Golden Panther Pawse 11/27

GOLDEN PANTHER PAWSE

Happy Thanksgiving to all GPP Nation.

Welcome to our newest GPP readers: ArrozConPollo and Joel. Great meeting another one of our readers, Max, in person last night at the FIU hoops game.

Will have a LIVE BLOG from the House that Joe Robbie Built on Saturday for the 7th Don Shula Bowl between FIU and Florida Atlantic. Kickoff is at 4 p.m., we'll hit cyberspace around 3:45 p.m.

WIN A GPP BLOG scores for FIU/FAU need to be in by 3:59 p.m. GPP Time on Saturday. Notice the time change, it is NOT a 7 p.m. game. It's a 4 p.m. kickoff. Will have the FIU/FAU Preview on here at some point on Friday.

FIU Fanatic: Pete, any news if any of our injured running backs...Owens and/or Ned are coming back to play next week? If not...will Darriet Perry have to be there, just in case...thus probably losing his redshirt season?...or Shawn Bright...or any other Running Back there?

GPP: According to MC, only Daunte Owens is out. Shawn Bright is not eligible this season.

FIUPantherFan: Pete, I heard someone speaking behind me at the basketball game mentioning that Galindo might not be eligible (besides being injured), is that true?

GPP: Spoke with AG the other day he said he expects to be back on the court by maybe late December, but likely January. AG sure didn't sound like he was ineligible.

sixfeetaway: I can't recall right now but is PM a Junior or a Senior I think he graduated already but what does he have left as far as eligibility?

GPP: Paul McCall is a junior and he is in grad school for computer and electrical engineering. He has one more year of eligibility at FIU.

AlexFAU06: Pete, Does location play a role for a bowl invitation? especially when FAU or FIU do not draw big crowds?

GPP: Alex, normally how you draw attendance-wise does affect bowl invites, but this year since bowls are not going to be able to fulfill their committments, what your school draws should not be a factor. Now of course, the locations of the schools in relation to bowls will play a part. For example, if the St. Pete Bowl needs a Sun Belt team, you can bet that it will either be FIU or FAU, who ever wins Saturday. Just like the Independence Bowl will likely take an Arkansas State, Louisiana or Middle Tennessee, because of its proximity to that bowl's location in Shreveport, La.

FIUdiehardfan:  One question Pete I just saw that Clemson beat Virginia. Does that mean that we can no longer go to the Eagle Bank Bowl?.

GPP: Clemson cannot be eligible for ANY bowl unless it beats South Carolina this Saturday, because the Tigers at 6-5 have 2 of those wins against Division I-AA schools and when you have 2 wins vs. I-AA you need 7 wins overall to be bowl eligible. So a trip to D.C. is still possible, of course need a win over the Hooters on Saturday as the 1st step.

class09: Will the FAU vs FIU game be on panther pass?

GPP: No, the game is not on Panther Pass, but can watch it on FAU's website at fausports.com

fiu4ever: Pete: When are FIU and FAU going to stop playing their games at Dolphin Stadium (left)? Is it because FAU still does not have a stadium? Don't they play at Lockhart? Does the game that big of a crowd that Dolphin Stadium is needed?

GPP: AlexFAU06 could not have answered this question any better: FAU started playing at DS, but they realized it was too expensive to continue at DS. In order to break the contract FAU has to play at least one game at DS until FAU gets its own stadium. Last year we played Minnesota at DS, so we fulfilled the requirement. It is pretty stupid to play the game there because not too many fans show up, besides the DS is huge and FIU fans have not shown any interest in the past games. I think it would be better to play the Shula bowl at lockhart when FAU is hosting. I know Lockhart sucks, but FAU has no other choice for now. It's going to be pretty cool next year when FAU visits FIU because by next year FIU stadium will be completely remodeled.

Comments

[FIU First Down!!!]

Happy Thanksgiving PP....may everything you are thankful for be good!!!!

[Gold]

Pete,

FAU 34 FIU 27

Sorry, I just don't think we can pull the upset.

[FIUChris]

Happy thanksgiving, Pete, and the rest of the GPP nation. Hope you guys had a great one.

Going to go ahead and predict a 16-10 FIU victory.

[FIUfantastic]

Yeah, sad to say, but the way FIU has been playing lately, I dont see us taking on an FAU team on their last game.

Nice run though, we will end up 5-7 after beating WKU. I say 5 wins is a great season compared to the last 2 years.

FIU 17, FAU 35

GO FIU!

[Joel]

Thanks for the welcome, Pete! And I'm thinking a 27-24 win for FIU, I have a real good feeling about this game. The fact that we came out cold last week can only motivate us more. THey are going to want a victory on saturday, especially against FAU. There are bowl imnplications here, and we're going to be seeing two teams slugging it out for a bowl game.

[SouthPaw]

I think our defense wins this one for us.

FIU 31
FAU 20

[MIA/NY Josh]

FAU 37
FIU 17

[Max]

Great story on Paul McCall Pete. He has really come into his own as our starter, I think QB controversies can hurt a team so it's nice to know that FIU found the right guy for the job.

[ArrozConPollo]

Hey Pete thanks for the welcome! I was watching our basketball team play the other night & I kept thinking to myself how much I wish TY was running the point. I use to watch him play at Miami Springs High (my younger bro goes there) and the kid was just phenomenal in basketball. Of course it won't be possible but it would of been interesting. Also, I think FIU football is going to come out fired up this Sat. Hope to see u all at DS!

[outofthecage88]

FAU 27
FIU 24

i hope i am wrong but...

[fiufan751]

FAU 31, FIU 21

[FIU First Down!!!]

FIU 24, FAU 14

[#32]

FIU 20
FAU 17

[#32]

Oh and great news on Paul, I was thinking about QB because next season we have a very tough 4 game stretch including Alabama to start off.

[pikedanny]

ArrozConPollo,

TY will be playing basketball as soon as the football season is over. So get excited because the basketball team is going to get much better very soon.

[FIU Fanatic]

Very nice story on Paul McCall, Pete! He truly is a good representative of FIU Football on and off the field.

As for game score....I don't know but:

FAU 31 FIU 24

[FIU0406]

FIU 27
FAU 24

[Puma]

FIU 31
FAU 30

[Quijote]

FIU 40
FAU 2

[Clawing Cancer]

Ditto on the McCall story. I sort of figured a story like that would come up sooner or later, though. Paul's a pretty smart kid. He always struck me that way when I heard him talk. And anyone who does any sort of engineering while doing NCAA football is pretty damn impressive. He's not the first brainiac on the team, though... I think Ed Werder (former OL in the Strock day) was also in grad school when he was a junior. Or maybe it was as a senior. Can't remember. Time makes things fuzzy.

Anyway... the logical part of me says this week's a loss. Both teams will be coming in geeked, and Dolphin Stadium's not a significant advantage for either squad... it's basically neutral field. That tends to favor the better team, and that's FAU. But FIU's been straight embarrassed in this series a bunch of times. That's got to have an emotional impact. Plus, it's a in-state rival... that usually makes a difference. And I'm sure the boys heard an earful all week long about how they got off slow against ULM.

I expect FIU to come out like their butts are on fire, especially the D, and I think that'll carry us to the W.

FIU 28, FAU 14