2010 FIU Football Predictions
The Florida International Golden Panthers are coming off a 3-9 season, and now Mario Cristobal is just 9-27 through his first three seasons as head man.
It’s going to take some time for the wins to start piling up if the Panthers continue to schedule non-conference opponents like Alabama and Florida, which they played last season. This year, the Panthers will start the season with BCS opponents Rutgers, Texas A&M, Maryland and Pittsburgh.
FIU is hoping that scheduling elite programs in the non-conference season will bring in recruits and better prepare the team for Sun Belt play.
In this article, we’ll take a brief look at both sides of the football. Then, I’ll make my prediction on where the Panthers will finish in the Sun Belt Conference.
Looking for a place to bet on college football this season? Well, look no further! Join our readers who are getting $500 in free bonus cash at BetUS!
Offense: FIU was dealt a major blow when Kendall Berry was tragically murdered. He led all FIU running backs with a 4.2 yards per carry average last season. Now Darriet Perry will be asked to step up. He only averaged 2.9 yards per tote in 2009, but he showed up at the spring game in much better shape. He’ll team with highly regarded Syracuse transfer Jeremiah Harden, who gives the Panthers a nice burst of speed in the backfield.
At the quarterback position, we could see both Wayne Younger and Wesley Carroll. Both have had good summers, but both are also relatively unproven.
Whoever is taking the snaps will be looking to get the ball in the hands of wide receiver T.Y. Hilton. Hilton is one of the most explosive players in the country that nobody knows about outside the Sun Belt. He ranked 13th in the entire country (1st in the Sun Belt) with a 28.8-yard kickoff return average. He also caught 57 passes for 632 yards and five scores last season.
Defense: The Golden Panthers have issues on both sides of the football, but a defense that allowed 491.6 yards per game in 2009 is the most glaring concern.
FIU is hoping to see improvement right away with new defensive coordinator Geoff Collins implementing a more aggressive style. That may be the case as the defense looked improved this spring, outplaying the offense most of the time.
I still expect this unit to give up a lot of yards, but playing more aggressively will give it a chance to force more turnovers.
Aaron Davis and Toronto Smith are a pair of pretty solid linebackers, and the team also has high hopes for Larvez Mars at the position.
First team all-conference performer Anthony Gaitor anchors the secondary, and FIU is hoping newcomers Khambrel McGee and Richard Leonard can help strengthen this unit right away.
The biggest problem on this side of the football is the line. It wasn’t able to get much of any penetration last year, and now it must try to float the losses of Justin West and Jonas Murrell.
Prediction: 8th Sun Belt – The Golden Panthers lost a lot of guys off a team that won three conference games in 2009. This means that FIU could take a small step back before going forward. The good news is that coach Cristobal is starting to upgrade the talent level of the program by not shying away from big name recruits. See which team I have winning the league in my 2010 Sun Belt predictions preview. You can also see which teams I have winning all of the FBS conferences in my 2010 college football predictions.
Beat the college football lines this season with the help of Jimmy Boyd’s expert football picks!
