Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, FIU's defensive coordinator in 2010, threw out a "No comment" to Matt Stevens of the Columbus (Ms.) Commercial Dispatch when asked about the FIU job. I'm thinking his name got leaked as a decoy.
Quarterback E.J. Hilliard got named to the unofficial Sun Belt All-Freshman Team, a unit picked by the beat writers covering the conference and completely independent of the conference (thus the "unofficial."). It's put together by Adam Sparks, who covers Middle Tennessee State. Hilliard was 49 of 68 for 441 yards, four touchdowns, one interception this season.
Of course, Hilliard's two fumbles, against Louisiana-Monroe, might've been the difference in that game and his one interception started the turnaround in the Arkansas State game. Still, he started three games against bowl teams and played the second half against Louisville, who's in the Sugar Bowl. And he didn't get much help in two of his starts from the defense, running game or receivers. Expecting much better than what FIU got from a three-star true freshman is foolhardy.
