Alejandro Solana // Staff Writer
The Panthers must replace their two starting cornerbacks and figure out if junior quarterback Alex McGough will lead this team to a winning season, according to the assistant sports information director for FIUSports.com
“The two guys they’re going to have to replace, Richard Leonard and Jeremiah McKinnon, ended up in NFL camps and are obviously very good,” said Pete Pelegrin, who covers the football team for FIUsports.com. “They have some talent. It is a matter of game experience with this young talent, which you can’t force into them.”
Ron Turner will enter his fourth season as the head coach for the Panthers, looking to improve the team’s record for the third season in a row.
“The two guys they’re going to have to replace, Richard Leonard and Jeremiah McKinnon, ended up in NFL camps and are obviously very good,” said Pete Pelegrin, who covers the football team for FIUsports.com. “They have some talent. It is a matter of game experience with this young talent, which you can’t force into them.”
It will be up to FIU’s new secondary coach Bobby Babich and defensive coordinator Ron Cooper to have a young defensive unit, with minimal experience, ready for the grind of a 12-game season.
As for the other side of the ball, the offense will once again be carried by the arm of Mcgough, entering his third season under coach Turner’s offense. The junior from Tampa will look to improve the Panthers’ conference record, which has been consistently under .500 since Turner and McGough teamed up in 2014.
“He knows the offense as well as he’s going to know it in his third year already,” said Pelegrin.
McGough will have a healthy Jonnu Smith back, but just like on the defensive side of the ball, Pelegrin thinks what the Panthers’ offensive team need most is game experience.
“It is learning the scheme and getting that game experience,” Pelegrin said. “But he certainly does have the weapons.”
FIU opens the season on Thursday, Sept. 1 when the Hoosiers of Indiana University come down to Miami. Kick-off will be at 7:30 p.m. at the FIU Stadium, as FIU looks to avenge its 22-36 loss to the Hoosiers last season in Bloomington, Indiana.
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