Chop Chat
Fansided

FSU Football, Florida at historic lows entering rivalry showdown

By Jason Parker

TALLAHASSEE, FL - NOVEMBER 29: The Florida State Seminoles line up against the Florida Gators during a game at Doak Campbell Stadium on November 29, 2014 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - NOVEMBER 29: The Florida State Seminoles line up against the Florida Gators during a game at Doak Campbell Stadium on November 29, 2014 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

FSU football travels to Gainesville for their annual battle in a year in which both teams are limping into the battle after a long 2017 season.

For most of the 2017 season, FSU football fans have  dealt with everything from embarrassing losses to a mountain of injuries to continued rumors of whether or not their head coach is going to be leaving for another job after a season in which the Seminoles come into the final week of November with a 4-6 record.

It could be worse though – we could be the Florida Gators.

After an opening weekend loss to Michigan in their first non-conference game outside of the state since 1991, the Gators watched their starting quarterback be sidelined with an injury before a five game losing streak that gave the school more than enough ammunition to get rid of their head coach, Jim McElwain, with four games left on the slate.

While the Gators are not in bowl contention as they will have a losing record regardless of Saturday’s outcome, FSU football can still continue their bowl streak and possibly their winning season streak if they win the last two regular season games and a bowl game.

Even with that, the 2017 edition of the Seminoles and the Gators is going to be…umm, historical…for a variety of reasons:

  • As we first reported last Sunday, the 62nd ever meeting between the rivals will be the first time since 1959 that both teams have come into the game with a losing record. The first time the teams ever played? 1958.
  • The Gators enter this weekend’s game with the 121st rated offense out of the 130 teams in the FBS level, averaging just 342 yards per game. The Seminoles are one spot below them at 122nd in the country, averaging 340 yards per game.
  • FSU football scored 77 points in their last game against Delaware State, which was more than in their previous four games combined. The Gators scored 36 points last week against UAB after scoring a total of 43 points in their previous three games combined.

Now, if both things have something good going for them, it’s that they both come in with defenses that rank in the top one fourth for FBS teams – FSU football somehow being ranked 21st nationally and giving up 23 points a game while Florida comes in 26th giving up just over 26 points.

Next: Why Jimbo Fisher's offense doesn't suck despite FSU's season

Over history, there have been four games between FSU football and Florida where both teams have combined to score 12 points or less with the Gators winning three and the teams tying the other. At this point, the games of high scoring affairs and the teams actually finding the end zone likely won’t be taking place this weekend.

Home/FSU Football