You know, if you look at the state of Florida on a map in just the right way — like, upside down — it looks like a giant “L.” And right now, that’s appropriate, because this weekend, Florida took Ls at a frequency it never has before.
The state went an astounding 0-11 in football this weekend across FBS, FCS and NFL teams, a record of futility never before achieved in the state’s long and illustrious football history.
Consider …
FBS:
• Florida lost to Texas, 49-17
• Florida State lost to Notre Dame, 52-3
• Miami lost to Georgia Tech, 28-23
• Central Florida lost to Arizona State, 35-31
• Florida Atlantic lost to East Carolina, 49-14
• South Florida lost to Navy, 28-7
Note: According to CBS, this is the first time in the FBS era, which dates back to 1978, that a single state has gone 0-6 in a weekend.
FCS:
• Bethune Cookman lost to Southern, 25-23
• FAMU lost to Prairie View A&M, 31-12
• Stetson lost to Marist, 40-31
NFL:
• The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 12-7
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 23-20
This is a season of uncommon futility for nearly all of Florida’s teams, which at one time ranked among the nation’s best. How bad was it? Only one Florida team didn’t lose this weekend — Florida International, which was on a bye.
So now it falls to the Miami Dolphins, who play the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night, to halt the torrent of failure. Bad news: the Dolphins are on the road, and are 2.5-point underdogs. No pressure, Miami.
But hey, maybe we should’ve known this was coming. After all, you can’t spell “Florida” without a big ol’ L.
