FIU/Western Kentucky LIVE GAME BLOG

Season finale, GPP Nation, as your Golden Panthers take on the soon-to-be-Sun Belt member, Hilltoppers at FIU Stadium on another pleasant December Miami evening.

FIU looks to snap a mini and costly 2-game losing skid tonight and finish the 2008 season on a high note. If we've learned anything from this season it's that this program is headed in the right direction as evidenced by their nice turnaround from 1-23 the last 2 years.

Quijote, stuck at work and wondering his internet options: 1) Here on the GPP for the LIVE BLOG or 2) Panther Pass is televising the game on-line.

If you're in FIU's home, stop by and say hello at the open-air press box on the east side of the stadium by the 5-yard line. If you're out of town, then follow along on here as we have reliable FIU wireless this week and not the wacky wireless of Dolphin Stadium....Let's kick this thing off....

Comments

[NYCFIUFan]

It appears like our coaches made adjustments at halftime.

[FIUpanther]

10-3 FIU is winning. Come on guys, let's win this one!

[The OC Panther]

well its 10-3... wake up guys lol

[Pete Pelegrin]

Maidique not drunk....mike was not working....FIU drives down field, but misses 42 FG

[CJ]

we need a kicker that can hit the long ball!

[kjharris02]

missed another field goal!

[CJ]

i konw pete but sounded funny as all hell

[reinier]

we need a kicker badly....
another bad kick for rivest..............

[Pete Pelegrin]

Seems like FIU has played up or down to level of its competition this season

[Pete Pelegrin]

FIU starts with ball at its 40

[Pete Pelegrin]

The FIU passing game is just not there today...can't tell if its WK's coverage or the FIU plays

[Pete Pelegrin]

need a big play call TY....PM to TY 30 yards

[Pete Pelegrin]

TY is 1 yd shy of 1,000

[Pete Pelegrin]

FIU at WK 42

[The OC Panther]

cool, we've never had a 1000 yard receiver right?

[Pete Pelegrin]

FIU timeout....its 3rd and 2 with FIU ball at WK 27

[Yovanni]

What's the score, quarter and time left? Yovanni - Bradenton

[CJ]

lets hit TY on a 2 yd slant and get that 1000 yd reciever!!

[Pete Pelegrin]

FIU 10-3 with 2:51 left in the 3rd qtr

[FIUpanther]

The score is 10-3 FIU. We're in the 3rd quarter.

[Pete Pelegrin]

PM to GE for 13 yds and 1st down to WK 14

[NYCFIUFan]

What the "foucker" are the play by play guys on 610 talking about?

[Pete Pelegrin]

FIU at the 5....3rd and 1

[CJ]

another 3rd and 1 in shotgun

[CJ]

13-7

[Baltimorepanther]

NYCFIUFan, they just talk for the sake of talking, with no purpose nor meaning. We will be better with students

[NYCFIUFan]

13-3, alright, lets go FIU!

[Pete Pelegrin]

FIU FG....13-3 with :13 seconds left in 3rd

[FIUpanther]

13-3 LET'S GO PANTHERS!

[Pete Pelegrin]

End of the 3rd quarter....FIU 13-3

[NYCFIUFan]

Pete,

Garcia was on 610 and said FIU had 20 commitments so far. I know I am getting ahead of myself BUT, can you do inform us of these 20 commits (even if they are oral)? I am going to be starving for FIU football info beginning on Sunday, football season is over :<

[Baltimorepanther]

610 guys got to learn to only do interviews during time outs or when the game is stopped for a while, not in between plays.

[Pete Pelegrin]

WK 3 and out....time to punt

[Pete Pelegrin]

NYC will have a recruiting blog after the season

[Baltimorepanther]

We need 8 7 more points to cover the spread

[Pete Pelegrin]

Remember some of those commits are in the air like Korvic Neat

[Baltimorepanther]

meant 8 or 7 points

[Pete Pelegrin]

WK want to double cover TY....then PM to GE for 19 yds to WK 31

[TE Lady]

Would be nice to score here!!!

[TE Lady]

Would be nice to score here!!!

[Pete Pelegrin]

PM to GE 14 more yds and PM to JR 13 yds to WK 1

[CJ]

damn it reams! North and South not East and West

[Pete Pelegrin]

PM to Frierson TD

[FIUpanther]

TOUCHDOWN FIU!

[CJ]

TD!!!!

[FIUpanther]

FIU 20-3! GO PANTHERS!

What's the attendance look like?

[Baltimorepanther]

how much time left?

[Pete Pelegrin]

PM breaks FIU single season TD pass mark with his No. 15 of the season

[CJ]

wow Congrats PM for the Single TD Record

[The OC Panther]

now we just need to get TY The ball!

[Pete Pelegrin]

FIU 20-3...10:24 left...TY 1 yd shy of 1,000

[Pete Pelegrin]

WK into FIU territory at FIU 39

[Pete Pelegrin]

WK converts its second 4th down of drive to FIU 24

[Pete Pelegrin]

6:40 left in the game, FIU 20-3...WK with ball at FIU 24

[Pete Pelegrin]

Gaitor INT return for TD

[CJ]

gaitor Pick 6!!!

[Pete Pelegrin]

FIU 27-3 with 6:08 left in the game

[FIUpanther]

FIU TOUCHDOWN! 27-3 FIU!

[NYCFIUFan]

All right, nice game, good way to comeback from the FAU game. Oh, I still have not gotten over that lost by the way!

[The OC Panther]

wow need to buy one of those calendars!!!!

nice TD too

[CJ]

INT Chuck Grace! way to get another frosh in the game!

[CJ]

TY was over 1000 until the penalty

[NYCFIUFan]

Nice, 5 wins this year, that is a huge improvement from last year. MC Sunbelt Coach of the Year?

[Baltimorepanther]

did TY get the 1,000 yards?

[Pete Pelegrin]

TY gets 1,000 for the season on a 14 yd pass

[CJ]

now he is over 1000

[Baltimorepanther]

WAY TO GO GOODBYE!!!!

[kjharris02]

ty over 1000 yards

[NYCFIUFan]

This season appears to validate MC's philosophy and coaching style. Already looking forward to next year. Bring on Nick Satan and Alabama!

[FIUpanther]

FINAL SCORE:

FIU 27-3

WE WON! GO PANTHERS!

[Baltimorepanther]

Yes this season validates what MC and PG are building at FIU, I am looking forward to next season, we will be belt champs
GO FIU!!!!

[TNGoldenPanther]

Way to go boys! Close out the season with a W. Good luck to the departing seniors. Those coming back, lets start working on next season and make it better than this year!

GO FIU!

[Pete Pelegrin]

good win to finish the season...will be blogging later...time to write

[kjharris02]

Congrats to all FIU players and coaches!!! Way to go! Can't wait till next season...

[CJ]

great win by the boys and congrats to the Sr.'s goin out w/ a W

[JM]

great win tonight. lets get another great recruiting class, work hard in the spring and summer, then come out next year and win the sun belt.

[FIUpanther]

A great way to end the season, really great!

GO PANTHERS!

[panther viscosity]

Great finish to the season. This is a much improved team that will be a contender for the sunbelt title next year.

[SouthPaw]

Congratulations to the seniors for going out with a win. I want to thank those guys for their contributions and hard work and helping to continue to build FIU.

[Joel]

great win to close out a memorable season. we had our ups, we had our downs. we had some memorable and important moments, and others we want to forget. we had some heroes emerge (TY, McCall), and others come from out of nowhere (ellingson). i just wish the season can go on, i wish we had a bowl game, but 5-7 is something to be proud of with this program. we are moving quickly tiowards the future. i can't wait till next year!!

[NYCFIUFan]

Heard Mario's post game interview, he is hitting the recruiting circuit tomorrow morning, 6:00 am flight. What a beast. We have a nice group of players laying the foundation: Hilton, Mertile, Gaitor, Little Canada, McCall, Perry. If the coach can solidify the lines, get a good recruiting class like the last two he put together, and the underclassman get in the weight room, keep the grades up, and stay out of trouble, we will be SunBelt Champs soon or at least Bowl eligible. I just wish more FIU alumni and students had the passion that our coach seems to have.

GO FIU!!!

[Baltimorepanther]

Man most of the those seniors endured the darkest hours of our program and I am glad they are leaving on a good note and knowing that their sweat, blood and tears will help launch this program into the next level.

[NYCFIUFan]

This is very early BUT I saw Alabama and they have a REALLY good freshman wr Julio Jones. Looking forward to how our secondary handles that guy he is a beast!

Damn! I hate that the season is over!

[Baltimorepanther]

Julio Jones is a beast, but their running backs are the biggest weapons, those guys are strong and if you don't wrap them well they will break tackles and run it streight through the defense. They will have a new qb next year and he will warm up against our secondary. I am sure they will win, but I hope it wont be as bad as Kansas or Penn State the last couple of years, althou they are a better team, maybe the best we have ever played againts, until we play Florida next year.

[gpantera]

Relative to the preseason expectation, the season was outstanding.

Relative to the adjusted expectation post-Toledo win, the season was somewhere between solid and good (with a hint of disappointment, particularly the ULM and FAU games).

What is undeniable is that we're trending in the right direction.

Random thought: the blue top, white pants was the best color combo uniform of the season and we're 1 and 0 when play in them. Let's keep that blue top, white pants combo going.

[Clawing Cancer]

Solid win for the boys. A much needed one, too, after the ULM and FAU losses.

Y'know, it's funny to hear some of the disappointment on here. Not calling anyone out, really, but I thought I'd just mention that this year's 5-7 record is one of the best in FIU history. We've yet to have a winning season, and the 5 wins matches the '02 and '05 totals. I guess that says more about how bad FIU was under Strock than anything else, but I also think that for MC & Company to get to that point in just their second season says quite a bit, too.

I get that some of the coaching decisions have been weird, and I certainly understand the feelings some have that MC and the crew don't game-coach very well. But I also think that's the price you gotta pay early on with a young guy like MC who had no coordinator experience before coming here (translation: never called plays in a game before, at least in college) and lots of other young guys who are his assistants. I know Legg isn't young, but this was his first season here and it takes time for coaches to get a feel for what their kids can do on the field. I bet you'll see better play-calling next year now that the boys have a year under their belts.

FIU is definitely getting better. More importantly, I think it's becoming clearer that MC was the right hire. He's definitely brought a more talented group of guys on board. He recruits much better locally than Strock ever did, which is an absolute must for FIU.

I can live with some of the coaching blunders, especially early on. Truthfully, college football isn't a sport that requires X-and-O domination. It helps, don't get me wrong, but with this particular brand of football, getting more talent that the other team is more important than getting every game-day call right. MC's got the right idea in focusing so much on recruiting. Hell, that's how a lot of the Miami teams won... I don't think anyone here thinks Erickson or Davis or even Schnelly were great X-and-O's guys (though Schnelly is good at that). And, being that this coaching staff is so young, I tend to think they can learn the game-day stuff on the job.

And now, time to focus on basketball... or, for the more negative among us, the Rouco death watch officially begins. :)

[Clawing Cancer]

Which reminds me... Pete, anyone else on the men's basketball team get hurt? It's been a week or so since the last injury... I'm guessing someone else should be out 8-10 weeks by now. ;)

[blkpanther]

Pete,

I saw that 13 senors are leaving, but i don't see Jonas Murell's name in there is he coming back?

Secondly, i heard a reporter say in the post game interview that the authentic FIU jerseys were on sale for 2 bills, that's true?

[CJ]

i think this coaching staff is the right combination and they know the the recruiting is a big part of the game.. now its time to sit back and watch the basketball season and watching MC do his thing and recruit

[NYCFIUFan]

I am so excited about next year. Saw the post game interview on fiusports.com with Gaitor and TY, those guys look so young! They are babies, can't wait to see these guys fill in and get better.

[gpantera]

There was one authentic FIU jersey for sale when I was at the game. it was the white jersey with the number 1. it had ROARY's name on the back. It cost $99. They said more to come.

[FIUpanther]

I can't wait until next season! We did so good this season and imagine what next season will bring! We can do it guys! LET'S GO PANTHERS!

[cobracommandr]

Great Win GP Nation! We are developing a solid Receiver Corps (Ellingson, Hilton and Mertile) showed up big time last night. Once we get the run game going and some depth on D we will be a tough team to beat.

I can confirm (via bookstore staff)that the Book Store is going to be selling Authentic Jersey's in a few weeks. The manager was there and he was selling the demo that they had for $99. I tried it on and it is top notch. I'm a big dude so I had to pass on this particular jersey but in hind sight I should have grabbed it. According to the Bookstore Manager the authentics will be $199.00 at the store...

[esteban688]

Pete: It is true, Jonas Murrell was not amoung the seniors i the group and i was under the impression that TE Eric Kirchenberg was a senior too. Whats up with that??

Secondly... was told that LB Michael Dominguez quit the team or turned in his gear (same thing in my book). He was in the stands with the students. What happened that he couldn't even play one more game to finnish the season. If you can look into it... that would be great, cuz i really don't like quiters (even moreso in the last minute.... finish what you start!)

[mra]

Was at the game last night, can I just say that the people who buy season tickets and have the south stand...I appreciate you buying tix and supporting this program from infancy but it feels like only the students ever get loud.

The only person who tries in that section of the crwod to make noise is the dude with the claws painted on boards [Claw Man?].

It's difficult when only 1 end of your stadium is making noise. We know the west end zone is usually empty, and the north side is the losers side where opponents go. So we need to make 2 sides of it atleast loud as hell. The fans all around need to learn to NOT make noise while our offense is on the field.

[esteban688]

We call him "Paw-Claw" haha!! I've gotta give it to him. He's the man! I made fun of him last year but he's preatty much the best in-stadium fan we have. I wonder who he is?

[FIUFloridaPower&Light]

Is the dude that was dancing in his boxers on this board?

Also, last home game against, there was a group of people singing some "Mario Cristobal" song... are they on this board?

Just wondering who's who.

[NYCFIUFan]

I can't get over the turn around from last season to now. I remember preseason publications having us at one win, maybe 2 wins and FAU going 10-2 and undefeated in the Belt. Just goes to show you that those publications you might as well just roll them up and use them as toilet paper when need be. But they also show us that FAU was suppose to be the class of the conference and they finished .500, teams will be preparing for us and taking us more seriously, but I digress. I am so excited about next year I wish it was here already. MC knows where we need the most help, on the front lines. If we can get good recruits and depth there then we should be in great shape next year. Also, next year, look for Colt to be the solid second string QB, his time is coming. I have hopes for the '09 team like I had hopes for the '06 team, hopefully it won't wind up to be a total catastrophe like that season was. I still can't get over how bad we were that year with a lot of Seniors on the squad, some of who got drafted in the NFL! There should be a restraining order on DS ever getting within 15 feet of a whistle and clipboard.

Also, like I said before, our fans but especially the students, need to come out and support these guys, they are pretty fun to watch.

GO FIU!!!

[esteban688]

yeah i know that song..lol we were around them when they sang it! I laughed really hard when i heard Cedric Mack sing it in this game. Pretty funny

[FIUChris]

Hey, FiuP&L, the dancing boxers kid isn't on this board as far as I know, but he's one of my friends. Maybe I'll give him a heads up to get on here.

Great win last night, and I"m very excited for the next season. I'm also looking forward to baseball season. Might be doing some radio broadcasts and maybe even Panther Pass commentating, so keep an ear out.