy Napier’s debut. It was arguably the Gators’ most significant season-opening victory in more than 50 years. UF quarterback Anthony Richardson shined on the big stage, rushing for three touchdowns, including a 2-yarder with 1:25 remaining. He also went 17-of-24 passing for 268 yards with no turnovers.
An electric crowd of 90,799 at The Swamp offered Napier a heck of a welcome party. There’s lots of orange-and-blue pride this week.
With a ranked Kentucky team coming to town in Week 2, the Gators will have a chance to make another major statement.
FSU 24, LSU 23
The Seminoles put an exclamation point on the weekend with a wild win in New Orleans on Sunday night that ended with a blocked extra point attempt to spoil Brian Kelly’s debut as LSU coach.
How crazy was this game? The final 2:15 included a dropped LSU punt, an FSU fumble at the LSU 1 with 1:20 to go, a miraculous Tigers scoring drive with no time left, and then, with LSU fans celebrating what looked like an amazing comeback, FSU’s Shyheim Brown deflected LSU kicker Damian Ramos’ extra point to end LSU’s party.
Instead, it was Seminoles fans who partied like it’s 1999, when the Seminoles went 12-0 to finish the season No. 1 in the nation. The Gators were ranked 12th in that final poll, and Miami was 15th.
Last year, Florida’ seven FBS programs finished with a combined record of 34-51 (.400), well below .500.
After this exciting Labor Day Weekend, there is good reason to believe there is a whole lot more winning to come in this state the rest of the season and that the AP Top 25 will not be Florida Free.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
