Florida International, a brief look

Florida International (8-5, 5-3)--The Golden Panthers were expected to compete for and win the Sun Belt in 2011 with 2010 Conference MVP TY Hilton coming back for one more year. Those plans did not come to fruition with a 2011 season that saw FIU end up 4th in the Sun Belt. The offense was the biggest issue for FIU as they only averaged in the 70s nationally in both passing and rushing offense. Hilton missed some time as well making the offense easier to game plan for. Quarterback Wesley Carroll who started his career at Mississippi State, never really got on track and ended with fewer than 2400 yards in the air. The scoring average for the Golden Panthers was only 25 points for game good for 75th nationally. The best thing going for the Golden Panther offense is the return of Wayne Times who nearly doubled his reception total from 2010 to 2011. He will be the main target for whoever wins the quarterback race for FIU.

While the offense was not very good in 2011, FIU was very good on defense. The Golden Panthers were 31st nationally in yards allowed per game with just under 345 allowed per game. FIU was even better at keeping opponents out of the end zone. FIU only allowed 19.5 points per game good for 14th nationally. FIU returns its top 8 tacklers including 4 that will be juniors and one that will be a sophomore. The defense is young and talented and kept the team in many games that they should have lost handily. 3 of their 5 losses were by 5 points or fewer.

After three straight losing seasons to start his coaching career at FIU, coach Mario Cristobal has been to 2 consecutive bowl games and has a Sun Belt conference championship in 2010. Cristobal is one of the hottest up and coming coaches in the nation and will begin to hear from big 6 schools in the near future.

Overall, FIU did not meet expectations in 2011 and lost alot on the offensive side of the ball that will be incredibly hard to replace. The biggest goals for the spring and summer practices are to get a defined quarterback and a player to step up to the #2 receiver slot. Junior running back Kedrick Rhodes will have to be the workhorse for the Golden Panthers until the passing game can step up with all of the new players. The talent level is there for another bowl game in 2012 but the defense must be just as dominant and the offense must learn to put the ball in the end zone on a more regular basis.