FIU looks to pull even with Red Wolves in standings

Jackson Wolek/ Staff Writer     

One season ago, Nov. 27 at home versus Arkansas State, FIU clinched for the first time in program history the Sun Belt championship.

On Oct. 18, the Red Wolves (4-2, 2-0 SBC) and Golden Panthers (4-2, 1-1 SBC) will play for the first time since that historic night in Jonesboro, Ark. at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

ASU brings back many of the same impact players that they had last year when they finished with a conference record of 4-4.

Junior quarterback Ryan Aplin is number one in completion percentage in the Sun Belt at 66 percent, while also making great use of his legs by having the most carries on the team at 62 rushes for 177 yards and one touchdown.

“He’s a guy that you have to be on point in terms of your assignments, your discipline, and you certainly have to hustle towards the football because he can break it on you,” said head coach Mario Cristobal.

He is not the only threat on the ground though, as a new face for the Red Wolves, redshirt freshman running back Frankie Jackson, has carried the ball 40 times for 190 yards in only four games.

He had missed two straight games before last week due to a high ankle sprain. In fact, running backs Derek Lawson, Jermaine Robertson and Andre Smith all have over 20 touches this season along with Jackson, giving the Red Wolves a stable of running backs.

The bigger threat this year for their offense, however, has been from the top three wide receivers, Dwayne Frampton (47 rec, 606 yards, 3 touchdowns), Josh Jarobe (30 rec, 413 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Taylor Stockemer (21 rec, 332 yards, 1 touchdown).  Together they have helped make ASU number one in passing yards on the season for the Sun Belt with 1,821.

“We can’t wait, it’s a great challenge for us and we’re just ready for the opportunity to run our coverage’s and play great defense against these great receivers,” said Cyprien.  “Against Frampton we just plan on playing off, playing press and mixing it up on different coverage’s.

When we’re in, man we just got to keep our eyes on him and stay disciplined.”

The defense has been able to complement the offense’s success thus far by being the number one team in the conference in pass defense with opponents completing only 54 percent of their passes and causing eight interceptions.

Also, not one rusher has been able to go over the 100-yard mark against them either.

Defensive end Brandon Joiner has been able to help disrupt opponents passing game by becoming an elite pass rusher for the Wolves. Through the last ten games he has played in, going back to last season, he has 7.5 sacks in all, with 3.5 coming from this season alone.

“He’s had about 10 sacks in his career, and most of them have come in the last 10 or 11 games so he’s a guy who’s gotten really hot, and I think he’s their guy this year outside,” Cristobal said.

Cristobal knows how important each conference game will be for his team from here on out and compared it to what could be considered the playoffs starting now.

“As competitive and as much parity as there is in the conference, I think every single game is going to have those playoff implications and feel to it and that’s what makes it such a great conference,” said Cristobal.