Photo by Jonathan Segal
Jackson Wolek / Staff Writer
At the halfway point of the season, FIU is 4-2 and 1-1 in the conference play with six straight conference games remaining on their schedule. It is the best start the program has seen in its short history, which included a win against a BCS school for the first time by beating Louisville and an announced record home attendance of 22,682 for their homecoming game versus Duke.
The success that came through the 3-0 start was short lived by following it up with two losses in a row, both at home.
They ended the losing streak by beating Akron on Oct. 8, but head coach Mario Cristobal still feels like they are miles away from being where they want to be.
“I think we are always going to feel that and never be content. We’re improving in so many facets and developing a little bit of depth in guys that have stepped up,” Cristobal said.
The Panthers resumed practice on Oct. 12, off the heels of a 27-17 victory at Akron, with hopes of still correcting the mistakes in both their offense and defense, such as their red zone efficiency, where the offense has only scored touchdowns 52 percent of the time and passing defense which has allowed 1,472 yards.
“I think if we continue to improve on third down like we have, clean up our red zone issues and continue to get better at stopping the run and better at defending the big plays, then we can be a real good football team,” said Cristobal.
The six games left for the Panthers contain just two at home (Troy, FAU) and four on the road with trips to Arkansas State, Western Kentucky, ULM and Middle Tennessee.
This is the part of the season that will determine whether or not FIU can have a repeat appearance in a bowl game this year.
The conference standings as of Oct. 14 have FIU in third behind conference leader Louisiana and number two Arkansas State.
The Sun Belt conference is connected with two bowl games this year, the New Orleans Bowl in La. and the Go Daddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
Players have been banged up on the sideline every week for FIU, including quarterback Wesley Carroll hurting his ankle against Louisiana and T.Y Hilton spraining his hamstring in the UCF game.
The status of receive Glenn Coleman and safety Chuck Grace is still unknown and whether or not they can be available on Oct. 18 when the team travels to Arkansas State is unclear.
Receiver Jacob Younger, who sat out against Akron, will be able to play, however.
The 10-day rest, while not considered to be a bye week, has given the players ample time to rest their bodies and game plan.
“You like a couple of days extra of rest, while at the same time prepping. You just got to make sure you don’t overwork,” said Cristobal.
The team travels next to Arkansas State to take on the Red Wolves (4-2, 2-0 SBC) on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN 2.
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