Next big test for the Gators: Can they handle recent success?

Tyreak Sapp (94) and Caleb Banks (88) sack Jaxson Dart (Gator Bait Photo by Chris Spears)

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

Two straight wins over ranked teams at home, but now it’s time for the Gators (6-5) to hit the road. Florida State (2-9) isn’t anything close to the competitive level of LSU and Ole Miss, but the Seminoles are dangerous just the same. It will be a test for Billy Napier and his staff to make certain the Gators go into Saturday night’s game in Tallahassee (7 p.m., ESPN2) as prepared mentally as they have been the last two games.

“Do we have enough maturity to get ready to play again?” Napier asked rhetorically at his Monday press conference.

After playing two of the best offenses in the country, can the Gators ignore the fact that FSU is one of the worst teams in the country at moving the football and putting points on the scoreboard. FSU ranks 131st out of 134 Division I teams in both total offense (273.1 yards per game) and scoring (15.8 points per game). The Seminoles have allowed 41 sacks, 130th nationally.

The Gators can’t go into Tallahassee overconfident. This has been a strange year for college football, one that has seen the improbable happen on a weekly basis. Florida State has had a miserable season, but knocking off the Gators would soothe a lot of wounds and give hope for next year.

The Gators can’t ignore that. They are already bowl eligible, but a seventh win will get them to a better bowl game, so there is plenty at stake.

Banks, Crawshaw and Thornton earn SEC honors

Three Gators were honored by the Southeastern Conference for their efforts against Ole Miss. Caleb Banks was named Defensive Lineman of the Week for 2.5 sacks and four tackles for loss. Punter Jeremy Crawshaw was named Special Teams Player of the Week for six punts including a 62-yard bomb that required Ole Miss to begin drives deep in its own territory. Bryce Thornton had a career-high 14 tackles including two interceptions to earn Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors.

UF HOOPS: GATORS MOVE UP TO NO. 17

With their two dominant wins last week, the Gators (6-0) moved up to No. 17 in the latest Associated Press poll. The Gators will be playing Wake Forest Thursday at the Disney complex in Orlando, followed by a Friday game against either Minnesota or Wichita State.

Associated Press top 25: 1. Kansas 5-0; 2. UConn 4-0; 3. Gonzaga 5-0; 4. Auburn 4-0; 5. Iowa State 3-0; 6. Houston 3-1; 7. Tennessee 6-0; 8. Kentucky 5-0; 9. Alabama 4-1; 10. Marquette 6-0; 11. Duke 4-1; 12. North Carolina 3-1; 13. Purdue 5-1; 14. Indiana 4-0; 15. Wisconsin 7-0; 16. Cincinnati 5-0; 17. Baylor 4-2;  18. FLORIDA 6-0; 19. Arkansas 4-1; 20. Texas A&M 4-1; 21. Creighton 4-1; 22. Xavier 5-0; 23. Ole Miss 5-0; 24. Arizona 2-2; 25. Mississippi State 5-0

Coaches top 25: 1. Kansas 5-0; 2. UConn 4-0; 3. Auburn 4-0; 4. Gonzaga 5-0; 5. Iowa State 3-0; 6. Tennessee 6-0; 7. Houston 3-1; 8. Kentucky 5-0; 9. Alabama 4-1; 10. Duke 4-1; 11. Marquette 6-0; 12. Purdue 5-1; 13. North Carolina 3-1; 14. Cincinnati 5-0; 15. Indiana 4-0; 16. FLORIDA 6-0; 17. Wisconsin 7-0; 18. Baylor 4-2; 19. Creighton 4-1; 20. Texas A&M 4-1; 21. Arkansas 4-1; 22. Xavier 5-0; 23. Arizona 2-2; 24. Ole Miss 5-0; 25. Pittsburgh 6-1

Monday’s games

No. 4 Auburn (5-0) 83, No. 5 Iowa State (3-1) 81

No. 19 Arkansas (5-1) 109, Maryland-Eastern Shore (2-7) 35

No. 22 Xavier (6-0) 75, South Carolina (3-3) 66

Today’s games

No. 6 Houston (3-1) vs. No. 9 Alabama (4-1) in Las Vegas

Oregon (5-0) vs. No. 20 Texas A&M (4-1) in Las Vegas

Western Kentucky (3-2) at No. 8 Kentucky (5-0)

SEC FOOTBALL

No. 13 Alabama (8-3, 4-3 SEC): The last time Alabama lost three regular season games was 2007, Nick Saban’s first year as the HBC. Next: Auburn (5-6, 2-5 SEC)

Arkansas (6-5, 3-4 SEC): The Hogs beat Louisiana Tech to become bowl eligible but will that be enough to save Sam Pittman’s job?  Next: at No. 24 Missouri (8-3, 4-3 SEC)

Auburn (5-6, 2-5 SEC): Auburn’s 4-overtime win over Texas A&M gives the Tigers a shot at bowl eligibility if they can find a way to upset Alabama Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Next: at No. 13 Alabama (8-3, 4-3 SEC)

No. Georgia (9-2, 6-2 SEC): The Bulldogs will play the winner of Texas and Texas A&M in the SEC Championship Game. Next: at Georgia Tech (7-4, 5-3 SEC), Friday

Kentucky (4-7, 1-7 SEC): The Wildcats’ string of eight consecutive seasons going to a bowl game has ended with the 31-14 loss to Texas. Next: Louisville (7-4)

LSU (7-4, 4-3 SEC): The Tigers broke their 3-game losing streak with a completely uninspired 24-17 win over Vanderbilt. Next: Oklahoma (6-5, 2-5 SEC)

Mississippi State (2-9, 0-7 SEC): There wasn’t much to cheer about Saturday at Davis-Wade Stadium. The biggest cheer of the day was when Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart threw an interception that sealed the Rebels loss to Florida. Next: at No. 15 Ole Miss (8-3, 4-3 SEC), Friday

No. 24 Missouri (8-3, 4-3 SEC): It has been an injury-filled year for QB Brady Cook, who has thrown only nine TDPs this year, dipping from 21 a year ago when threw for 3,317 yards. Next: Arkansas (6-5, 3-4 SEC)

Oklahoma (6-5, 2-5 SEC): The Sooners played dominant defense to beat Alabama and become bowl eligible. Next: at LSU (7-4, 4-3 SEC) 

No. 6 Ole Miss (8-3, 4-3 SEC): Saturday was a College Football Playoff play-in game for the Rebels, but they lost to Florida, ending their hopes of making the CFP. Next: Mississippi State (2-9, 0-7 SEC), Friday

No. 16 South Carolina (8-3, 5-3 SEC): With a win Saturday at Clemson, the Gamecocks can deny their in-state arch-rival a chance to play in the ACC Championship Game where the Tigers could play their way into the playoff as the conference champs. Next: at No. 12 Clemson (9-2, 7-1 SEC)

No. 7 Tennessee (9-2, 5-2 SEC): The Vols have been eliminated from the SEC Championship Game by virtue of the tie breaker. Beat Vanderbilt Saturday in Nashville and the Vols are shoe-ins for the College Football Playoff. Next: at Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4 SEC)

No. 3 Texas (10-1, 6-1 SEC): Next: at No. 20 Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2 SEC)

No. 20 Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2 SEC): If the Aggies beat Texas they go to Atlanta to play for the SEC Championship. Lose either to Texas or to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and the Aggies can forget the playoff. Next: No. 3 Texas (8-3, 5-2 SEC)

Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4 SEC): Vandy scored on its first offensive play of the game then struggled mightily to put points on the scoreboard the rest of the way, dropping a 24-17 decision to LSU. Next: No. 7 Tennessee (9-2, 6-1 SEC)

AROUND THE STATE

Florida Atlantic (2-9, 0-7 American): Kevin Wilson was fired as the HBC. Next: at Tulsa (2-9, 1-6 American)

Florida International (3-8, 2-5 Conference USA): The Panthers aren’t nearly as bad as the record would indicate. Seven of their eight losses are by nine or fewer points. Next: Middle Tennessee (3-8, 2-5 American)

Florida State (2-9, 1-7 ACC): The Seminoles broke their 6-game losing streak by stomping D1AA Charleston Southern 41-7. Next: Florida (6-5, 4-4 SEC)

No. 8 Miami (10-1, 6-1 ACC): Miami needs to beat Syracuse to claim the spot opposite SMU in the ACC Championship Game. Next: at Syracuse (8-3, 4-3 ACC)

South Florida (6-5, 4-3 American): The Bulls are going bowling thanks to their 63-30 win over Tulsa. South Florida racked up 715 yards of offense over Tulsa. Next: at Rice (3-8, 2-5 American)

UCF (4-7, 2-6 Big 12): The wheels have come completely off for the Knights, who have lost seven of eight games after starting out the season 3-0. Next: Utah (4-7, 2-7 Big 12)

COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY

EXTINCT SPECIES LIST

Joe Houston, East Carolina: The decision has been made. Interim Blake Harrell, who is also the offensive coordinator. The Pirates are 4-0 and bowl bound since Harrell took the reins.

Mike Bloomgren, Rice: It’s looking like the newbie will be Yale head coach Tony Reno, who won the Ivy League title. He understands the difficulties of recruiting to a school where the freshmen have stratospheric SAT scores.    

Will Hall, Southern Miss: Two names have emerged in the coaching search. One is Joe Judge, formerly the head coach of the New York Giants and now an analyst for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. The other is Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs, 83-19 as a head coach at the D2 and D1AA levels.   

Mike Neu, Ball State: Smart money is on Texas A&M assistant Joey Lynch, a former Ball State quarterback.

Stan Drayton, Temple: Duke assistant head coach Gabe Infante has emerged as the favorite.

Tom Herman, Florida Atlantic: The hot name is NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis in a Deion Sanders type of scenario. If they’re really smart, they hire Penn State running backs coach JaJuan Seider, a Belle Glade native.

Don Brown, UMass: LSU assistant and former UConn HBC is a name to look out here. If he works cheap that will be a real plus.

Biff Poggi, Charlotte: One of the names on the short list is Steve Wilks, former defensive coordinator and interim head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

Brian Bohannon, Kennesaw State: They fired Bohannon but he won’t be out of a job long. Meanwhile, they don’t have money or facilities to hire a coach that’s on everybody’s short list.  

Kevin Wilson, Tulsa: They really didn’t want to fire him, but giving up 63 points to South Florida left little choice.

ON LIFE SUPPORT

Joe Moorhead, Akron: He got a win over Kent State. The Zips are 3-8 with Toledo left to play. If he’s still the coach next Monday it’s because they don’t have the money to fire him.

Kenni Burns, Kent State: The Flashes are teetering on the verge of perfection. In reverse of course. When Buffalo crushes them this week, it’s 0-12 baby! Burns is 1-23 in two seasons.

Trent Dilfer, UAB: The natives are restless. They want a new coach but there is every good chance the Blazers beat Charlotte to finish on a 2-game wing streak. Does the admin pull the plug?

Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech: Any hope he has of saving his job hangs on beating Kennesaw State. As bad as Lousy Tech is, Kennesaw is worse.

Jim McElwain, Central Michigan: The best way to avoid the pink slip is resign ahead of the bad news, which is exactly what Old Yeller has done. A loss to Northern Ill Saturday is expected to close out the career. Maybe now he’ll get his teeth whitened.

Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion: Close supposedly counts only in horse shoes and hand grenades. If Ricky Rahne is still coaching ODU next Tuesday it’s because six losses by a combined 36 points is a sign of progress.

Ryan Walters, Purdue: Purdon’t has lost 10 in a row. It’s a coin flip whether they 86 him or bring him back.

ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST 

Hugh Freeze, Auburn: Beating the Aggies has folks thinking maybe Hugh knows what he’s doing. If he beats Bama this week, the pressure will be off ... for awhile. When he was at Ole Miss, Hugh beat Nick Saban twice. Can he do it at Auburn?

Sam Pittman, Arkansas: The Razorbacks are 6-5. A win over Mizzou Saturday will seal the deal that Sam comes back. Lose, it’s 6-6 and things are dicey.

Mike Norvell, Florida State: The Seminoles are bleeding recruits left and right. They’re about to get hosed by the Gators. Things are rotten in Tallahassee but they don’t have any money to fire him and hire someone else.

Gus Malzahn, UCF: The Knights are 4-7 and a lot of folks think it’s time to move on. Gus says he’s not going anywhere.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: There is an old adage that fits all sports -- “Winning cures everything.” If you were taking Xanax for your anxiety over Florida’s football recruiting class, then put the pills away. The Gators are going to be fine.

Four-star running back Byron Louis (6-0, 205, Fort Lauderdale, FL American Heritage) flipped to the Gators from Florida State Monday, capping a day in which the Gators flipped 4-star linebacker Ty Jackson (6-1, 200, Loxahatchee, FL Seminole Ridge) from Southern Cal, 3-star wide receiver Muizz Tounkara (6-4, 200, League City, TX Clear Springs) from Arizona and 3-star offensive lineman Jahari Medlock (6-6, 290, Riverdale, GA Charles Drew) from Cincinnati.

The Gators were ranked somewhere in the 30s but the four flips moved them up to No. 17. It’s entirely possible UF will convince 5-star O-lineman Solomon Thomas (6-4, 315, Jacksonville, FL Raines) to flip from FSU between now and Sunday, a move that should propel the UF class to top ten status. There will be others.

Winning, you see, is indeed a cure for whatever ails your football program.