FIU Panthers Preview 2024
This should be working a little bit better.
FIU might not be your normal big-time university, but it’s a massive school with 55,000 students only a few miles from the University of Miami and Miami Beach - and it’s only going to get bigger and stronger with Florida and Florida State suddenly becoming WAY too hard to get into.
All this football program needs is a spark. A run. It’s not easy - the momentum of the Lane Kiffin era didn’t exactly carry over at Florida Atlantic, and this isn’t quite the sleeping giant USF is - but Florida International University should be better at college football.
The first football season was 2002, the first year in the FBS was 2004, and in 20 years there have been four winning seasons, five bowl appearances, and five seasons with one loss or none.
It’s not like FIU hasn’t thrown coaching names out there. Ron Turner had a few years of success at Illinois, but didn’t have a winning season at FIU.
Butch Davis roared out of the gate with two great seasons, and then it all blew apart. Mario Cristobal did the work to start building it up, but one 3-9 run in 2012 ended that.
And now Mike MacIntyre is trying to come up with that one big year when everything clicks.
At San Jose State he put in two years of work before a giant 10-2 season in 2012. That turned into the Colorado job, which took three years to build into a 10-4 campaign before that fizzled.
In 11 years, MacIntyre has just two winning seasons, and now he has two 4-8 seasons under his belt at FIU. He's a good coach who took on tough jobs. He and the Panthers could use a few breaks.
The schedule has at least six winnable games - Conference USA isn’t very good. He has a few dynamic playmakers, and there’s at least a little more depth now on the lines.
It’s been five years since FIU won more than four games in a season. The school is due for good football.
FIU Preview 2024: Offense
- The offense is trying. It has been years since the FIU offense was able to crank out big points on a consistent basis. It failed to get to 29 seven times in the first ten games - but it has a few young playmakers to get excited about.
QB Keyone Jenkins took his lumps as a freshman with 11 interceptions, but he threw 11 touchdown passes and made a slew of plays on the move. Now he gets to make the offense his, but …
- The receiving corps lost its star. Top target and deep threat Kris Mitchell is done, but Eric Rivers is a decent midrange receiver, Dean Patterson averaged 15 yards per catch, and the transfer portal will help. Jenkins will spread the ball enough to the tight ends, but the short-range plays have to translate into third down conversions.
- The offensive line has been a problem for a long, long time, and last year it didn’t do much of anything to keep defenses out of the backfield. There’s more experience and more options this year, especially in the interior. Give the good rotation of backs room - Shomari Lawrence and Kejon Owens can move - and they’ll produce in chunks.
FIU Preview 2024: Defense
- The defense has to be far, far more disruptive. There wasn’t any pressure in the backfield, the secondary was stressed, and there weren’t enough takeaways. The line has decent size, and a few transfers will help, but the front three has to hold up better. Helped by 6-5, 310-pound JUCO transfer Cole Gustafson on the nose, this bunch should be a bit better against the run. But …
- The pass rush and plays behind the line have to come from the linebackers. Reggie Peterson can’t do it alone from his spot on the outside, but he’ll try. Elijah Anderson-Taylor can work inside or out, and more than any other position on the team, the transfer portal will help.
- If it’s not the running back corps, the secondary might be the team’s biggest strength. The safety tandem of Jamal Potts and CJ Christian will get around the ball - they both have all-star potential - and the corners have been around enough to do more. Brian Blades and Hezekiah Masses have the experience to be in for big seasons.
FIU Key To The Season
Keep the chains moving.
Would it kill the team to get a third down conversion?
The Panthers had one of the nation’s worst offenses at coming up with positive third downs plays, converting just 28% of the time. They didn’t get past 39% until the season-finale loss to WKU, and only got past 28% three times.
FIU Key Player
OT Travis Burke, Jr.
The production on the offensive front has to start somewhere. The pass protection and run blocking at FIU have both been hard to do for a while. There are a few decent big blockers, and there’s more depth this year, but getting a bigger season out of the 6-9, 303-pound Burke would do wonders.
FIU Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss
Top Transfer In: EDGE Eddie Walls
The FIU defense needs more options to get into the backfield, and the hope is for Walls to crank up the production after making 45 tackles with 14.5 tackles for loss and four sacks last year at Bethune-Cookman.
Top Transfer Out: WR Kris Mitchell
After three years as part of the receiving corps rotation, Mitchell blew up with a 64-catch, 1,118-yard, six touchdown season averaging 17.5 yards per catch. Now he’ll be cranking up the big plays for Notre Dame.
FIU Key Game
Louisiana Tech, Sept. 28
Last year the Panthers lost the season opener 22-17 to a Louisiana Tech team that managed just one win over another FBS team. Had they won, they would’ve been off to a 4-0 start. With road games at Liberty and UTEP up next in CUSA play, they need to start the conference slate with the second victory over the Bulldogs in seven tries.
FIU 10 Best Players
1. Reggie Peterson, LB Sr.
2. Jamal Potts, S Sr.
3. Keyone Jenkins, QB Soph.
4. CJ Christian, S Sr.
5. Dean Patterson, WR/KR Jr.
6. Shomari Lawrence, RB Jr.
7. Eric Rivers, WR Jr.
8. Kejon Owens, RB Jr.
9. Nareer Jackson, OG Soph.
10. Elijah Anderson-Taylor, LB Soph.
FIU 2023 Fun Stats
- 4th Quarter Scoring: Opponents 87, FIU 25
- Sacks: Opponents 44 for 297 yards, FIU 17 for 108 yards
- Onside Kicks: FIU 2-for-2, Opponents 0-for-0
FIU 2024 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
Can the Panthers own FIU Stadium?
They managed to win two early games in Miami, and then didn’t win another home game after September 9th.
There are a few winnable away dates - Kennesaw State and UTEP are the two - but five of the six home games are against teams that didn’t go bowling. The one outlier is New Mexico State - FIU can win that.
And missing Western Kentucky helps.
There’s too much experience on the lines not to hold up better, but it’ll still be a fight to get close to six wins and a bowl appearance for the first time since 2019. If they win two of their three November games - at Jacksonville State, at Kennesaw State, Middle Tennessee - they’ll do it.
Set The FIU Win Total At … 5.5
Likely Wins: at Kennesaw State, Monmouth
50/50 Games: Central Michigan, at Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, at UTEP
Likely Losses: at Florida Atlantic, at Indiana, at Liberty
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