Week 11 of the 2024 college football season wasn’t full of banner performances for FBS teams from the state of Florida. It marked the first time in the FBS era — dating back to 1978 — that a state went 0-6 in a single week. Florida State, Florida, Miami, UCF, USF and FAU all lost their respective games, while FIU was idle.
The only ranked team of the bunch, Miami, dropped its first game of the season with a 28-23 loss to Georgia Tech on the road. As CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm writes, Miami holds the conference tiebreaker over Clemson.
“Miami would win a tiebreaker with Clemson because of a better record against common ACC opponents,” Palm wrote. “The difference would be the Canes’ win over Louisville, the team that beat the Tigers. The tie with Pitt would go to at least the fourth tiebreaker, which is the record of each team’s conference opponents. That cannot be determined yet. The tiebreaker after that is the team’s rating by Sports Source Analytics, which is not publicly available.”
Florida State dropped to 1-9 with a blowout 52-3 loss to Notre Dame. The Seminoles are the first-ever preseason top-10 team, to drop at least nine games in a single season. Florida dropped its second consecutive game with a 49-17 setback to Texas just days after coach Billy Napier received a vote of confidence from athletic director Scott Stricklin.
UCF is in danger of missing a bowl game after losing to Arizona State 35-31 on the road. The Knights started 3-0 but have since dropped six of their last seven games to fall to 4-6 (2-5 Big 12 play) in Year 2 as a member of the Big 12. The lone win after September came against Big 12 newcomer Arizona at home.
USF came into the season as a potential dark horse to reach the 12-team College Football Playoff, but after losing to Navy 28-7, the Bulls are in danger of also missing out on a bowl game and will need to win two of their final three against Charlotte, Tulsa and Rice.
Here is a closer look at how each team from the state of Florida lost their respective games this week
- Georgia Tech 28, Miami 23: Miami has been living on the edge all season with thrilling last-second victories. The magic ran out during a loss to Georgia Tech, dropping the Hurricanes eight spots to No. 12 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Barring a historic late-season collapse, Miami should still be in the College Football Playoff.
- Notre Dame 52, Florida State 3: Florida State’s latest loss was a tipping point for coach Mike Norvell. The FSU coach dismissed offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and wide receivers coach Ron Dugans after the program dropped to 1-9.
- Texas 49, Florida 17: Without star quarterback DJ Lagway, Florida struggled against Texas on the road. The Longhorns jumped out to a 42-0 advantage before Florida finally got on the board with a 23-yard field goal by Trey Smack. The Gatos end the season with a gauntlet of a schedule against LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State.
- Arizona State 35, UCF 31: After a 3-0 start, it appeared UCF was due for a potential breakthrough in Year 2 as a member of the Big 12. That dream was shortlived after starting conference play 1-4 with losses to Colorado, Cincinnati, Iowa State and BYU. The latest setback was a 35-31 loss to Arizona State this past weekend.
- Navy 28, USF 7: USF was competitive against Alabama during the first three quarters back in Week 2, but the program hasn’t been the same since. After winning back-to-back games over UAB and FAU, the Bulls lost their fifth game of the season to Navy.
- East Carolina 49, FAU 14: FAU dropped to 2-7 with a 49-14 loss to East Carolina. The Owls have lost five of their last six, with the lone win during that stretch coming against Wagner.
