Dolphins help Florida’s NFL, FBS and FCS teams avoid going winless during historically bad weekend

The weekend wasn’t kind to the state of Florida when it comes to both college football and the NFL this weekend. Between the NFL, FBS and FCS, Florida teams were a combined 0-11 heading into “Monday Night Football,”where the Miami Dolphins were looking to break Sunshine State curse.

The Dolphins were the saving grace of the state, defeating the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 23-15 in Week 10. Miami now sits at 3-6, snapping a three-game losing streak and doing so on the road. Not only is the offense looking better, with wide receiver Tyreek Hill scoring his first touchdown since Week 1, but the defense also improved from last week’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. 

That was the good news. The rest? Very bad. Week 11 of the 2024 college football season 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.

To make matters worse, Sunday wasn’t very kind to the Sunshine State when it came to NFL action, either. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both came out on the losing end to bring the state of Florida to a mind-boggling 0-8 on the weekend.

The only ranked college 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.

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. 

The first loss of the weekend for the state happened Thursday night, when Florida Atlantic lost, 49-14, to East Carolina.

From an NFL standpoint, Florida teams continued to struggle during Sunday’s action. The Jaguars led over the Minnesota Vikings in the second half, but the Vikings were ultimately able to come away with a 12-7 win. It marked the third consecutive loss for Jacksonville and its fourth defeat in the last five games.

Meanwhile, the Buccaneers also came out on the losing end against the San Francisco 49ers. Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for just 116 yards, but made a valiant effort to try to push the Bucs across the finish line. Still, the 49ers recorded a much-needed victory with star running back Christian McCaffrey back in the lineup.

Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman and Stetson all lost as well. Florida A&M lost, 31-12, to Prairie View, Bethune-Cookman suffered a 25-23 loss to Southern in a game that saw five overtimes, and Stetson fell to Marist, which was winless heading into the contest.

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.
• Vikings 12, Jaguars 7: The Jaguars continued their slide against the Vikings. The Jaguars were without quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who missed Sunday’s game due to an ankle injury. 
• 49ers 23, Buccaneers 20: The Bucs have had their fair share of struggles since wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have been out of the lineup. Tampa Bay was able to tie the game at 20 in the final minute before San Francisco’s Jake Moody connected on a game-winning 44-yard field goal as time expired.
• Prairie View 31, Florida A&M 12: The Panthers offense was on a roll against Florida A&M and the Rattlers couldn’t keep up.
• Southern 25, Bethune-Cookman 23: This was a nail biter, going into five overtimes before we got a final.
• Marist 40, Stetson 31: Marist hadn’t won all season, but earned their first against Stetson in a close matchup.