The Golden Panthers of Florida International "limp" into our #10 spot as we continue our look at CUSA football for 2016.
Injury Bug strikes
FIU has plenty of talent to choose from being in the sunshine state. Coaching isn't severely lacking with Ron Turner at the helm. But one thing few teams can overcome, especially mediocre ones, is the plague of injuries. Saying the Golden Panthers were plagued by injuries may be an understatement. FIU got a combined 19 starts in 2015 out of 8 of their top returning players from 2014. That's an average of a little more then 2 games per player for over half of the team. Most certainly not a recipe for success.
Starting linebacker Davison Colimon played in just 1 game. Three of the top five players in the secondary played a total of 5 games. The Golden Panthers also got just 4 games out of linebacker Treyvon Williams. While the offensive line struggled to maintain consistency as the three returning starters from 2014 combined for 9 starts.
Even with the toll of injuries the Golden Panthers were able to win 5 games in 2015. They were very much a Jekyll and Hyde team. In the wins they looked good. In the losses they looked very bad.
Still, one of the perks to coming off an injury riddled season is that it allows you to provide a wealth of playing experience to younger guys. That allows you to go into the next season with a lot more guys that have a solid amount playing time on the field and creates much needed depth.
What to expect in 2016
For years now preseason publications have tabbed FIU as a team that could make some noise in the conference race and go to a bowl game. Those sentiments have yet to translate into on field success.
In 2015 the offense left a lot to be desired. They were statistically in the bottom half of FBS football in almost every single category that is measured. Here comes the shocking part...that was an improvement from the 2014 season. Albeit a very minuscule one. The Golden Panthers improved to 25.5 points per game in 2015 (90th in FBS).
Junior QB Alex McGough is back. McGough completed 64% of his passes in 2015. However, FIU played the old dink-and-dunk game in it's passing attack. Which led to McGough only averaging 10.1 yards per completion. While only 9% of his 269 completions went for 20+ yards. The Golden Panthers will have to get much better production from the QB position to have a chance at winning very many games this season. A little consistency on the offensive line could go a long way into help McGough do a better job of game management and all him more time in the pocket to make some big plays.
Speaking of those hog mollies up front. The Golden Panther offensive line returns a ton of experience from 2015. Jordan Budwig and Dieugot Joseph return after injuries in 2015 limited their action. The line is anchored by 2nd Team All-Conference USA center Michael Montero. While several freshman who got invaluable experience last season with the rash of injuries look to add improved depth to the tackle and guard spots.
So now that you have an improved offensive line coming back with a seasoned QB that should help with some success right? Well one would think so. But the problem then becomes who is going to step up at the skill positions to provide big play ability. Only one WR averaged more then 7.4 yards per catch in 2015. Even though Shug Oyegunle averaged 27.7 yards per catch, he only caught 2 passes and was only target 3 times.
So maybe the big play ability can come from the running back postion right? Well that certainly wasn't much of the case in 2015. Sophomore RB/WR Anthony Jones averaged a respectable 5.1 yards per carry en route to his 243 yards and 2 touchdowns. But the bulk of the carries went to junior Alex Gardner who carried the ball 186 times for 760 yards and 9 touchdowns. Gardner had a decent 4.1 yards per carry in 2015 including a long of 36 yards. Better blocking up front could open enough holes for Gardner to surpass the 1,000 yard mark on the season. If Gardner is able to produce at that level if could open the passing game up for the Golden Panthers and drastically improve their offensive output from 2015.
The Defense
FIU defense regressed in 2015 from its aggressive form in 2014. It sounds repetitious, but once again injuries played a large role in that. As well as having a new defensive coordinator in Matt House formerly of Pitt. Three of the top 5 players at defensive back played a combined 5 games last season. While FIU loses both of their starting cornerbacks, the good news is that the 3 injured players Wilkenson Myrtil, Jordan Davis, and Shermarke Spencer all return from last seasons injuries. While other players who were thrusted into significant minutes last season all returns. Replacing the two graduated CB's is a tall task, but the secondary should be a relative strength for FIU this season with a ton of depth to go around.
The defensive line is where the question marks will ultimately come up. As the Golden Panthers must replace 4 of their top 5 along the defensive front as well as their top 3 pass rushers who combined for 16 sacks and 33.5 tackles for a loss. Former three star recruit Imarjaye Albury will anchor the new look d-line.
Junior linebacker Anthony Wint led the team in total tackles in 2015 with 64.5. Senior linebacker Davison Colimon and his 40 tackles also return to help Wint anchor what should be a decent linebacking core.
Schedule & Projected Record
Sept 1. Indiana
Sept 9. Maryland
Sept 17. @UMass
Sept 24. UCF
Oct 1. FAU
Oct 8. @UTEP
Oct 15. @Charlotte
Oct 22. La Tech
Oct 29. MTSU
Nov 5. @WKU
Nov 19. Marshall
Nov 26. @Old Dominion
Prediction: 4-8 with wins over UMass, UCF, Charlotte, Old Dominion.
