Finally the Miami Dolphins are headed in the right direction! Wednesday afternoon the Dolphins announced that wide receiver Mike Wallace would be joining the team after signing a five-year contract. The deal is worth $60 million and includes $30 million in guarantees, as reported by ESPN.

Wallace commented on facing Conference rival New England Patriots “Hopefully we can compete this year. That’s why we’re in this. We’re in this to compete every year,” he said. “We expect to compete as soon as we step on the field. From Day 1, we’re going to compete with everybody and we’re going to let the chips fall where they will.”

Wallace had 1,193 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2011 and was selected to his first Pro Bowl, but his numbers fell last season, when he caught 64 passes for 836 yards and was plagued by drops. Still, Wallace led the Steelers in receiving touchdowns the past two seasons — with eight each year — after tying for the team lead with 10 in his rookie season.

Miami on Wednesday also announced the additions of linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler. Ellerbe signed a five-year deal worth $35 million, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Wheeler and Ellerbe will give the Dolphins a new tandem at linebacker, making Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett expendable. Both were released.

Dansby, a nine-year veteran, and Burnett, an eight-year veteran, started side by side every game the past two years for Miami.

Finally, the Dolphins have re-signed safety Chris Clemons to a one-year deal. Clemons made 69 tackles and 2 interceptions for Miami in 2012.

Twitter @KenzieThirkill

Looking to continue their run through SEC opponents and maintain their undefeated record, the No. 4 Florida Gators are headed back to Tennessee to face the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Gators along with No. 3 South Carolina, are the only two teams left in the SEC East Division to still have an undefeated record.

While the matchup has the making of a potential trap game, Florida head coach Will Muschamp insists his team is not about to overlook the Commodores, especially after surviving a close call against them at home a year ago. When these teams met in 2011, the Gators won 26-21 on Homecoming, which snapped a four-game losing streak. Florida has dominated the series 34-9-2 and is seeking its 22nd straight victory over Vanderbilt, which hasn’t posted a series win since 1988.

“Our guys have worked hard and I don’t see a whole lot of difference in how they approach every day and how they’ve approached each game so far this year,” Muschamp said. “We’re not going to put any more hours in as coaches this week than we did a week ago, we’re not going put any less, either. We’re going to prepare very similar to what we’ve done thus far in the season, as far as what we’ve got to do to be successful and that’s winning the football game.”

Florida (5-0, 4-0 SEC) moved up six spots in the latest poll after defeating then-No. 4 LSU 14-6 last Saturday. Mike Gillislee ran for a career-high 146 yards and two touchdowns while the defense limited the Tigers to 200 yards in avenging last season’s 41-11 loss in Baton Rouge.

The gators are known for controlling the second half of the game, and is the only team in the nation that has allowed zero fourth-quarter points, outscoring opponents 41-0 in the final period. The Gators are ranked 6th nationally in scoring defense (11.4 ppg), second in pass efficiency defense (88.45) and 12th in total defense (2840 ypg). In addition, the team has forced 10 turnovers, including seven interceptions.

“We have our work cut out for us at 6:00 there in Nashville and we look forward another opportunity to go out there and get better” Muschamp said.

Prediction: Florida 34, Vanderbilt 10

Returning home after a jaw dropping loss at NC State, the now 12th-ranked Florida State Seminoles look to redeem themselves as they welcome the Boston College Eagles to Tallahassee this Saturday.

Florida State holds a 6-4 edge in the all-time series with Boston College, but the two teams have split four meetings in Tallahassee. FSU has claimed victory in each of the last two meetings, including a 38-7 win in Chestnut Hill last season.

Boston College is looking for its first win in ACC play after getting off to an 0-2 start. The Eagles trip to Tallahassee will mark their first conference road game this season.

The Eagles were in a close game in West Point last week, but allowed Army to score on a 29-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds remaining to fall to the Black Knights 34-31. Offensively, BC got a huge game from tailback Andre Williams, who produced a career-high 191 yards and two touchdowns in the loss, including an electrifying 99-yard TD run in the second quarter.

Jimbo Fisher’s Seminoles were leading the ACC with five straight wins to begin the season, positioning themselves near the top of the leader boards (third last week). However, after taking a 16-0 lead into halftime in Raleigh last weekend, the team failed to make plays on either side of the ball after intermission and fell to the Wolfpack 17-16. On the bright side, the teams 5-1 start matches its best since 2005, as the ‘Noles are still gunning for the ACC crown this year.

FSU is the only team in the country to rank in the top 10 of eight statistical categories nationally. The FSU defense ranks in the top 10 in five statistical categories: total defense (221.50 ypg, 4th), rushing defense (71.33 ypg, 5th), scoring defense (12.3 ppg, 7th), pass defense (150.17, 5th) and pass efficiency defense (91.88, 5th). The ‘Noles’ offense come into the week at No. 7 in scoring offense (45.2 ppg), No. 6 in passing efficiency (167.79) and No. 3 in kickoff returns (32.82 ypr).

Florida State has thrived in just about every facet of the game defensively, including on third down. Opponents are converting just 23.6 percent of the time, as FSU ranks third nationally in third-down defense.

Boston College is out-gunned in this one. The Seminoles aren’t likely to look past the Eagles and may not lose again this year. A little bit of frustration could be expelled by the hometown team in this one.

“We’ve got a lot of ball left; there are six games,” Fisher said.  “I’m very encouraged about our team, very excited about our team and I look forward to see the next six games and how the majority of the team responds. I liked the leadership after the game. I think they’ll step up and play very well and I’m looking forward to playing a great game against BC this week.”

Prediction: Florida State 38, Boston College 7

The 10th-ranked Gators got their biggest victory yet under second-year coach Will Muschamp, beating the No. 4 Tigers 14-6 in Gainesville, Fla.

Louisiana State came into Saturday’s game at Florida ranked fifth in the SEC in total yards on offense with 432.8 per game. The Gators have now played three of the top five teams in the SEC in total offense yards and held all below their average. Saturday’s defensive effort against LSU held the Tigers to two field goals.

For the third time this season, Florida trailed at half against a Southeastern Conference rival and came back to win.

Physical toughness was a huge factor for these two top ten teams, and Florida proved to be a little tougher on both sides of the ball. After trailing 6-0 at the half, the Gators took their first drive of the third quarter and marched 85 yards on eight plays to take the lead on Gillislee’s 12-yard touchdown run. The Gators came up with another long, well executed drive of 77 yards on 11 plays and got a second 12-yard touchdown run from Gillislee to take a 14-6 lead with 13:18 left in the game, all the scoring they would need.

Mike Gillislee ran for a career-high 146 yards and two touchdowns, bringing Florida to life in the second half to beat LSU.

Muschamp acknowledged that he kept reminding his players of last year’s rout leading up to this game. “Competitors don’t always like to hear that,” he said, “but sometimes it’s what it takes to get the results you want.”

These are the results Gators fans want, even if they are not accustomed to or particularly thrilled by a 14-6 final score that Muschamp joked was 1980s-style SEC football.

Asked if he liked that style of football, Muschamp said: “I know not all our fans like that. I get the e-mails. But I like winning. That’s the style of football I like.”

With this win, the Gators may have forced out any remaining images of last season’s beat down in Death Valley, but they don’t have long to celebrate as they get ready to play the Vanderbilt Commodores next Saturday in Nashville.  Kickoff is set for 6pm.

Just when Florida State thought they were on the road to being contenders for the national championship, under the radar North Carolina State destroys their dreams with a 17-16 victory.

Florida State not only predicted to compete for a BCS bowl, they were favored as a National Championship contender. Winning the ACC had become a foregone conclusion. And Fisher thought that, too. Sure, he’d wax pleasant about upcoming teams saying “they’ve got some guys who can play” and “we’re taking this season one game at a time,” but even Fisher didn’t pretend like this team had one goal this season other than winning the National Championship, or at least seriously competing for it.

“We’ve got a huge challenge to get ourselves back because it’s a tough loss,” coach Jimbo Fisher said. “A heartbreaking loss because of the way it happened.”

Florida State — carrying its highest ranking since 2003 — led 16-0 at halftime, but couldn’t stop Wolfpack quarterback Mike Glennon in the fourth quarter and watched this one slip away in stunning fashion.

Down by six points with under a minute to play, N.C. State quarterback Mike Glennon completed a two-yard touchdown pass to Shadrach Thornton to give the Wolfpack the lead.

The scoring play capped a game-winning, 12-play, 43-yard drive that took only two minutes and 11 seconds.

EJ Manuel is already looking ahead to next Saturday’s game against Boston College, because that is what a leader does.

Defensive end Bjoern Werner is also one of those leaders. He stood up amidst the echoing silence in the locker room and told the team to hold their heads up high.

“Bjoern was standing up and telling everybody it’s not over,” Dawkins said. “[He said] don’t put your head down because it’s not over for us. People are probably going to throw in the towel on us, but it’s not over. We’re going to fix our problems—that’s a promise.”

If the SEC truly is the elite of college football, this Florida State team isn’t that far behind.

EJ Manuel threw for 380 yards and two touchdowns as No. 4 Florida State used a dominant second half to take a 49-37 victory over 10th-ranked Clemson.

This was the first step in Florida State winning the ACC for the first time since 2005. By beating Clemson, the ‘Noles are essentially two games up on their biggest competition in the Atlantic Division.

Then again, using that two-game lead philosophy isn’t part of this team’s mentality right now. That would mean FSU could lose one game and still win the Atlantic by virtue of its head-to-head victory over Clemson.

Clemson held a 21-14 lead entering the third quarter and quickly added to its edge following a Florida State punt with a 52-yard touchdown reception by Ellington.

FSU, though, quickly answered when Kelvin Benjamin raced down the left sideline for a 64-yard gain on a screen pass to set up Thompson’s 9-yard TD scamper.

A 50-yard field goal by Chandler Catanzaro then put Clemson on top 31-21, but Florida State scored the game’s next 28 points to take control.

“We just didn’t play four quarters,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “It’s a great game for us to grow and learn from. There is a lot of football left. Certainly we’ve got a lot of improving to do.”

Not long after FSU won it was announced that the team’s upcoming game at USF will kick off at 6 p.m. and air on ESPN.

Fisher’s attention in the post-game press conference was already on the Bulls.

“It’s a very good win but we should win big games here at Florida State and we’re 4-0 and that’s all it is,” Fisher said. “We’ve got a critical game next week at South Florida and we need to get ready for that, put this one behind us very quickly and move on.”

The Florida Gators (4-0, 3-0 SEC) extended their perfect season thus far against the Kentucky Wildcats (1-3, 0-1 SEC) Saturday after shutting them out 38-0, making it their 26th straight win in the series.

For the Gators it was the first shutout since defeating UAB 39-0 in week two last year, and the first shutout of an SEC opponent since defeating Mississippi State 52-0 on Sept. 29, 2001.

”Any time you get a shutout, man, those things are hard to come by in this day and age of football, regardless of who you’re playing,” Florida coach Will Muschamp said.

The Gators now head into the bye week with a perfect 4-0 mark and time to heal up before a showdown with LSU on Oct. 6 at the Swamp.

Florida was efficient in all phases of the game, with sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel leading the offense and the Gator defense suffocating Morgan Newton and the Wildcats.

Florida led by just a field goal after the first quarter, but a 21-point second period opened things up for the Gators. A 10-play touchdown drive capped with six consecutive runs for Mike Gillislee began a scoring spree for the Gators.

Kentucky hardly had a chance to win in this one.

The Wildcats, who entered with the league’s top passing attack, played without quarterback Maxwell Smith. He sat out with a shoulder injury. Backup Morgan Newton missed open receivers early and often, diminishing his team’s already slim chance at an upset.

”I think Morgan was throwing it to the right person; we just weren’t very accurate,” Kentucky coach Joker Phillips said. ”Again, for us to be successful in this offense, you have to be able to throw and catch, and we weren’t able to do that today.”

Kentucky finished with 60 yards passing.

As the second half began it was more of the same, as Driskel led the Gators on another long drive, this one, however a time-consuming one that ate up a large chunk of the third quarter. The Gators marched 72 yards on 15 plays and took 9:03 off the clock on the drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Driskel.

As the fourth quarter arrived and the game in hand, head coach Will Muschamp called on Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, as the sophomore saw his first action since the week one win over Bowling Green.

Brissett capped a 9-play, 47-yard drive with a 1-yard keeper with 6:47 left to make it 38-0.

Driskel finished the day 18-of-27 passing for 203 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while carrying the ball eight times for 35 yards and a touchdown.

Florida played without versatile fullback Trey Burton, who missed the game with back spasms. He woke up Friday with spasms and couldn’t get them under control before the game.

The Gators also were without defensive tackle Dominique Easley (knee), linebacker Jelani Jenkins (thumb) and cornerback Cody Riggs (foot). Easley and Jenkins are expected to play against the Tigers following a bye week.

After back-to-back thrilling road wins to open SEC play, the No. 14 undefeated Gators are finally coming home.

The Florida Gators (3-0, 2-0 SEC) return to the Swamp for the first time since the season-opener this Saturday when the Gators host Kentucky (1-2, 0-0 SEC), playing its SEC opener. Although Florida sits with a perfect record, none of their victories have come easy. The Gators were tested on opening day against Bowling Green before pulling out a 27-14 victory, and they trailed at halftime in both of their conference games before coming back to beat Texas A&M (20-17) and Tennessee (37-20). They have now outscored their opponents 50-13 in the second half this year, including 27-0 in the fourth quarter.

Florida currently owns a 25-game win-streak against Kentucky. It marks the longest active win-streak in the nation in a current series against a major conference opponent. The last win for Kentucky came in 1986 (10-3 in Lexington).

“I know what it takes to win in this league,” Florida head coach Will Muschamp said after the Tennessee win. “You better be able to run the football in this league. You can’t drop back and throw the ball every down in this league. They have bought in 100 percent, our players have bought in 100 percent and when you have a buy-in like that it makes it easy — and now they’ve seen the results. Even after the first week, after everyone was so upset about Bowling Green, we got what we wanted. The formula was going to be fine.”

The Gators will continue to look for growth and progress from sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel who combined for 300 yards of total offense last week and was named the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Week. On the ground Mike Gillislee continues to be a workhorse and leads the SEC in rushing with 346 yards to go along with four touchdowns.

I look for Florida to come out and really take control of the game early by running the football. The Gators ran for 336 yards last week, and they will try and duplicate that against the Wildcats. That’s Muschamp’s 2012 MO.

Prediction:  Florida: 47    Kentucky: 6

The Atlantic Coast Conference takes center stage this weekend as Clemson visits Florida State in Tallahassee.

The No. 10 Tigers will meet the fourth-ranked Seminoles this Saturday night in the first matchup of top 10 ACC schools in five years. Clemson (3-0, 0-0) and Florida State (3-0, 1-0) are the league’s only remaining unbeaten teams just three weeks into the season.

The pressure is on when they meet at Doak Campbell Stadium at 8pm. Not to mention, with teams like Virginia Tech, NC State and others struggling early on, it is only more apparent that not only will the winner of this game be in the driver’s seat for an ACC Championship, but will have the inside track to a potential BCS National Championship berth as well.

But hey, no pressure or anything this weekend, guys!

The Clemson offense, which features two future NFL receivers in Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins, is considered one of the best offenses in the nation and certainly one of the fastest — in terms of both overall speed and tempo.

Florida State leads the country in all five major defensive categories, including points allowed and yards allowed (103.3 average).

Through three games, the Seminoles have yet to allow a touchdown. They have posted consecutive shutouts since allowing a single field goal to Murray State in the opener.

And quite frankly, they have yet to be challenged. Even against a Wake Forest offense that scored 35 points on it a season ago, the FSU defense has been utterly dominant so far in 2012.

“On the outside looking in, I’d probably pick them too,” head coach for Clemson Dabo Swinney said to the Orange and White. “But I’m not on the outside. I’m on the inside. It’s (ESPN College) GameDay, a top-four team in the country and playing well with a great quarterback.

“It might be a lack of respect on people looking at it from the outside, but they’re a really good team. Outside of Alabama or LSU, I don’t know of anybody that would be favored going to Tallahassee.”

Prediction:  Florida State: 35  Clemson:  14

The Seminoles scored 52 points, and this time it wasn’t against an FCS opponent. The ’Noles entered the game wanting to avenge last season’s loss at the hands of the Demon Deacons—and that they did, routing Wake Forest 52-0 for their second shutout of the year.

After beginning the season by racking up wild numbers against outmatched Murray State and Savannah State, Florida State continued the trend with 612 yards of offense. The Seminoles have now scored 50 points in three consecutive games for the first time ever.

Chris Thompson ran through the Wake Forest defense with abandon Saturday, scoring on runs of 74 and 80 yards in No. 5 Florida State’s victory. Just under a year ago, it wasn’t clear whether Thompson would be able to run at all. Thompson, a 5-foot-8 senior, broke two vertebrae in his back last year against the Demon Deacons.

FSU’s defense never let up, holding Wake Forest (2-1, 1-1) to 126 total yards and a 1-for-16 day on third downs. The Seminoles have outscored their opponents 176-3; the last time FSU didn’t give up a touchdown in three consecutive games was 1964, when the receivers coach was a young assistant named Bobby Bowden.

Fisher and his players were happy with their overall performance, but know there are tune-ups to be made before facing No. 11 Clemson next week. FSU has a much tougher challenge before playing the Tigers, having beaten the Seminoles five times in the past seven meetings, including last year.