Here are five takeaways from this past weekend’s football action around the state.
The 0-16 watch
There still are 11 games left, but it might be time to start fully gauging if the Dolphins could really go winless this season.
After all, if the Dolphins couldn’t beat the previously winless Redskins at home, who can they beat?
Next up is a game at 4-1 Buffalo, but games at Pittsburgh and home against the Jets the next two weeks figured to offer good chances for wins.
But then Pittsburgh showed it's not dead with a road win over the Chargers, and the Jets, with starting quarterback Sam Darnold back in the fold, beat the Cowboys on Sunday.
After that, there’s a game at Indianapolis and a home rematch with the Bills, so an 0-10 start is a distinct possibility.
Down the road, a game at the Giants and a home contest against the Bengals, the league’s other winless team, might offer the best chances to avoid an 0-16 season.
All is not lost for Gators
Florida fought valiantly at unbeaten LSU, but Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow and an all-of-a-sudden prolific LSU offense eventually were too much to overcome in a 42-28 loss.
Despite that, all of Florida’s goals remain in front of the team.
If the Gators win out during the regular season, they will be in the SEC championship game, which would give them a likely spot in the College Football Playoff if victorious there against LSU, Alabama or Auburn.
A game against at South Carolina, which produced the first big upset of the season when it won at Georgia on Saturday, is up next, followed by the annual game against Georgia in Jacksonville on Nov. 2.
Win those two games, and the Gators will be favored in their last three regular-season games against Vanderbilt, Missouri and Florida State.
An 11-1 season with a quality loss at LSU would be a great playoff resume.
Reality sets in for Gardner Minshew
At some point, it was bound to happen.
Jaguars rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew was probably due for a performance that made him look like a rookie after such a hot start to the season, and that’s what happened in a 13-6 loss to the Saints.
Minshew and the Jacksonville offense couldn’t get anything going against a stout Saints defense, as Minshew went just 14-of-29 passing for 163 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
The good news is that it shouldn’t take long for Minshew to look like an all-pro again.
Next up for Jacksonville is a game at winless Cincinnati.
Feel-good win for Hurricanes
Apparently, the oddsmakers knew what they were talking about when they made unranked Miami a slight favorite over a ranked Virginia team going into Friday’s game.
The Hurricanes gave up 42 points the week prior against Virginia Tech, but completely turned it around against a more acclaimed Virginia team, holding the Cavaliers to three field goals in a 17-9 win.
Miami’s offense did just enough behind new starter N’Kosi Perry, and the course of the season might be completely changed now.
The Hurricanes sit at 3-3 and aren’t exactly facing a gauntlet of a schedule coming up, with games against Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Louisville and Florida International on the horizon.
Prep thriller sees No. 1 team lose
Columbia might have entered last week’s game ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 6A, but what it didn’t have was recent success against Lee.
That trend continued on Friday, with Lee recording a 27-21 overtime win to knock Columbia off from the rank of unbeatens, and likely its perch atop the state poll.
Lee beat Columbia for the fourth time in five meetings.
Lee jumped out to a 21-0 lead before Columbia responded with 21 unanswered points to tie the game and force overtime.
But Lee prevailed with an overtime touchdown to improve to 5-2 on the year.