Already on tenterhooks for the Florida DIAA slate of games? Us too.

Why? Well there's a good chance that this league will be in doubt for some time, at least judging by the closeness of the first week of games (31-20, 28-20, 27-26). With battles like that this could be the New Chesapeake.

This week the key clash is South Florida, which went 6-0 in the winter/spring of 2020 before everyone was shut down and Florida's 2021 collegiate season morphed into a U23 league. USF is the only team that didn't play last week.

"After having not being able to complete the mission in 2019, and not having the opportunity to participate in 2020, we are incredibly grateful to field a newly remodeled, incredibly coachable, and highly competitive group of young men that I will feel can match up well with anyone else in the state of Florida," enthused Head Coach Austin Dacanay. 

The match itself will be in St. Petersburg, a neutral site, and the big concern for Florida State, which beat Florida International 31-20 last week, will be how wide the pitch is. Head Coach Michael Gomez likes his backline.

"If its wide enough I think we can use that to our advantage," Gomez told GRR. "I know they are going to have some big boys and I'd really like to test our defense. If we can keep it tight against their pack, our backs may be able to give us the advantage since I know USF lost a few starters in key spots there. Overall it should be a fun weekend."

Interestingly, last week it was the loose forwards Colin Mackaness, Dominic Trunkett, and Jonathan O'Keeffe who accounted for four of FSU's five tries, but that was in part due to good effort in support of the backs. 

At South Flroida, Dacanay is pretty sure he's got something to show off, too.

"Coach Gomez has done a great job with his group of players and his program, and we are very excited to host them this weekend in Tampa and introduce them to the new herd of Bulls we've got for 2022."