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 L’s 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: , 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 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.