Panthers correcting small mistakes heading into first home game

Beacon File Photo

Beacon file photo

Mario Busto/ Contributing Writer

While one school in South Florida celebrates a player named Duke this week, FIU looks to erase the name from its recent memory.

The Panthers were on the losing end of a 46-26 shoot-out on Aug. 31 that saw Duke score 30 points in the second quarter. It was the first time since 1999 that the Blue Devils scored that many points in one quarter.

Part of this on-field debacle was the result of three FIU turnovers, including a blocked field goal that was returned for a Duke touchdown. Head Coach Mario Cristobal has emphasized ball control leading up to this Saturday’s game against Akron.

“First it was turnovers, you could say the defense forced turnovers, [but] you can prevent them,” Cristobal said. “You can hang onto the ball tighter, secure the football better, and obviously that led to the initial issues of the football game.”

Aside from the turnovers, FIU failed to execute as well as they had prepared on the defensive side of the ball, as well as special teams.

“Routine snaps and holds—those things created a 10-13 point swing. And then whether it was man, zone pressure, or combo coverage, we got beat on a couple plays,” Cristobal said. “[These are] things that are correctable but you work on all the time, especially now starting with Akron.”

Facing Akron this week, Cristobal and the Panthers hopes to bounce back against Terry Bowden, son of coaching legend Bobby Bowden.

Terry saw great success early on in his coaching career when he led Auburn to an undefeated season in 1993. He became the first coach to go undefeated in his debut season at a Division I school.

Now, Bowden faces possibly the biggest challenge of his coaching career: reviving an Akron program that has only won two games in the last 2 years.

Despite being in the bottom ten of every statistical category in the last two years, Cristobal sees improvement in this year’s Akron team.

“He really changed the roster quickly. That is not the same Akron team that we played against last year,” said Cristobal. “There are a lot of athletes on that field, a good chunk of them from the state of Florida.”

With those athletes, Akron has been implementing a lot of man coverage on defense. As to how to counter their defensive style of play on offense, Cristobal put it simply: “Offensively, we have to get better catching contested balls.”
Another key part of the offense that FIU will need to focus on this week will be the running game. Akron gave up 206 rushing yards in a 56-14 loss to the University of Central Florida. Similar to UCF, FIU’s running game and offensive line are some of the biggest strengths of this year’s team.

Kedrick Rhodes became the first Panther to have a 100-yard rushing and receiving game in last week’s game against Duke. Last season, Rhodes ran for 116 yards against the Zips, averaging five yards per carry.

As for the defensive side of the ball, FIU will try to contain Akron’s pass-happy offense. The Zips threw the ball 54 times in their game against UCF. However, the Panther’s stellar 2011 defense, one that remains largely unchanged this season, held Akron to 157 yards.

Winston Fraser, a preseason All -Sun Belt Conference pick, knows what the team’s biggest concern is tonight.

“This being a home game, it’s going to be loud,” Fraser said. “We need to communicate so we can execute the plays. We had a couple mistakes last game so we have to make sure that every player is wrapping up and swarming towards the ball carrier.”

The linebacker also knows that because it is his last year in an FIU uniform, every game is a must-win.

“I hold myself to a higher standard. In practice I make sure everyone’s on point. And with this year being my last, every week we have to go hard.”

sports@fiusm.com

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