Less than 48 hours before kickoff at Rutgers on Saturday and your Panthers have a new running back....for 2010.
Former Syracuse and St. Thomas Aquinas running back Jeremiah Harden has transferred to FIU and will sit out this season, per NCAA transfer rules, and join the Panthers offense in 2010 when he will be a redshirt sophomore.
Harden did not get much of a chance last year with the Orange, but he led the high school/college powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas to a state championship in 2007. That season Harden rushed for 1,316 yards and 18 touchdowns and also caught 2 TDs.
Harden (right with STA at state title game) also led the Raiders the year before in rushing, which also was FIU QB Wesley Carroll's last season at St. Thomas.
Harden, who started practice with the Panthers this week joins Carroll (left) as probably the best scout team quarterback/running back combo in America this season.
In 2006, Harden ran for 1,225 yards and 19 touchdowns and also caught 2 more TDs.
Harden is 5-9, 195 pounds and could easily get over 200 with one year in the FIU weight room. His addition just made the FIU backfield that much better and deeper joining Darriet Perry, Darian Mallary, Trenard Turner, Kendall Berry plus whoever signs on the dotted line next February.
As of Thursday, Jeremiah Weatherspoon "is a go" and will play according to MC. Ash Parker is probable for Saturday's game. And there is nothing new with Dudley LaPorte's status.
C-Mack got rid of the orange non-contact jersey today in practice and was wearing the offense's blue practice jersey -- a good sign.
PANTHER PAWSE
GPP LIVE BLOG for FIU/Rutgers will begin at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. We should be able to go until the end of the game, because this week we have a friendlier deadline with the 5 p.m. game. Unlike last week's 7 p.m. game, which had endless TV timeouts and I had to start writing at the end of the 3rd quarter.
Your deadline for FIU/Rutgers scores for the Win A GPP Blog contest is at 4:59 p.m. Eastern GPP time on Saturday.
Check out Channel 4's Sportswrap Show on Sunday night after the 11 p.m. news to see an interview with FIU QB Paul McCall.
The Herald has your FIU apps for your iphone: http://www.miamiherald.com/college/panthers/
Q&A
TheChampionUnderdog: Pete, do you think Mcgee would start opposite gaitor? is it possible he could fill in for parker at safety if hes not ready to go?
PP: McGee might be about a week behind, because of missing that week when he was not cleared. McGee has the talent to play right now, but I think he is more suited for safety. Dez Johnson (right) has done a pretty good job starting opposite Gaitor.
pikedanny: Pete, Are these kinds of clearinghouse issues common at other Universities or is this a case of FIU picking up kids who were "on the bubble" as far as their grades go? I know some teams shy away from some kids because of their grades. Is this what is happening here? We took a risk on these guys being eligible and now it's coming back to haunt us or am I just thinking too far into this?
PP: FIU is not the first university to deal with these clearinghouse issues. Each of these clearing issues have been different cases. With McGee it took a week, with C-Mack it took a lot longer, with DLP who knows? All three of these guys had the grades and were academically eligible. Sometimes, for example and this is not the case with any of the 3 mentioned above, some of the classes they took in junior college do not match the classes they need to get into whatever university they are transferring to. When we have more info on DLP, we'll pass it on.
SunblazerPanther: Pete: Any update on Rosa's injury and playing status for this weekend?
PP: Saw Yarimar yesterday and she said that she is waiting for the stitches to come out of her fingers. She said when those come out that it should not be too long for her to get back on the court. The only problem is that she does not know when the stitches will come out.
Max: Pete, what's the deal with the basketball schedule? Wasn't it supposed to come out a LONG time ago already?
PP: They are still negotiating some out of conference games and it should be out by the end of the month.
Will be blogging to you from the Garden State and near the University of Tony Soprano (Rutgers) tommorrow on Friday with a preview and prediction of Saturday's game.
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