Florida International Football

The Florida International Golden Panthers are set to battle the Marshall Thundering Herd in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl  on Tuesday night, and it's a game the young program cannot afford to lose. 

Last year, the Golden Panthers won their first ever bowl game, and winning in postseason play in back-to-back years will greatly benefit FIU moving forward. 

FIU started its football program in 2002, and this season the Golden Panthers recorded their best season ever at 8-4. 

For the first eight years of playing college football, the Golden Panthers always had a losing record. In fact, they even went 0-12 the year before Mario Cristobal took over as head coach. Cristobal had some rough times, but he's done a tremendous job turning this program around. 

With two consecutive winning records, FIU continues to improve, but it won't matter as much if the Golden Panthers lose to Marshall in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl.

The Golden Panthers have to capitalize on the position they're in, as it could have a big impact in recruiting. Playing in Miami is very appealing to some high school stars, but only if the team is doing well. 

When talking to reporters leading up to the game, athletic director Pete Garcia took a shot at the current state of football in Florida. 

"At 8-4, we don't only have the best record in FIU history, we have the best record in the state of Florida. It's a natural step for this football team to go back to a second straight bowl game." 

Florida, Florida State and Miami have all had disappointing seasons, meaning FIU has to take advantage of this by winning its bowl game in impressive fashion. 

Playing in the national spotlight can either devastate a smaller team's future or help it significantly. 

Senior playmakers T.Y. Hilton and Wesley Carroll will do their part to make sure the Golden Panthers stay competitive in this game. Hilton, the team's leading receiver, and Carroll, the starting quarterback, have been a big reason for FIU's recent success, as well as running back Kedrick Rhodes.

Their competition wasn't too difficult at the end of the season, but this team has the experience to not get too worked up about Tuesday's bowl game. 

In the end, the Golden Panthers need to dominate in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl because it will work wonders for the future of their program. 

When: Dec. 20, 2011 | 8:00 PM ET

Where: St. Petersburg, FL

Betting Line: Florida Int'l (-4)

Predicted Outcome: Florida Int'l 31, Marshall 13

Florida Int'l Breakdown

The Golden Panthers started the season 5-4, but won their last three games to finish the regular season a school best 8-4 and earn a bowl bid. They rank between 67th and 70th (out of 120 teams) in passing yards, rushing yards, and total points per game, but their offensive game has been much better over the past three games.

Senior quarterback Welsey Carroll and wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, two of the best players the school has ever had, look to cap off their careers with a second straight bowl game.

The strong point of the team is their defense, which ranks 16th in the nation giving up 19.4 points per game and had held their opponents to 20 or less in seven straight.

Marshall Breakdown

Marshall ranks better than FIU in passing offense, rushing offense, and points per game, but they don't have a strong D to balance it out.

They started 4-6 and had to win two very close games against Memphis and East Carolina to finish second in the weaker east division of Conference USA.

They gave up an average of eight points per game more then they scored, but surprisingly they force many turnovers. They ranked second in conference USA with 28 turnovers forced and are led by defensive end Vin Curry who was the conference's defensive player of the year. He leads the team with 11 sacks, 21 tackles for a loss, six forced fumbles and three blocked kicks. For Marshall to have a chance at victory, Curry will need to step up big.

Game Breakdown

The Thundering Herd will face one of the best defenses they've seen all season. They have an inexperienced freshman quarterback and an offense that has struggled greatly. Florida Int'l has the better and more experienced offense and defense, and are playing in their home state. Expect them to dominate Marshall from start to finish and take home their second straight postseason trophy and improve on the best record in school history

Florida International takes on Marshall on Tuesday in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg. FIU is 8-4 in the Sun Belt and Marshall is 6-6 in Conference USA. Vegas currently has the Golden Panthers as a four point favorite over the Thundering Herd.

There are two players that you need to know, FIU receiver T.Y. Hilton and Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry.

Hilton is 50 yards away from a 1,000 yard season, as well as 111 yards rushing. He is also a threat in the return game, amassing 512 kickoff return yards and 186 punt return yards including one, 97-yarder that he returned for a touchdown.

His 201 yards and two touchdowns against Louisville earlier this season were both career highs. Hilton has scored a touchdown in his past three games.

Curry is second in the country in tackles for a loss and has 11 sacks on the season which is sixth. He also has three blocked kicks and six forced fumbles.

Unfortunately for Marshall, the team outside of him is nothing to write home about. The Thundering Herd are only scoring 22 points per game which is 98th in the country, while giving up 30. When this team loses, it typically loses in a big way.

Florida International has relied on defense to get to eight wins. Opponents have only scored 20 or more points four times all season while scoring 26 points per game.

Between Hilton and running back Kedrick Rhodes, who is averaging 93 yards per game on the ground, this game will be too much for an anemic Marshall offense. FIU should cover comfortably.

I love watching all of the bowl games.

The three weeks at the end of December and the beginning of January are some of the best times of the year for me. Some people say there are too many bowl games, with over 58 percent of FBS teams making it to the postseason.

Generally, I’ve come to expect that a 6-6 team is eligible for a bowl game nowadays, but when you start to dig a little deeper, you might begin to wonder if they should change the rules.

Take for instance this year’s Beef O’Brady’s Bowl. It features a school that continues to rise from the depths of FBS and a school that made it to the postseason just because they were able to win half of their games.

Florida International has continued to improve steadily under the direction of Mario Cristobal.  After a 1-11 record in his inaugural season, the team has continued to improve with a winning season and a bowl game win last year. That improvement continued this season with three wins to start the campaign.

There was a stumble in the middle of the season when they lost three of four. But they recovered, winning four of their last five with the only loss on the road to Western Kentucky. The eight wins are a high mark under Cristobal and they made it to St. Petersburg when the Big East couldn’t field enough teams.

On the other side of the coin, there is Marshall. The Thundering Herd have been up and down all season and needed to rally to just make it to a .500 finish. They started by losing three of their first four, getting blown out by West Virginia, Ohio, and Virginia Tech. They were sitting at 3-5 before they blew out a three-win UAB team, beat two-win Memphis on the road by a point, and had to go to overtime to win over East Carolina to just become bowl eligible.

So, can Marshall take advantage of getting the extra practices and game as a leap into 2012? Or will FIU finish off their best season ever with second consecutive bowl victory? Read on for the preview of the 2011 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl.

Florida International offense vs. Marshall defense

If you look at the numbers, FIU has struggled to move the ball this year, finishing just 80^th nationally in total offense.

But there are a couple players of note to keep an eye out for. RB Kedrick Rhodes and WR T.Y. Hilton are the two main cogs in the Panther offense. Rhodes finished in the top 40 nationally in rushing and Hilton in the top 50 in receiving yards per game this season. Hilton ends up doing a little bit of everything, as he is 21^st nationally in all-purpose yards this season.

They should have plenty of opportunities against a Marshall defense that hasn’t been very good all season. The Thundering Herd has given more than 30 points and 415 yards per game this season.This should mean a good chance for FIU to move the ball up and down the turf in St. Petersburg.

Edge: Florida International

Marshall offense vs. Florida International defense

As much as Marshall has struggled on defense this season, they’ve struggled more on offense. They ended up being one of the 20 worst offenses in FBS and managed to score more than 24 points just four times all season. Rakeem Cato leads the way and must play well to give the Thundering Herd a chance to stay in the game.

FIU has played solid defense all season. They’ve been tough to run against, giving up just over 120 yards per game, and tough to score against as well, giving up under 20 points per game for the season. That will be a problem for Marshall and their struggling offense.

Edge: Florida International

Special Teams

The Panthers have a major advantage here as Hilton is one of the best kickoff returners in the nation, finishing 3^rd by averaging 32 yards per return. Also, PK Jack Griffin ended up as one of the Top 10 kickers in the country making almost two field goals per game this season.  Andre Booker is the main return man for Marshall, averaging over 25 yards per kickoff return this season.

Edge: Florida International

Coaching

As detailed above, FIU coach Mario Cristobal continues to impress, as he has taken the program from one win to possibly nine wins in just five years. His name will surely be mentioned with bigger head coaching jobs in the near future. Doc Holliday is in his second season at Marshall has taken them to a bowl game, but he remains under .500 in his brief career.

Edge: Florida International

This and That

FIU should have a decided advantage here as it will just be a trip across the state for the Panther faithful. The Beef O’Brady’s bowl has typically been high scoring, with at least 55 points being scored in the previous three editions. There is plenty of potential for that trend to continue with this year’s participants.

So, what will happen in the 2011 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl

This has the potential to be one of the early blowouts of the bowl season.  Florida International has the better talent, led by Rhodes and Hilton, and the defense that has been very solid all season. Marshall is in this game only because they managed to get to six wins and their conference had enough bowl slots to allow them to play the extra game this year. It will not be a fun ending.

Line: Florida International by 4

The Sports Mac Prediction: Florida International 45, Marshall 13

This upcoming Tuesday, the Florida International Golden Panthers, out of the Sun Belt Conference will look to keep their season-ending winning streak alive when they tangle with the Conference USA’s Marshall Thundering Herd in this year’s Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The kickoff for this one is slated for 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

FIU’s bowl eligibility was somewhat in doubt this year after a mid-season slump in which it dropped three of four games, leaving the team 5-4 straight-up with three games left to play. The Golden Panthers quickly righted the ship with a 41-7 pasting of Florida Atlantic as 17.5-point home favorites on Nov. 12 to spark a three-game rally in which they outscored their opponents by a combined score of 100-42.

FIU finished the regular season 8-4 SU and was 6-6 against the spread. It finished fourth in the Sun Belt with a 5-3 SU record in conference play.

The strong point of this Panthers’ team this season has been a shutdown defense that finished the year ranked 16th in the nation in points allowed; giving-up an average of just 19.4 points a game. Since getting tagged with 34 points in an 18-point loss to Arkansas State on Oct.18 as a 3.5-point road underdog, FIU has given-up an average of just 14.2 points in its last five games.

One injury note; Panthers quarterback Jake Medlock missed the final game of the season after hurting his shoulder in Week 12 and remains questionable at this time.

Marshall’s journey to this bowl game was even more perilous considering it needed victories in its last two games just to qualify with an overall record of 6-6 SU (7-5 ATS). It squeaked by Memphis, 23-22, as a 13.5-point road favorite on Nov.17 and needed overtime to get by East Carolina, 34-27, as a one-point home favorite in the season finale.

The Herd finished the season second in C-USA’s East Division at 5-3 SU.

The primary reason for the Herds’ struggles this year has been an inconsistent offense that has averaged just 22 points a game and only managed to score 30 or more points twice this year.

Marshall’s defense has also been sketchy as best, giving-up an average of 30.2 points a game, which is ranked 84th in Division IA.

Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl Odds

FIU opened as a five-point favorite and is currently favored by four, according to college football odds. The total line opened at 51 but has dropped to 48.5 points.

The game spread should remain steady, but the total line could continue to drop a bit if the early money trends on the ‘under’ persist.

Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl Betting Trends

The Golden Panthers are just 2-5 ATS in their last seven games as a favorite, but they are 4-1 ATS in their last five games following an ATS win. The total has stayed ‘under’ in six of their last eight games overall.

The Thundering Herd are 6-1 ATS in their last seven bowl games. The total has stayed ‘under’ in five of their last six bowl games and in four of their last five games overall.

2011 Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl Predictions

Both these team’s current form and past trends favor a low-scoring contest, making the best bet in this matchup the ‘under’ considering the current 48.5-point line. It remains high enough despite the drop from its open.

If you play a side in this game as well, stick with FIU’s defense to carry the team to a win that covers the four points.

Prediction: FIU 24, Marshall 16

Doc Moseman is the owner of Doc’s Sports football picks Web site.

In sports to say that there's a special aura around something is very cliche. We assign that whenever a contending team manages to have various breaks go their way, followed by said team capitalizing on those breaks. 

But at Florida International University its a different kind of special. Not one meant to last for this year, but lay the foundation for the next five.

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Sweetwater, the neighborhood in Miami that has been home to FIU since the school opened its doors in the late-60's on what was then the original site of an airport (the school still has the original Air Traffic Control tower on campus, but if you're familiar with FIU I don't have to tell you that nor delve into its history).

The parking lots were jammed, and there were tailgaters all over the place, some for FIU, others from UCF. 

The consensus was that UCF would win, at least it felt that way when you asked the UCF fans in attendance. UCF not only recruits a good amount of their football players from Miami, but also manages to get a good amount of applicants (I was one of them back in 2002). The Knights fan base was out in full force, and could be heard walking into Alfonso Field all the way from the UCF campus. 

As they walked out after seeing their boys lose 17-10, they were either as quiet as a field mouse or just plain condescending. 

"I can't believe we lost to FIU," said one fan as he passed by my good friend Albert and I. The gold and black makeup on his face almost completely off. Was it the sweat that wiped it off, or was it the tears?

UCF came into the game 3-0, with Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi, who if others in Miami knew who he was would join the illustrious list of Michelle Beadle, Skip Bayless and many other prominent sports media personalities as "Most hated in Miami," suggesting that UCF should be a BCS team and predicting them to bust the BCS this season.

He's even at times suggested that UCF is more "worthy" of being an SEC team than Vanderbilt. 

Except SEC teams don't lose to FIU, especially when T.Y. Hilton is injured before halftime and is held to only three catches for thirty yards, and only one rush for six yards with no touchdowns. At least not right now. 

But that will change in due time. 

In 2015 FIU will be celebrating the school's 50th anniversary. In only 50 years of existence, the school has plenty to be proud of academically. They're the only public university in Miami, and their law school ranks first in the state as far as their students passing the bar exam, and their business school has been ranked one of the best in the country.

Their football progress mirrors that of the school as a whole. So what better way to celebrate "FIU at 50" than for the Golden Panthers to compete in a BCS Bowl Game. 

It sounds crazy now, but I see it happening sooner than you think.

As the wave of conference expansion continues, odds are while UCF gets the call up to the Big East, FIU will likely take their place in Conference-USA. 

But if I'm the Big East, I'd just skip the middle man and invite FIU now, they already beat one of their teams on the road, then came back and beat a future member of their conference..

Thomas Galicia is a Miami Dolphins Featured Columnist. Follow him on Twitter, and for more of his opinions on other subjects, visit www.thomasgalicia.com.  

It was just a week ago when the Baylor Bears and quarterback Robert Griffin were about to take the field and play the heavily favored TCU Horned Frogs.

For many, it was the first time they had a real chance to see the quarterback in action. Only a handful who had seen him previously thought he had a chance to be the dark horse for the Heisman Trophy.

After a 50-48 upset, 359 passing yards and five touchdown passes later, Griffin's name is buzzing around the whole college football landscape. The handful that thought he had a chance to win the Heisman, has now turned into thousands, and many eyes will be on him and the Bears for the rest of the season.

We fast-forward a week later and the FIU Panthers are going to take on the favored Louisville Cardinals Friday night on ESPN. This will be one of the few times a national audience gets the chance to see the Panthers play. 

Much like the Bears, the Panthers have a great player as well, that few have seen play believe he can also win the Heisman. 

His name is T.Y. Hilton and he is a senior wide receiver for the defending Sun Belt conference champions.

Hilton is not just the most exciting player on his team but the most electrifying player in the entire Sun Belt conference. Over his three-year career he has 2,493 receiving yards and 17 receiving touchdowns. Those numbers may not be that impressive but take into account he plays for a team that runs the ball every chance they get. The Panthers run the ball at least double the amount of times they pass.

He holds pretty much every FIU receiving record and is the first player in the program to catch a touchdown, rush for a touchdown, pass a touchdown and return a kick and punt for a touchdown in the same season. He does everything for the school.

He is also the main reason the Panthers won their first bowl game ever last year. It was his hook and lateral play on 4th-and-17 that kept the drive alive and eventually led to a victory.

Already this season Hilton has seven receptions for 132 receiving yards which is good for 18th in the country, and one receiving touchdown. He also has two rushing attempts for 49 yards.

It appears he is off to another great season and the people that have seen him play, believe he should have an opportunity to win the Heisman Trophy.

Maybe Hilton can have the college football world talking about him as well, after an upset on a Friday night.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or Randy.Chambers7@yahoo.com

FIU coach Mario Cristobal recently coached his team to a victory in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl over Toledo in a 34-32 victory.  The game was thrilling, as were the decisions made by both coaches, in this highly competitive football game.

Cristobal has a very bright future in college football and coaching in general, and is a name that needs to be watched when high caliber jobs open up.

In his first two years at FIU, Cristobal led the team to only one victory, in what were a disappointing few seasons.

Nevertheless, he and his players stuck with it and continued to persevere with dreams of winning the Sun Belt conference and playing in the school's first bowl game.  

This happened in 2010, when FIU made it to the Little Caesars Bowl.

They started off the season 0-4 against some very decent opponents, including Texas A&M and Maryland, both schools from big conferences that also made bowl games this season.

It was a struggle, but they made it to the promised land with their victory against Toledo.

At the post game press conference, Cristobal stated, "It was our Super Bowl, at FIU the celebrations may be over the top, but when the emotion is out of me, it's time to quit coaching the game." He said this with tears in his eyes as he was so overcome with joy after some very long seasons of football with the Golden Panthers.

Cristobal is a great football coach who will continue taking FIU to bowl games year in and year out, until he is recognized and given a job at the major conference level.