? This isn?t the same old Florida International.
No longer can opponents take FIU for granted, schedule the Golden Panthers as a homecoming patsy or consider them a cupcake on the path toward bowl eligibility. Those days have passed.
Arkansas State returns to Sun Belt Conference play this evening in the first of four league games to end the season with a much more formidable Florida International team than in years past. Kickoff at FIU stadium is 7 p.m.
The Red Wolves (4-4 overall, 2-1 Sun Belt) are most likely faced with winning out to have a shot at the SBC title and New Orleans Bowl. Florida International (3-5, 2-2) is practically out of the race for the regular season crown, but is playing competitive football and giving opponents more than they want.
?They?re back,? Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts simply put it.
It wasn?t long ago Florida International was considered the worst team in America.
The Golden Panthers started their program in 2003 and two years later made the leap to Division I-A, now known as FBS. After a surprising 5-6 season in 2005, Florida International suffered through a winless campaign in ?06 and then lost its first 11 games of ?07.
In all, FIU had the nation?s longest losing streak of 23 straight before ending last year with a victory over North Texas. Something has happened since then, though, and the program appears to be turning around.
FIU coach Mario Cristobal, now in his second year, has injected a new enthusiasm for Golden Panther football. After winning just one game in two years, Florida International has already won three this season, including victories at Toledo, at North Texas and against Middle Tennessee State.
?It?s not a secret this is a huge week for us going to play at Florida International,? Roberts said. ?They?re a team that?s much improved over the last couple of years.?
Roberts believes the fertile recruiting grounds of Florida and Cristobal?s passion have given a jolt to FIU. The results are more competitive games, and victories instead of losses.
ASU outscored FIU 97-30 the first two times they met, but needed a last-second field goal to beat the Golden Panthers 27-24 last year. Roberts said it was a sign of where FIU football is headed.
?When you look at the athletes that they have within a 60-mile radius of their campus, it?s unbelievable,? Roberts said. ?It?s just getting those guys there and believing in what they?re trying to accomplish. You see them and Coach Cristobal being able to do that now.?
ASU senior tackle Matt Mandich played in each of ASU?s first three meetings with the Golden Panthers.
While all three were victories, each outcome has grown closer in margin since the 66-24 blowout in 2005. Mandich has watched the FIU program grow and knows Arkansas State cannot take the Golden Panthers lightly.
?They?ve built it up,? Mandich said. ?I think it?s taken a couple of recruiting cycles to get the personnel that you need in there to help your team, and this is the best team they?ve had since I?ve played them.?
Senior linebacker Ben Owens has seen the same thing.
?We know we can?t take them lightly,? Owens said. ?They?re a very dangerous football team. We can?t go in there thinking they?re going to roll over just because we?re an established football team and they?re not.?
Arkansas State started the season 3-1 but has lost three of its last four games.
The Red Wolves suffered a devastating defeat at Louisiana-Lafayette a couple of weeks ago in which the Ragin? Cajuns scored twice late in the fourth quarter to hand ASU a 28-23 loss. The defeat puts Arkansas State in almost a must-win situation the rest of the season if it wants a shot at the Sun Belt title and the New Orleans Bowl.
ASU quarterback Corey Leonard said the Red Wolves have their backs against the wall.
?That was a tough loss, and it really hurt because we know what benefit we had and we just let it go,? Leonard said. ?But now we don?t have to wonder. We have to win every game. There is no choice, there are no what-ifs. We?ve got to win out if we want to be champions of this league.?
Florida International has altered its offensive approach slightly, going to the air more than before. FIU quarterback Paul McCall has thrown for 1,080 yards and eight touchdowns, completing 51 percent of his attempts.
McCall?s favorite target is T.Y. Hilton, a wide receiver and specialist. Hilton leads the Golden Panthers with 21 receptions for 578 yards, an average of 28 yards a catch, along with four touchdowns. He?s also one of the nation?s top punt return specialists with over 16 yards a return.
Roberts said Hilton may be FIU?s most dangerous weapon.
?(He has) great speed,? Roberts said. ?Tremendous athlete. Great with the ball in his hands, has good vision, doesn?t do a lot of dancing, gets up field, a very good player. He has literally ripped some people.?
McCall has been sacked 21 times this season and also thrown eight interceptions. Troy?s defense sacked the FIU quarterback seven times in a 33-23 victory at Troy.
Roberts wants to put pressure on McCall and hope the junior quarterback makes a mistake or gets overwhelmed.
?Hopefully we can get there with the front four. That?s the goal,? Roberts said. ?If you can get pressure with the front four, obviously that allows you to extend your coverage a little bit and be a little more aggressive in your coverage. But, yeah, as always we will have a gameplan that encompasses 4-man pressure, 5-man, 6-man, zone pressures, the whole bit.?
After several quiet games in a row, Arkansas State running back Reggie Arnold bulled his way for 72 yards on 15 carries against Alabama last week. The Crimson Tide has the No. 2-ranked defense in the nation, but Arnold was able to power his way for one of the best individual efforts of the season against the Tide.
Roberts hopes to see more from Arnold against FIU today as well as redshirt freshman tailback Derek Lawson. Arnold leads Arkansas State and is ranked third in the Sun Belt with 627 yards rushing this season.
?Defensively they have speed everywhere,? Roberts said. ?They show you a lot of variable looks, some things that we have not seen since this time last year. We have got to get a body on a body and start moving some piles and hopefully be able to establish our running game.?
No longer can opponents take FIU for granted, schedule the Golden Panthers as a homecoming patsy or consider them a cupcake on the path toward bowl eligibility. Those days have passed.
Arkansas State returns to Sun Belt Conference play this evening in the first of four league games to end the season with a much more formidable Florida International team than in years past. Kickoff at FIU stadium is 7 p.m.
The Red Wolves (4-4 overall, 2-1 Sun Belt) are most likely faced with winning out to have a shot at the SBC title and New Orleans Bowl. Florida International (3-5, 2-2) is practically out of the race for the regular season crown, but is playing competitive football and giving opponents more than they want.
?They?re back,? Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts simply put it.
It wasn?t long ago Florida International was considered the worst team in America.
The Golden Panthers started their program in 2003 and two years later made the leap to Division I-A, now known as FBS. After a surprising 5-6 season in 2005, Florida International suffered through a winless campaign in ?06 and then lost its first 11 games of ?07.
In all, FIU had the nation?s longest losing streak of 23 straight before ending last year with a victory over North Texas. Something has happened since then, though, and the program appears to be turning around.
FIU coach Mario Cristobal, now in his second year, has injected a new enthusiasm for Golden Panther football. After winning just one game in two years, Florida International has already won three this season, including victories at Toledo, at North Texas and against Middle Tennessee State.
?It?s not a secret this is a huge week for us going to play at Florida International,? Roberts said. ?They?re a team that?s much improved over the last couple of years.?
Roberts believes the fertile recruiting grounds of Florida and Cristobal?s passion have given a jolt to FIU. The results are more competitive games, and victories instead of losses.
ASU outscored FIU 97-30 the first two times they met, but needed a last-second field goal to beat the Golden Panthers 27-24 last year. Roberts said it was a sign of where FIU football is headed.
?When you look at the athletes that they have within a 60-mile radius of their campus, it?s unbelievable,? Roberts said. ?It?s just getting those guys there and believing in what they?re trying to accomplish. You see them and Coach Cristobal being able to do that now.?
ASU senior tackle Matt Mandich played in each of ASU?s first three meetings with the Golden Panthers.
While all three were victories, each outcome has grown closer in margin since the 66-24 blowout in 2005. Mandich has watched the FIU program grow and knows Arkansas State cannot take the Golden Panthers lightly.
?They?ve built it up,? Mandich said. ?I think it?s taken a couple of recruiting cycles to get the personnel that you need in there to help your team, and this is the best team they?ve had since I?ve played them.?
Senior linebacker Ben Owens has seen the same thing.
?We know we can?t take them lightly,? Owens said. ?They?re a very dangerous football team. We can?t go in there thinking they?re going to roll over just because we?re an established football team and they?re not.?
Arkansas State started the season 3-1 but has lost three of its last four games.
The Red Wolves suffered a devastating defeat at Louisiana-Lafayette a couple of weeks ago in which the Ragin? Cajuns scored twice late in the fourth quarter to hand ASU a 28-23 loss. The defeat puts Arkansas State in almost a must-win situation the rest of the season if it wants a shot at the Sun Belt title and the New Orleans Bowl.
ASU quarterback Corey Leonard said the Red Wolves have their backs against the wall.
?That was a tough loss, and it really hurt because we know what benefit we had and we just let it go,? Leonard said. ?But now we don?t have to wonder. We have to win every game. There is no choice, there are no what-ifs. We?ve got to win out if we want to be champions of this league.?
Florida International has altered its offensive approach slightly, going to the air more than before. FIU quarterback Paul McCall has thrown for 1,080 yards and eight touchdowns, completing 51 percent of his attempts.
McCall?s favorite target is T.Y. Hilton, a wide receiver and specialist. Hilton leads the Golden Panthers with 21 receptions for 578 yards, an average of 28 yards a catch, along with four touchdowns. He?s also one of the nation?s top punt return specialists with over 16 yards a return.
Roberts said Hilton may be FIU?s most dangerous weapon.
?(He has) great speed,? Roberts said. ?Tremendous athlete. Great with the ball in his hands, has good vision, doesn?t do a lot of dancing, gets up field, a very good player. He has literally ripped some people.?
McCall has been sacked 21 times this season and also thrown eight interceptions. Troy?s defense sacked the FIU quarterback seven times in a 33-23 victory at Troy.
Roberts wants to put pressure on McCall and hope the junior quarterback makes a mistake or gets overwhelmed.
?Hopefully we can get there with the front four. That?s the goal,? Roberts said. ?If you can get pressure with the front four, obviously that allows you to extend your coverage a little bit and be a little more aggressive in your coverage. But, yeah, as always we will have a gameplan that encompasses 4-man pressure, 5-man, 6-man, zone pressures, the whole bit.?
After several quiet games in a row, Arkansas State running back Reggie Arnold bulled his way for 72 yards on 15 carries against Alabama last week. The Crimson Tide has the No. 2-ranked defense in the nation, but Arnold was able to power his way for one of the best individual efforts of the season against the Tide.
Roberts hopes to see more from Arnold against FIU today as well as redshirt freshman tailback Derek Lawson. Arnold leads Arkansas State and is ranked third in the Sun Belt with 627 yards rushing this season.
?Defensively they have speed everywhere,? Roberts said. ?They show you a lot of variable looks, some things that we have not seen since this time last year. We have got to get a body on a body and start moving some piles and hopefully be able to establish our running game.?
