Florida’s Big 4: Florida State, Miami, UCF and Florida Week 2 Preview

Florida's "Big 4" are all in action this Saturday as week 2 of the college football season continues.  The Miami Hurricanes have the most influential game of the day as they #23 Texas A/M at Hard Rock Stadium. Lets take a look at all 4 matchups on Saturday in this week 2 preview.

This is the fifth meeting between the teams, who have split the four previous meetings. Both teams finished with losing records last season, but they met in a ranked matchup in Week 3 with No. 24 Texas A&M beating No. 13 Miami 17-9 in Bryan-College Station.

The Aggies scored a total of 51 points in their three non-conference games against FBS opponents last season; they scored 52 points in the season opener against New Mexico.

Conner Weigman threw for five touchdowns in the win against the Lobos. He has a 13-to-0 touchdown-to interception ratio since making his debut on Oct. 22 last season; that’s the most passing touchdown without an interception in FBS over that span.

Miami has lost five straight games against SEC opponents since beating No. 12 Florida in 2013.

This is the first time these teams have met on the gridiron. Florida is 22-1 against FCS opponents since the FBS/FCS split in 1978 (lost to Georgia Southern in 2013).

Graham Mertz threw for a career-high 333 yards in the season opener but was also sacked five times in the game (tied for the most in his career). He was blitzed on 49% of his dropbacks in the game.

Mertz completed 64% of his passes for 5.5 yards per attempt when facing five or more rushers; those numbers jumped to 77% and 9.6 yards per attempt when facing four or fewer rushers.

Kind of a weird start time for this one, however it shouldn't matter much and the Noles should roll easily in this one against the Golden Eagles.

The Seminoles are coming off a huge 45-24 rout of then #5 LSU on Sunday night in Orlando.  The Seminoles (1-0) scored on six straight possessions after a slow start, getting 342 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in the air from quarterback Jordan Travis.

Southern Miss also opened the season 1-0, cruising to a 40-14 win last weekend against FCS foe Alcorn State in Hattiesburg, Miss. New starting quarterback Billy Wiles, a Clemson transfer, completed 21 of 28 passes for 267 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

The Knights are going from the Bounce House to the legendary "Smurf Turf" for their game with the Broncos of Boise State on Saturday night.

Despite coming off a 56-19 loss at Washington last week, Boise State (0-1) is a slight favorite over UCF (1-0).  The Broncos are favored by 3.5 as of this post.  The Knights meanwhile blasted visiting Kent State 56-6 as they prepare for their first season in the Big 12.

UCF coach Gus Malzahn said the Knights will practice on a blue field in Orlando at least once this week as they prepare for the blue turf at Albertsons Stadium.  Over the past 23 years, only Oklahoma (90.8 percent) has been more successful at home than Boise State (130-15, 89.7 percent).

The Knights rushed for 389 yards and five touchdowns against Kent State.  The Broncos on Saturday will look for a rebound game from Taylen Green, who completed just 19 of 39 passes for 244 yards, one TD and two interceptions against the Huskies.

The “real” college football top 25 week 1 rankings are here!  Most of you know by now that I will be posting on this subject every Monday beginning after week 1 of the college football season.  Due to the long holiday weekend and the Clemson-Duke game on Monday night, I waited until today, Tuesday to post.

I will always post my "real" rankings well before the AP and Coaches poll come out.

I don’t trust AP voters and certainly not Coaches Poll voters.  The people voting in both of those polls either don’t watch enough college football, vote against other teams on purpose due to regionalisms or simply have their respective sports information directors or other minions vote for them.

My rankings are not necessarily based on style points.  I take into consideration previous rankings, strength of opponent, home, away or neutral site victories and heart.

You may not always agree with my rankings but I will be as fair and impartial as possible while basing all my rankings on the previous criteria.  This poll is for you, the tremendous fans of the Shemon and Sheppard Show.  I hope you enjoy it.

There were points galore on Saturday, as 6 teams scored 65 or more points across FBS on Saturday. That is tied for the 2nd-most on a single day in the Poll Era (since 1936), trailing only Sept. 6, 2014 (8).

In addition, 4 AP Top-25 teams scored 65+ points on Saturday (USC, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Oregon).  That is tied for the most on a single day in the Poll Era (since 1936).

Now lets get to my "Real Top 25 College Football Rankings!

I thought about dropping this team out of the top 25 completely but I will give the Tigers another chance.  They fell 28-7 on the road to Duke on Monday night.  If you look at some of the stats, you might have thought the Tigers won the game.  However, special team blunders and a lack of red zone production did the Tigers in.  Plus, as I've been saying for a while now, Duke is a very good football team.

Are you kidding me coach Dion Sanders?  Lots of people including me, are eating a ton of "crow" after the Buffalo's beating of TCU on the road 45-42.

Shedeur Sanders – son of Deion – had 4 touchdown passes and a school-record 510 passing yards; it’s the most passing yards by a player in their FBS debut over the last 25 years. The previous Colorado record for passing yards in their first start for the school was 418 by Koy Detmer in 1992.

The Aggies rolled past New Mexico 52-10.  Texas A/M travels to Hard Rock Stadium this week where they will face a rejuvenated Miami Hurricane's team that dominated Miami of Ohio on Friday night winning 38-3.  The Aggies won ugly against the Canes last year 17-9.

Quarterback Michael Pratt completed 14 of 15 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns and the Green Wave beat South Alabama 37-17 on Saturday night.

earned its 100th season-opening win in program history with a 73-0 no-doubter over Arkansas State. It’s the 4th-largest margin of victory in a season opener in program history.

Jaxson Dart matched his career high with 4 touchdown passes as 22nd-ranked Ole Miss beat Mercer, 73-7. All 4 of Dart’s scores went to Tre Harris, giving him the most Rec TD in a single game in Ole Miss history.

Wisconsin outscored Buffalo 24-7 in the 2nd half en route to a 38-17 victory in Luke Fickell’s regular
season debut with the Badgers (coached in bowl game last year).

Wisconsin put up 501 yards of total offense, its most in a season opener since 2013, as it runs its win streak against MAC opponents up to 28 straight (last loss: 1988 vs Western Michigan).

D.J. Uiagalelei got off to a fast start for his new team, throwing three touchdown passes and running for two more to lead Oregon State to a 42-17 victory over San Jose State on Sunday.

The Wildcats clobbered Southeast Missouri State 45-0.  They will get a little bit of a better text next week against Troy.

I have been talking about this Duke team for the last couple of months trying to tell anyone who would listen that they should not be underestimated.  Well, the whipped then #9 Clemson 28-7 on Monday night.  Watch out for Mike Elko's Blue Devils this year.  They could be this years "TCU".

The Tigers got their butts whipped in the second half getting outscored 31-7 on way to a humiliating 45-24  loss to Florida State in Orlando.  The Tigers now are going to be forced to "win out" if they want to reach the College Football Playoff.

Bryson Barnes threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Money Parks on Utah’s first play of the game, rushed for another score and the No. 14 Utes beat Florida 24-11 on Thursday night in the opener for both teams.

Drake Maye went 11-14 for 155 yards and 2 TD against the blitz in the Tar Heels 31-17 win over South Carolina.  He had just 1 such TD during North Carolina’s 4- game losing streak to end the season in 2022 after having 16 pass TD against the blitz in the 1st 10 games.

North Carolina had 9 sacks, its most in a game in the last 25 seasons. The Tar Heels pressured Rattler on 19 of his 52 dropbacks (37%), the 2nd-most pressures he has faced in a game in his career.

Texas beat in-state foe Rice, 37-10. Quinn Ewers became the 4th Texas player over the last 20 seasons with 3 Pass TD and a Rush TD in a season opener (David Ash, Colt McCoy 2x, Vince Young. Owls QB J.T. Daniels fell to 0-3 in his career versus Texas (started for West Virginia and USC in previous 2 meetings).

Oregon put up video game numbers against Portland State, winning 81-7. It’s the most points in any game by the Ducks in the AP Poll era (since 1936) and their most in a season opener since Oct. 7, 1916 versus Williamette (97). The Oregon Duck had to do 546 push-ups (he does 1 push-up for every point Oregon has on the scoreboard after every Oregon score).

Bo Nix threw 3 touchdowns and 4 incompletions (23-27); his 85.2% completion percentage is the second highest in a game in program history.

Washington beat Boise State, 56-19, scoring its most points in a season opener since 1971 (65 vs UC Santa Barbara). The Huskies have now won 8 straight games dating back to last season, marking their longest win streak since 2015-16 (12 straight).

Michael Penix Jr. threw for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns (4 in the 2nd quarter), becoming the first player in Washington history with 400 Pass yds and 5 Pass TD in a game.

Joe Milton III threw 2 touchdowns and rushed for 2 more as Tennessee beat Virginia 49-13, becoming the 2nd Vols player to reach those thresholds in a season-opening game over the last 20 seasons, joining Hendon Hooker, who did so in the 2022 opener against Ball State. Since joining Tennessee in 2021, Milton III has 14 Pass TD and 0 interceptions across his 18 games played (5 starts).

Notre Dame won its first-ever game against an HBCU, beating Tennessee State 56-3. The Fighting Irish have scored 40+ points in each of its first 2 games of a season for the first time since 1951. Sam Hartman threw 2 touchdowns to bring his career Pass TD total to 116, tying him with Matt Barkley for 12th on the all-time FBS list.

Caleb Williams went 18-24 with 319 yards and 5 Pass TD against Nevada as USC rolled, 66-14. Caleb Williams is the 3rd player in USC history with 300 passing yards, 5 pass TD and 75% comp pct in a game, joining Cody Kessler and Matt Barkley.

Drew Allar threw for 325 yards and 3 TD in his 1st career start, the most passing yards by a Penn State player in his first career start in the last 20 season as the Nittany Lions beat West Virginia 38-15.  He’s the 1st Penn State player with 300 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns in a season opener since Daryll Clark in 2009 vs Akron. KeAndre Lambert-Smith had 123 rec yds and 2 rec TD, his 1st career game with multiple receiving touchdowns.

You can't do better than a 23-3 win over the Indiana Hoosiers on the road?  Pathetic!  The Buckeyes have now won each of their last 29 games against the Hoosiers, the longest on-the-field win streak by one team over another in Big Ten history. It’s also the longest active on-the-field win streak by a current FBS team over another current FBS team.  Craig, your boys put up a good fight, and covered.

Michigan had no issues with East Carolina, winning 30-3 — with the 3 points coming on a field goal as
time expired. The Wolverines have now won 16 straight home games, the third-longest active streak in FBS only behind Alabama and Georgia. J.J. McCarthy tied his career high with 3 touchdown passes, with all 3 going to Roman Wilson.  However, great job by the Pirates covering the 36 point spread!

A dominating second half by the Seminoles in their 45-24 bashing of the LSU Tigers in Orlando on Sunday night.  The Noles are for real and are one of my CFP picks.  The Tigers meanwhile are going to have to win out now to have a shot at the CFP.

Georgia extended its win streak to 18 games with the 48-7 win over UT Martin, the longest win streak in school history. The previous record was 17 from 1945-47. It’s their 13th win by 30 points since the start of the 2021 season, most in the FBS.

Alabama beat Middle Tennessee 56-7. The Tide have now won 22 straight season openers, the 4th-longest win streak in the Poll Era (including vacated wins). It is also the 2nd-longest active win streak in season openers, trailing Ohio State. It’s the 1st time in school history scoring at least 55 points in consecutive season openers (won 55-0 vs Utah State last year).

Jalen Milroe went 13-18 for 1984 yards and 3 Pass TD, and added 48 rush yards with 2 TD on the ground. He’s the 1st player in school history with 3 Pass TD & 2 Rush TD in a single game. The Tide had 3 QB's with a Rush TD in a game for the first time in at least the last 25 years (Milroe – 2 | Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson – 1 each).