Florida Gators Jump Two Spots in Coaches Poll
The first college football Coaches Poll of the season was released Tuesday, showing significant movement among the top teams in the country. After three top-10 matchups and a shocking Alabama upset at the hands of Florida State, squads have dramatically risen and fallen since the preseason poll.
The Florida Gators rose from No. 17 to No. 15 in the Coaches Poll after a dominant win over Long Island University, whose career program point differential against FBS schools has plummeted to an abominable -334. Regardless, Florida’s impressive 55-point shutout was enough to earn them a lift in the coaches’ rankings. UF’s opponent this upcoming Saturday, South Florida, did not end up being ranked in the poll, but did receive nine votes from the coaches after the Bulls’ demanding win over 25th-ranked Boise State.
Texas fell from the illustrious No. 1 ranking after a low-scoring defeat at the hands of the defending national champion, Ohio State. While the score was close, Texas was overall outcoached and outexecuted. Preseason Heisman favorite Arch Manning, nephew of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, was extremely shaky in the high-pressure season opener. Manning put up a disappointing stat line of 17-for-30 passing , 170 yards, a touchdown and a pick as Texas dropped to No. 6 in the Coaches Poll.
Replacing them at the top spot is Ohio State, which proved it is still a national championship contender, even after losing a slew of key contributors, with four players from the title team being selected in the first round of the NFL draft, and 10 more being selected in later rounds. OSU’s 14 players drafted were the most from any school last year, this being the reason the Buckeyes did not begin the season as the coach’s No. 1 team. However, holding Steve Sarkisian’s high-powered offense to a measly seven points is no small feat as Ohio State claims the top spot in the poll.
Alabama fell all the way down to 20 after a ghastly loss to Florida State, which was coming off a disastrous 2-10 season. Alabama players looked incredibly unprepared and seemed to have taken its opponent for granted. While there will never be another Nick Saban, second-year Bama head coach Kalen DeBoer has been subject to heavy criticism regarding his lack of harsh discipline that the Alabama brass had become accustomed to issuing. This past weekend marked the fourth loss in two seasons for DeBoer’s group, in which they were double-digit favorites.
A climber ended up being LSU, which defeated Clemson at Memorial Stadium. The winning Tigers jumped from No. 9 to No. 4 in the Coaches Poll, as the losing Tigers dropped from No. 6 to No. 8.
Kansas State and Boise State were the only two schools to drop out of the Coaches Poll completely.
Category: College Football, Gators Football, SEC
