FIU Panthers Prowl

Silence isn't golden

Before Greg Schiano hung up the phone from letting Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti know he'd need a new head football caoch, the rumor mill had FIU coach Mario Cristobal as one of the favorites for the job.

This would be a bombshell any time. Having it happen days before National Signing Day could be an ICBM into what's shaping up as a fine recruiting class.

That's when somebody should've said something.

This seems like the time for an "I will not be the Alabama head coach" even if talks are occurring (a source close to Cristobal says they aren't, although the Newark Star-Ledger reports differently). FIU needed to squash these rumors as their reaction is being watched by several kids with other coaches in their ears and on their phoes: "Yeah, you liked him, but, next year, some Rutgers kid will like him., too"

Sources close to Cristobal said he hasn't been contacted by Rutgers. A Newark Star-Ledger Sunday evening article said the opposite. Whatever, it's late in the recruiting day for this to be or remain an issue.

DIRTY DANCING

FIU had the Mini Dazzlers at each of their last two home basketball doubleheaders. I'm an old school father who's pretty liberal in teaching my daughter on matters of reproduction and not being ashamed of your body. Still, tarting up a bunch of little girls tarted up with too much makeup and too little attire, then letting them do a routine that includes pop-that-stuff hip thrusts is flat out creepy. It was creepy when the Heat had their kiddie version of the Heat dancers. It's really creepy at FIU.

 

Camp Mitch sources say: Tim Cramsey new football OC; Copeland update

Sources out at the Mitch Madique Campus say Tim Cramsey will be FIU football's new offensive coordinator.

Cramsey, a former University of New Hampshire quarterback, just spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater. The last two seasons, he was the offensive coordinator.

Expect FIU to accelerate to an up-tempo style of offense in the Oregon mode, cranking off lots of plays, trying to get some cheap scores and big plays out of defensive fatique or disorganization in the face of speed.

RECRUITING

Speaking of speed, Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast quarterback-to-be-wide receiver Travares Copeland posted on Facebook,

"Daammmmmnnn I'm glad I'm not going2 RUTGERS.......head coach going2 NFL smh well ((fiu)) or ((west virginia)) Morgan town or Miami??????"

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano is taking the head coaching job with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nice timing, doing that a week before National Signing Day. You'd think Rutgers commits' cell phones were made of plastique, the way they'll be blowing up the next few days asking, "You still sure?" 

And, before you ask, yes, you can expect them to come after Mario Cristobal, who did some time as a Rutgers assistant. You can bet that'll be used by other schools in the final days as FIU fights for what looks like a good recruiting class together. I don't see Cristobal making that move, however.

To quote The Marx Brothers and Phil Collins....

"Hello, I must be going."

 

This is my first post since last week because I've been doing that Hanukkah/Christmas thing with the family as well as being stuck in Dolphinland up in Davie. The latter is where I'll be spending this week, back around Camp Mitch more next week (I hope).

But, as for this week...

A) Despite the doubts of a lucid commenter on a previous post, I still trust my sources close to Mario Cristobal who say progress is still being made on an extension. I'm curious to see if the school pusts a little more financial bass in the escape clause.

B) The women's baskteball team's Sun & Fun holiday break tournament offers two chances during the holidays to see sophomore guard Jerica Coley. FIU opens against Albany Thursday night and faces either Charlotte or Auburn Friday.

C) Men's ball heads to the last place in the Sun Belt anyone wants to go when they're having basketball trouble, Middle Tennessee State. This team that's been on the road for all but three games so far plays one half like they just listened to "We're An American Band" and another as if they just listened to "Turn The Page" with little pattern.

 

A few belated thoughts on Marshall 20, FIU 10...

The Mario Cristobal business took up my time Wednesday when I planned to finish and file this. That, I'm sorry about.

I usually do the postgame blog during the wind down of game night, often filing in the wee hours. It’s one thing to do that, get three to four hours sleep, then drive 15 minutes to The Cushman School or to an airport, 20 minutes to Still Joe Robbie Stadium To Me to help cover a Dolphins game, or drag my daughter 20 minutes in a wagon to Flamingo Park or handle the back end of a sleepover. I can caffeine power through that. It’s another to do that before driving four hours while phoning and texting to find out what’s up with the head football coach. Same reason I started the postgame blog, but didn’t finish and file before a 90-minute, predawn drive on unfamiliar roads to the Memphis Airport following the Arkansas State loss. It’s not smart or safe.

For those who have a problem with that, sorry. Actually, I’m not sorry, you’ll just have to get over it.

FIU looked rusty physically, stale otherwise. Five pre-snap penalties, more missed makeable throws, blocks, reads than usual. Ironically, in answering a question of mine about bowl game rust last week, Mario Cristobal said you have to come out with something new even if it’s just for show or a talented team studying you for three weeks eats you up.

I could be wrong, but it seemed the biggest new wrinkles with FIU offensively were in personnel. Redshirt sophomore Jairus Williams got targeted on the first series. Redshirt junior wide receiver Mike Jean-Louis made his first catch of the season. Running back Robert Boswell was out there in the fourth quarter in five-wide sets. Some defensive guys got unusual playing time.

“Lot of injuries,” Cristobal said after the game. “We had a fractured shoulder, a couple of other guys dinged up, a couple of possible concussions. You never want to run the risk when a guy gets dinged up and you’re not certain about how he’s responding.”

Unfortunately for FIU, the game’s most valuable substitute turned out to be Marshall left tackle Jordan Jeffries. Starting left tackle Ryan Tillman hopped toward the sideline after the game’s first play. Jeffries played the rest of the way and, in the fourth quarter, it was Jeffries who fell on Marshall running back Travon Van’s fumble one play after the blocked punt gave Marshall the ball at the FIU 23. Without that play, there’s no Tyler Warner field goal and no touchdown pass to Aaron Dobson with 30 seconds left.

Defensively, FIU looked as if it showed more pre-snap movement. Marshall was only six of 17 on third down and their 59-yard total offense advantage is right there on their final possession, the 60-yard final drive to that second Dobson touchdown. Both defenses hung in well. Marshall tackled well, a big key to the game. The Herd felt in the games they gave up points by the peck, they had too many blown tackles. They were strong practitioners of that lost art Tuesday.

Marshall’s offense just came up with the two biggest plays and Marshall’s kicking game won that matchup.

Heck, Sam Miller even had good coverage on the first Dobson touchdown. That play points up FIU’s size liability at cornerback, however. Several times this season, Miller or Jose Cheeseborough or Richard Leonard has been on the spot, but been too overmatched in size to prevent the catch, even by interference. Not everybody can have a big beast like Ronnie Lott at cornerback (people forget he came into the NFL as a corner and actually was even better there his first few NFL seasons than he was as an all-time great safety), but a few more inches of height or length on Miller might’ve prevented that 31-yard touchdown right before the half. Rakeem Cato made a near perfect throw, as he did on a couple of big plays, including the heave with a leaping James Jones in his face that Jermaine Kelson caught with one hand for a 25-yard gain in the first quarter.

The punting numbers look equal at a glance: 40.1 for Marshall’s Kase Whitehead, 40.0 for FIU’s Josh Brisk; three inside the 20 for each; longs of 46 for Whitehead, 48 for Brisk.

Whitehead’s punts seemed to describe The Arch in St. Louis. Brisk’s described a parabola. FIU couldn’t get off one return. Marshall’s Andre Booker returned four punts for 57 yards. In a defensive battle, that’s valuable land. As FIU lined up for the punt that would be blocked, I thought, “They need a good punt to change the field. The way this is going, Marshall’s going to be in position on this possession or next to win with a first down and field goal.”

One offensive wrinkle that might’ve helped FIU – an under center quarterback sneak. Look at the third quarter turn of events.

Hilton scooped a pass over the middle before going down somewhere around the first down line. Officials marked it, measured it and found FIU a midget’s forearm short of a first down. Fourth and a wrist.

FIU calls timeout to challenge the spot. I’ve seen spots changed in the replay era. Far, far, FAR more often, I’ve seen the spot remain via replay confirming the spot; inconclusive evidence (the most common one for something that as judgmental as a spot); or officials just being stubborn about supporting the judgment of one of their own. Sure enough, the spot didn’t change.

FIU punted. At your own 43, 10-10 with 6:41 left in the third quarter, when you’ve gotten stuffed on third and short earlier and aren’t the best short yardage team, punting is the safe move in a field position game. Safe doesn’t always get it done, however. FIU basically used up a timeout, always a valuable commodity in a tight game, to send a message that it’s not confident its offensive line can gain a loaf of bread against Marshall.

Marshall, meanwhile, faced with fourth and 5 on FIU’s 35 with 38 seconds left and a 13-10 lead just needed a first down to end the game. Instead of settling for the decision, they went for the knockout and got the 35-yard touchdown pass from Cato to Dobson.

Smart move? Debatable. I saw Denver do the same thing against Pittsburgh during the Steelers’ Steel Curtain era in the 1977 AFC Divisional Playoff game, the game that made a star out of Denver linebacker and now longtime ESPN studio analyst Tom Jackson. Similar pattern, too, run by a receiver with a similar last name (Jack Dolbin). A safe move? Oh, no. Any number of things could’ve gone wrong for Marshall on that play. Cato could’ve been sacked for a loss that would’ve given FIU the ball at the FIU 40 or better, a couple of nice passes from Jack Griffin field goal range. He could’ve been sacked for a loss and fumbled (See, “Central Florida,” “Jeff Godfrey,” “Tevin Blanchard,” “Isame Faciane”). The pass could’ve been blocked by a lineman and intercepted.

Instead, it was the Joe Frazier left hook that dropped Ali in the 15^th round of their first fight. It clinched the decision for Marshall.

FIU ends the season 8-5, having led in every game and with 39 of 44 on their offensive and defensive two-deep returning. Most college programs would take that setup.

Source: FIU & Cristobal in negotiations for extension

A source close to FIU head football coach Mario Cristobal said FIU has been in aggressive negotiations involving a contract extension and other football program improvements. Cristobal received an extension through 2016 and a raise the day before training camp started, in August.

Various media reports out of Pittsburgh have Pitt moving on from Cristobal to Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Thursday at The Branch will see the long-awaited arrival of 6-11 Joey De La Rosa out of The Bronx, St. Raymond's Academy and Orlando's Montaverde Academy. He'll play against Bowling Green in FIU's third home game of the season.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jerica Coley went for 17 points and Fanni Hutlassa had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but FIU still lost 58-53 to Middle Tennessee State Wednesday in their first Sun Belt Conference game of the season.

A few words from the president...

Post Beef O' Brady's Bowl luncheon, after talking to FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg about the impact bowls and the football program have had on the school's visibility, I asked him if the Pitt rumors were unsettling and has Mario Cristobal told him that he would be FIU's coach next year?

He replied, "I'd rather not comment on that. All I can say is I think it goes with the turf. When your'e successful, everybody loves you. So, I think that's a great thing. But, the particulars, I'm focused. I'm focused."

For what it's worth...

 

From Sunday in St. Pete

I apologize. I thought I had posted this last night. Apparently, I had only saved a draft. It's been a long weekend...

I know that which you seek. I know what you want. So, here it is....

  

Oh, and I think FIU will still have a football coach after Wednesday.

That said, nobody wants to totally squash the Mario Cristobal-to-Pitt talk, there's a lot of smoke coming out of Pittsburgh and they haven't reopened the steel mills. Cristobal acknowledged talk about his future would grow with the FIU program, but clammed up beyond that, feeling anything said would only feed the rumor mill.

Whatever offer Pitt does come up with, if they decide to offer Cristobala big hunk o' money, FIU likely won't be able to match financially. By the way, Todd Graham's reported total compensation was to be $2 million, but that was with if he hit every bonus: undefeated, national championship, curing the common cold, etc. Still his base was nearly triple what Cristobal makes now. FIU would have to give Cristobal something else. Time's a precious commodity and security is nice, but will a combination of the two just stave off this until the next noted program loses a coach? There might be something else in the way of program funding that could help keep make FIU a comfy place to stay.

Also, remember what I wrote before the season about the family ties: Cristobal has two young children and many a smart football coach says you better keep your wife happy because they're carrying the ball for your homestead like Walter Payton. Having the family in town can be a factor for the next few years. More money can buy nannies and au pairs, but not everyone's comfortable with that, especially after you've had a blood family support system. 

 

(A little more on...) Cristobal and Pitt

A couple of reports out of Pittsburgh have Cristobal interviewing for the job today. I have no confirmation of that and one source says flatly, "There was no interview with Pitt."

FIU practiced today. There's an official visit from junior college offensive lineman Delmar Taylor, a Miami Beach High graduate and FIU verbal commit, and home visits with recruits later. The FIU football party heads over to St. Petersburg Saturday at noon.

But surely Pitt will do some background checking on Cristobal. In the last year, Pitt saw one head coach leave for Arizona State after a season and his immediate predecessor, Mike Haywood, last only 16 days before Pitt responded to Haywood's arrest on a domestic violence charge by firing him in January.

Cristobal should come back clean on that check. Also, it helps that FIU's players don't wind up in the miscreant section of the police report. 

FROM EARLIER...

A source close to Cristobal said Friday morning any statement that there had been contact betwen Cristobal's agent and the University of Pittsburgh about the Pitt head coaching job was "all speculation."

For his part, Cristobal insisted that with the plethora of coaching rumors, he'd never comment on any job openings aside from FIU and his focus remained on FIU and Tuesday's bowl game.

As mentioned in my last post, compared to what Pitt was paying Todd Graham, now departed for Arizona State, Cristobal's out clause payment is just north of chump change.

Here's the funny part: Pitt would be perceived as a step up for Cristobal. It's a soon-to-be ACC program with a history of national championships, legendary players in a city that's truly drenched in football (go Christmas shopping during a Steelers' game. You'll have the store to yourself, but good luck getting someone to ring you up, even during radio commercials).

But, right now, if FIU was bowl gaming against Pitt (as nearly happened), while Pitt would be favored, I'm not sure I wouldn't take FIU. And if you told me they would be playing early next season, I might pick FIU there, too.

Then again, that's exactly why Cristobal's name comes up with every job opening east of the Mississippi.

RECRUITING

Defensive back Davison Colimon tweeted that he remained strong in his FIU committment despite hot pursuit by Middle Tennessee State.

Some Football Stuff

Today's story: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/15/2548479/bowl-win-for-golden-panthers-could.html

You know it's a loose day at practice when AC/DC plays during some of the early team drills and players from the two-deep dance and sway to hip-hop on the PA system during the scout team scrimmage. On the sidelines were some local television cameras.

This was a "Monday" practice for Tuesday's game, albeit one without the responsibility of classes or tutors hanging over players.

Running back Kedrick Rhodes said his ankle wasn't quite 100 percent healthy, but he would be starting Tuesday. Mario Cristobal promised some new wrinkles would be added to the offensive and defensive schemes even if just for show, reasoning you can't give an opponent three weeks to get ready for you and come at them with the same stuff you used during the regular season.

Speaking of Cristobal, some of the lists made by the media covering the University of Pittsburgh have him as a potential target for the head coaching job that opened up when Todd Graham went to Arizona State. Cristobal's name gets thrown around with every opening, but wouldn't this have thrown another layer onto this game had South Florida beaten West Virginia and Pitt wound up in St. Pete against FIU?

Anyway, Graham was making a reported $2 million per year in total compensation. If you're willing to lay that kind of jack out for a coach, the buyout of Cristobal's contract, $453,183 wouldn't be much of a problem. Not saying either has pursued either at this point. Just saying the extension Cristobal signed the day before 2011 training camp started would be a low hurdle that would be taken in stride.

FIU's renaming the weight room Friday after Doctors Hospital Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine.

On Quarterbacks and Bowl Practices; volleyball recruits (avec video)

Jake Medlock or Wesley Carroll at quarterback for FIU next Tuesday night in the Beef O'Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl against Marshall?

"Both of those guys are doing a good job," head coach Mario Cristobal said. "We'll let it play out for a few more days, see where we're at. Heck, they've seen enough film on both guys that they'll be preparing for both quarterbacks. I don't think it changes anything for them or us.We'll keep repping those guys. Whoever looks best will go."

They run the same offense, but they run it different ways, which is why I'm sure FIU would love to keep the decision as secret as Formula 7X as long as possible. Medlock's the better runner, creates more space for the rest of the running game and was improving his accuracy before the shoulder bruise. Carroll's more experienced, generally a better decision-maker -- a huge edge in this offense -- and can do enough damage to win if he's hot for just two quarters.

Practicing for bowl games is a funky business. NFL coaches complain about the unnatural rhythms of Super Bowl preparation and that's bang-bang compared to bowl game prep. Bear Bryant once said he never figured out how to properly set up bowl game prep. Even taking into account The Bear's typical poor-mouthing, it's not an easy business.

"Many teams around the country don't have these practices, six of them are in our conference and a couple of others are opponents for next year," Cristobal said last week. "They're going to hear us use the word "develop" a lot. whether a guy is an all-conference or all-American guy or whether he's on the scout team, we can never ever stop developing."

Cristobal feels these practices afford the opportunity for the younger players to get in more work with more specialized attention, which should help in special teams for the bowl game (Marshall's teams play concerns FIU) and in setting the team up for next season. He said the early practices they've found a couple of young players who can play special teams next Tuesday.

"I thought last year's 15 days did wonders for us. Giancarlo Revilla is an example. What he did last year in thos epractices determined what he was in the spring adn what he was coming in as a starter. These practices are priceless."

Wide receiver T.Y.Hilton and kicker Jack Griffin received honorable mention notice on SportsIllustrated.com's All-America team.

ESPN's announcing crew for the game will be Mike Patrick on play-by-play, Craig James on color, Jeannine Edwards in the thankless sideline reporting role.

VOLLEYBALL

During the early signing period, FIU signed Ashlee Hodgskin, Gloria Levorin, Gabriela Roman, Hayley Miller.

Hodgskin, a 5-10 setter from Windemere, went to three high schools in four years.

 

Levorin's a 6-1 middle blocker from Padova, Italy. Playing for Logitronic Fidas Vicenza, she was the 2009 MVP of the Bleu Girl League. She also was the MVP in 2008-09 for her scholastic team.

Gabriela Roman, 5-11, is a hitter from Puerto Rico, a member of 2011 Puerto Rico's Junior National Team.

Hayley Miller, a 5-4 defensive specialist, was a three-time all-county pick at St. John's Creekside High.

 

 

 

Some Things About Saturday...

ADDING ONTO THE TOP: Several folks have told me they've heard a Division I quarterback out of Miami, a spectacular sophomore with a spread option skill set, isn't terribly happy with where he is and might want to transfer back home. If he did, it wouldn't be to the offense in Coral Gables.

NOW, BACK TO BOWL TALK...

FIU got what everybody connected with the program wanted because athletic director Pete Garcia got proactive. As I wrote months back, I think Garcia's done an excellent job in understanding what a pivotal year this is for the football team and athletic program overall.

Garcia's been talking to the Beef O'Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl for over a year, lobbying hard the last two months and building an overall relationship with them and the bowl folks at ESPN, owners of the game. If you're a college football program that still could use some broader exposure, there are worse friends to make.

"The fact that ESPN had us on national TV seven times in the first eight games...I keep (talking) about ESPN because they believe in us," Garcia said. "We've got a great relationship with them and we've got to do everything we can to keep that relationship going."

As stated on a blog going into last week's season finale, FIU gives ESPN fun football: big plays, speed, usually some drama. Frankly, if I were ESPN, the only thing I'd want to tell FIU as far as its games on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU is let's not do Tuesday anymore -- on TV, the crowd for the Troy game came off as embarrassing for a good program.

I asked Garcia how much he thought he the online fan blitz of the Beef O'Brady's folks affected the bowl's decision.

"I thank all our fans for their enthusiasm and support. We take our hats off to them. But this is something without winning the eight games, I'm not even sure if we had won seven, if we would've gotten the invitation. I've got to give credit to our football team for putting us into position to be invited. The quality of football they're playing...I don't want to single any one player out, but we play pretty exciting football and TV likes that."

"It's a team effort. We're the FIU family." 

Garcia kept giving props to the football team, as if needing to hammer home that the team had a good season: "I want to brag on our football team a bit. They're 8-4. That's not only the best record in Florida. They are the only football team south of Orlando and Tampa going to a bowl game."

Earlier, Cristobal was finishing answering my question about comparing the feeling this year to last, he also threw in a reference to FIU's unique position locally. He said the way last year ended, with a tough loss to Middle Tennessee, made it hard to fully enjoy the bowl game invitation that came the next day.

“What makes this one just as special is that we won our last game at Middle Tennessee with a better regular season record. And the ability to play a game right here, in our home state that speaks volumes. To represent the city of Miami and South Florida in a postseason game. I haven’t checked who’s playing where, but I do believe we’re the only South Flroida team representing in the postseason. It speaks volumes of our athletic department, our student-athletes and the university.” 

Check out Bowl Central at http://www.fiusports.com for oodles of Beef O'Brady's Bowl information stuff.

Also want to say again -- it's in the comments of the previous blog -- why there wasn't a headlined story online sooner than a few hours afterwards Saturday.

This season, this blog is where I've put breaking news first. On a few occasions, I've updated this blog several times until it's time to write the story that'll appear online or in print, then I've come back to the blog later for a more analytical look at the news. I've done it that way because it's faster, allows more flexibility in posting (a few blog posts, including Saturday's first, were made off my BlackBerry while doing Daddy stuff) and it's the way I've seen it best handled in other places at this paper and others.

That's the way I did it Saturday. Could I also have taken much of the same information, juggled it around a bit and done a regular story that would've appeared online earlier? Yes. But I didn't. I was slammed and felt the news was out there in a blog post that would be noted on the front page of the site and the sports site page. As it was, I wound up filing the last item 30 minutes late, an eternity in this business. If you want to say the "tease" to the blog post off the front or the one off the http://www.miamiherald.com/sports page should've been more prominent, maybe you're right.

I just grabbed the print Sports section. Top story, stripped across the top, Dolphins vs. Raiders. It's an NFL Sunday, folks. Two columns, one by Dan LeBatard on NFL violence and one on Howard Schnellenberger's last game coaching. Below the fold, my column on FIU/Orange Bowl/bowls, focused on FIU. You can say that's playing FAU over FIU, so it's bad story placement. Or you can say that's a column on the last game of, arguably, the most significant figure in modern South Florida college football, without whom neither program would exist (see my postgame FIU-FAU game blog or my pregame print/online story), so it's correct story placement.

To say I or The Herald were trying to "sit on the story" or downplay it is ridiculous. I wrote about FIU's bowl situation several times in stories that ran online and in print -- it was the advance story for the Louisiana-Monroe game -- and even more often on this blog. Though Thursday was my day off, I blogged as soon as the West Virginia-South Florida game ended with the result, a few things about the game and what it meant for FIU's chances to get to St. Pete. Saturday, as soon as the Cincy game ended, a blog post went up saying that alone might've been enough to get FIU into the St. Pete game. I texted, called furiously Thursday, Friday and Saturday, hoping to find out FIU's bowl fate as soon as possible for both professional and personal purposes (in 24 holiday seasons of this profession, I've been extremely lucky to be home every Christmas and all but two New Year's Eves.).

No blog appeared Friday nor story in Saturday's paper advancing Saturday's games and what might happen for FIU. I was on furlough Friday. That means I'm off, no pay and not allowed by company policy to have anything to do with The Herald. My Twitter account is personal. I chose that furlough date back in September.

Some of FIU fans' dissatisfaction with The Herald I understand from living it as an FIU beat reporter back when 70 percent of the buildings on campus now were no closer to reality than being on the Brady dad's architect drawing table. It wasn't a "we hate FIU" attitude at The Herald, but just a mindset that FIU was the other Division I program in town, the one without a football team, with good baseball, soccer and women's basketball teams. I'm not sure anybody cared enough about FIU to hate FIU. It wasn't even a full stand alone beat. I got into some blistering arguments with editors -- all of whom have gone on to retirement, other papers or their reward in the hereafter -- over decisions they made out of habit. ("I did it right the first time. You butchered it. You made the mess, you clean it up!" a 22-year-old me snapped often in a running argument with an editor over one story.)

I'm sure slights have happened that nursed anti-Herald feelings in the many years between then and when I re-took this beat in June. But I'm also sure there's been a plethora of good coverage from each beat reporter and The Herald. Good coverage isn't always pretty. I'm comfortable with most of what we've done since June. Nobody's ever going to be perfect and complain when you want here. You can be mean, just keep it clean (relatively).

But when I or The Herald doesn't handle something in the manner you like, do me a favor and at least assume an absence of malice on our part. I'm not sure who in The Herald has time or energy for malice these days. I sure don't.

 

Vegans Begone! It's Beef O'Brady's Bowl for FIU

The only team in town that's going bowling this season will do so across the state on Dec. 20.

As expected after Cincinnati withstood a furious comeback attempt by Connecticut for a 35-27 win Saturday, thus keeping UConn from being bowl eligible, the Beef O'Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl extended FIU an invitation that the school accepted. The opponent hasn't been determined, although it'll likely be Pitt if it comes from the Big East.

A second consecutive bowl trip, the second in the program's seven Division I seasons, follows the school's first eight-win season and a season in which the Panthers recorded their first win against a school from a conference with an automatic BCS bowl bid.

"These last couple of seasons have been a historic run for us and hte opporutnity to continue to play into December," FIU head coach Mario Cristobal said, "in our home state, in a bowl game of the caliber of the BEef O'Brady's Bowl is an honor and privilege."

Cristobal expressed happiness at being able to go into a recruit's home Saturday night and immediately talk about FIU accepting another bowl bid. He also mentioned how nice a sendoff it would be for the program's seniors, many of whom came to FIU after a 1-11 2007 season.

FIU athletic director Pete Garcia said though the invitation came around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, they had been talking with the Beef 'O Brady's Bowl people for two months and said the bowl was always FIU's first choice.

Though the Sun Belt Conference's tie-ins are the New Orleans Bowl and Mobile, Alabama's GoDaddy.com Bowl, it's obvious why FIU would prefer this game over the other two: a three and a half hour drive for most FIU students on holiday break, a game that allows everyone to be home for Christmas and New Year's and an ESPN-connected game getting "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" hype.

Garcia said he expects FIU to sell out its allottment of around 5,000 tickets easily (ticket offices are already open or phone at 305-348-4263) and hopes to take 8,000 to 10,000 fans over for the mid-week game.

The dominoes that had to fall for this to happen began Thursday with West Virginia winning a wild game with South Florida 30-27 on a walk-off field goal. That kept South Florida from being bowl eligible. UConn's lost took it out of contention. That created a hole on both sides, Conference USA and the Big East.

Before Thursday, it was entirely possible FIU could get shut out of the bowls, despite an 8-4 record and win over Big East co-champion Louisville.

"There are so many moving parts," Garcia said. "To say things were changing by the day is an understatement. They were changing by the hour."

"

A few (belated) thoughts from FIU 31, Middle Tennessee State 18...and some recruiting

Sorry about the lateness of this. I once again chose sleep over wee hours postgame blog filing. Actually, the bigger mistake was choosing some Mexican place in Murfreesboro for postgame dinner over an IHOP or Waffle House, where I could’ve had room to work while killing some breakfast food.

Then, I got home, got busy with other work, took the kid out and did anybody else think Chef Alex was deep fried when her potatoes went into the water? And she had that bag of burnt stuff on the table just for the aroma?

Anyway, FIU finishes 8-4. It’s the best record ever for FIU and ties Florida State for the best record in Florida. Before anyone starts to high horse about FIU's schedule and the Sun Belt not being the ACC, let’s throw some water on that to melt it just a little. The University of Miami lost a home game to the same Boston College that got punked by FIU victim UCF. FSU lost to Wake Forest, which got stomped by Vanderbilt Saturday in a game that didn’t help FIU’s bowl hopes.

Ah, the bowl situation. UM’s out, so there’s 72 bowl eligible teams for 70 slots as of right now. The SEC, Conference USA, the Pac-12 and the WAC won’t be able to fill all their bowl commitments. Good news for FIU. All that could create at-large needs in the Dec. 20 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl in St. Petersburg; the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl; the Dec. 17 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on the blue in Boise; the Dec. 21 San Diego County Poinsetta Bowl; and the Jan. 7 BBVA Compass Bank Bowl.

The bad news for FIU? The Big Ten, as in the 10 teams from that conference that can go bowling. Unlike the Coral Gables school under NCAA investigation, Ohio State has said if invited somewhere, it’ll go. That doesn’t just keep a school in the mix. It keeps a name school that travels well in the mix. Those Big Ten schools bring beef on the field and bodies to the hotels and restaurants. Midwestern winters and traditional fandom make desired bowl guests. Except for, this year, Penn State. Any bowl would love the money, as Penn State would still bring a good chunk of Pennsylvania, but the stories that would follow in the run-up to the game might be enough to propel bowl reps through the hospitality lounge alcohol supply 72 hours before kickoff.

Still, Penn State insists if called, it’ll come.

The St. Pete game looks like the most logical location that would have a space and some love for FIU. If the Compass Bowl’s going to go Sun Belt, Western Kentucky’s the obvious choice. Nobody says Western packs the house, but neither does FIU and Western’s only 250 miles away from the Compass Bowl. Same reason I think Beef O’Brady’s makes sense for FIU.

As for stuff from Saturday…

For the second consecutive game, Wesley Carroll played about as well as he has all season. Carroll deserves a chunk of the credit for the offense getting the job done in the red zone, four touchdowns in five red zone trips. Hate to harp on a point and I’m no coach, but it doesn’t seem an accident that over the last two weeks, FIU’s had five touchdowns in seven red zone trips and three of those trips featured passes to tight ends, two for touchdowns.

“(Tight ends) Coach (Greg) Laffere told me all week that was going to be there,” senior tight end Jonathan Faucher said after being so wide open catching a 5-yard touchdown pass off a play action fake, he could’ve counted bumps on the ball.

“They’ve been so instrumental in our running game,” Cristobal said. “People really start packing the box and they really start running by and ignoring them. Great call from the box. They’re in man coverage, their eyes are coming off the tight end, we went to a check to it at the line of scrimmage.”

Faucher also recovered an onside kick and, for the second time in three weeks, got his hands on a punt. The punt wobbled 28 yards, leaving FIU 51 yards away from a 21-6 lead. They took the lead on a lob to T.Y. Hilton that featured enough people in that back corner of the end zone for a robust game of tunk or euchre. Hilton said wide receiver Jacob Younger didn’t receive the right call, but it all worked out.

Back to Faucher and Colt Anderson, the two senior tight ends. Replacing two big (6-3, 233, 6-4, 220) and athletic (Anderson’s the consensus best basketball player on the team, Faucher used to play soccer) won’t be easy. It’s not just their run blocking or that they catch the ball on the rare occasions they’re targeted. Both play on special teams, where each has recovered an onside kick this year. Faucher’s made nine tackles on special teams, four solo.

“(Redshirt junior) Joey Harris will be a senior,” Cristobal said. “(Freshman) Ya’Keem Griner, I think has a chance to be a special talent. Paul Lundgren is a big guy who played defensive line befre. That’s kind of in vogue, taking those big defensive lineman, getting a bigger body out there.”

Speaking of defensive linemen, FIU’s found Middle Tennessee’s quarterbacks like the doorway at the end of the hall in the funhouse that keeps getting farther away the more you run toward it. By the middle of the third quarter, they were getting more consistent pressure, leading to Greg Hickman’s interception and a couple of near misses.

“They do that almost like waterfall protection,” Cristobal said. “Literally on the snap, they start backpedaling right away. The quarterback’s launch point is very deep. It takes a while to adjust to. I think they’re top 10 in the country in least sacks allowed (they had allowed only eight in 10 games). We stayed with it. We started putting some guys in the game that had some fresh legs.”

Shame Kedrick Rhodes sprained an ankle just 12 yards from the single season rushing record. Also a shame safety Justin Halley, who ended the year with a team-high four interceptions, wasn't credited with more than one pass breakup aside from his interception. He had his hands on at least two other passes.

Hilton’s kickoff return epitomized darkest-before-dawn. Nobody bothered to field the pooched kickoff or, at least, field it on the fly. When it bounced, that screamed trouble. Wayne Times jumped to bat it out of trouble, but this was a job for an outside hitter like Jovana Bjelica, not a wide receiver. The ball got swatted back toward the FIU goal line. Around the 15, it began doing that tantalizing “can-you-grab-me?” bouncing footballs do when Hilton happened by. He scooped up the ball, turned the corner on the opposite side of the field and got to the Middle 7. I’ll bet even Middle Tennessee fans groaned when Hilton got brought down. It seemed to much a wild, wonderful play to not end in a score.

Besides, that would’ve guaranteed the play a spot on SportsCenter.

Before the season, I predicted FIU would go 9-3 with losses to UCF, Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe. In my weekly pregame blog predictions, I went 7-5. Quarterback injuries got me against the Louisianas – I didn’t expect three quarters of Medlock against Lafayette and I figured Medlock, out of inexperience, for the killing error against Monroe. Instead, Wesley Carroll came in and performed admirably.

I’m out. Hopefully, I’ll be back with a bowl matchup and bettling lines (maybe even some sides!).

RECRUITING

Haines City linebacker Josh Glanton, who verbally committed to FIU earlier this month, had an in-home visit from FIU Sunday according to his Twitter account and will be entertaining Michigan on Wednesday. An in-home from Michigan might test that verbal committment.

Pensacola High defensive back Damarius Travis will be making his official visit to FIU in December. Travis is also visiting Minnesota and Western Michigan. Visits in December for a kid from Pensacola? Advantage: FIU.

Also, reportedly, FIU's offered junior college wideout 6-5, 196-pound Corey Washington from Georgia Military College.

  

A few thoughts from FIU 28, Louisiana-Monroe 17; hoop teams looking for consolation

 

Back to the Not Future for FIU Saturday to win a game that had to leave FIU asking “What if?” even as they celebrated the program’s first seven-win regular season.

What if the defense consistently brought home fourth quarter leads once handed the baton, as they did Saturday, though surely exhausted by time on the field and sheer number of plays? The 58 plays Louisiana-Monroe ran in the second half amounted to only seven points. What if they came up with plays such as Richard Leonard’s diving fourth quarter, end zone interception with greater regularity?

Let it be noted that FIU’s led in every game this season and held fourth quarter leads in three of its four losses.

What if Wesley Carroll, who FIU had to turn to like a wayward husband returns to a recently separated wife, had got the ball from the red zone into the end zone (by using the tight end, please note), thrown the ball away when in trouble (no sacks taken) while still igniting just enough explosive plays to get the job done?

Give it up for Carroll, losing his starting job with only three regular season games left in his senior year, not just auto-piloting through practice and staying ready. He recalled his college career, at Mississippi State, began similarly.

“Auburn, my freshman year,” he said. “Our quarterback hurt his hand on our first drive. That’s when I took over. He got hurt the first drive and I started every game since. My first really big action was at Jordan Hare Stadium at Auburn. A little different circumstance.”

Caroll came out hitting running back Kedrick Rhodes in the right flat, a pattern ULM had trouble stopping in the first half and FIU had problems defending in the third quarter when ULM ran it. Carroll’s first touchdown pass went to tight end Colt Anderson on a short pass to the right sideline that let Anderson use his athleticism to muscle inside the pylon.

Later in the game, Carroll missed Rhodes up the right sideline on what looked like a wheel route and overthrew Ariel Martinez, who was shockingly a stride and a half clear of double coverage deep. They had a hint they’d be able to hit some big stuff on Monroe, as they were able to do last season. They had to be satisfied with the catch-and-run touchdowns by T.Y. Hilton and Glenn Coleman, both gorgeous athletic plays,

“We had shots, we took shots,” Cristobal said. “I’d say it was executed OK, not as good as we wanted.”

By the way, Carroll and Monroe’s Kolton Browning showed the admirable quality of knowing when to say, “Chuck it” and give up on a play instead of taking a damaging sack. I’ve never seen more passes thrown to the training tables and cheerleaders. Browning’s 59 passes ended one short of the record by an FIU opponent, set by Florida A&M.

I wrote after last week’s quarterback change I believed it was Carroll’s tendency to hold onto the ball manifesting itself on the 13-yard sack against Western Kentucky that finally cost him the starting job. No belief this week – we know it was Medlock’s fatal tendency to take on tacklers that got him injured on the second play. Much as a physical runner tromping a defender gets everyone excited on the sideline and in the stands, especially when the runner’s a quarterback, it is a dangerous way to live.

T.Y. Hilton said he told Medlock he’s got to learn to slide and pointed to other Sun Belt quarterbacks. Browning slid like Jackie Robinson coming home sometimes, like a kid playing on a Slip ‘N’ Slide other times. But he lasted the game. That’s no small feat considering some of the shots he took otherwise, usually just after throwing the ball. Or, way after throwing the ball (holding and late hits seemed to be the only penalty not called by this officiating crew).The play before Leonard’s interception, Browning must have thought he got blasted by both generations of Sam Miller. Surely, all that affected his accuracy, especially as only a few second half plays weren’t passes or Browning runs.

“He got loose on us in the second half,” FIU coach Mario Cristobal admitted. “There’s a feast or famine approach to taking on a quarterback like that when you bring pressure. Sometimes, we were bringing four, trying to play man and keep two safeties high. He got away sometimes. We had our moments when we got him on the ground, but he’s a really good football player.”

In the first half, though, FIU bullied ULM badly – only 10:16 time of possessions, six first downs and 32 yards rushing allowed.

“The first thing we did was we stopped the run,” Cristobal said. “When we were albe to stop the run, we were able to put some more nickel guys in there, put more speed on the field and defend their quick guys. Their “10 personnel” looks, their four-wide looks and had some success with that.”

The only thing FIU allowed in the first half was the first kickoff return touchdown ever by an FIU opponent. When Cristobal mentioned Ambrose this week, I mentioned the streak of 125 games and he gave a little grin-grimace as if leery of mentioning it and making fun of himself for being so superstitious.

 “We got pinned,” he said. “We set up towards the left. Our No. 5, 6, 7, they got pinned inside while they were trying to cross and Ambrose came out the other way. Our safety got blocked and our kicker also who lost force. He got caught up in all that wash. Not a really good job by us, and a really good job by Ambrose. If he finds a seam, he’s going to hit you.”

Between that and suffering some injuries to kickoff coverage guys – redshirt freshman Brandon Bennett was on crutches with a walking boot on his right foot after the game – FIU joined ULM in the pooch kick party. ULM, with the worst kickoff return coverage in the Sun Belt, wasn’t about to try Hilton. They popped up pooches to Leonard’s side.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

The consolation bracket of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off sends FIU to Oral Roberts Monday to play Arkansas-Pine Bluff Monday at 6 p.m. and Oral Roberts Tuesday. For those who like to watch, try  http://www.orugoldeneagles.com for live video streaming.

One plus already this season -- FIU's hitting 82.9 percent of their free throws as opposed to 68.9 percent last season.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Meanwhile, FIU's women's team tries to even its record at U.S. Century Bank Arena aganst Florida A&M. FAMU defeated Jacksonville in its opener, as did FIU, then lost to Central Florida. FIU is coming off a 61-54 Friday loss at Texas-San Antonio.

 

Football Gameday XI with beef and Duck

Miami Book Fair. NPC Nationals bodybuilding in South Beach. NASCAR winding up its season with a duel in Homestead between the track’s ace (Carl Edwards) and one of the most aggressive, yet smartest and most talented drivers of this generation (Tony Stewart).

And I’m in Monroe, Louisiana, where the airport’s transitioning from 1964 to 2011 and, in the process, the baggage claim is outside. No belt, just a bunch of guys putting your stuff on a sidewalk. Long Beach or Maui, this ain’t.

The FIU football folks have beef with me. In the story that appeared in Friday’s Herald, I wrote that Winston Fraser and Jordan Hunt were singled out by Cristobal for Arkansas State quarterback Ryan Aplin running for 164 yards in that Panthers loss. After the game, when we asked Cristobal how that happened, he said, “There were several occasions where we do have him bottled up and he kind of gets out of there in pressure situations or assignment situations. He got loose, sometimes, he read it well and sometimes we busted at the linebacker position.”

Fraser and Hunt play the vast majority of snaps at linebacker for FIU. Kenneth Dillard and Chris Edwards were the backups that night. By the official play-by-play and my game notes, Fraser and Hunt were on the field for Aplin’s biggest, most significant runs as he ran for 131 yards in the first three quarters. Hunt disappears from the play-by-play in the fourth quarter, when Edwards picked up his two solo tackles and four of his five assisted tackles.

FIU says Hunt and Fraser weren’t being singled out because Cristobal didn’t say them by name. I said you point to a position where you have two guys who play an overabundance of snaps, those two guys are singled out by logical inference. What say you folks about this?

Anyway, on to Louisiana-Monroe. The line on this game opened with FIU favored by one and has moved to Monroe favored by 1 to 1.5 most places and 2 at one offshore book. The over/under is 49.5-50. Looks like what money’s come in on this game has been on Monroe.

Statistically, we could be looking at another field position-kicking game battle: the Sun Belt’s Nos. 2 and 3 in yards allowed, Nos. 1 and 3 in rush defense with Monroe holding the higher ranking in both cases. FIU’s No. 1 in scoring defense, No. 2 in pass efficiency defense, and No. 3 in pass defense.

Strategically, Cristobal worries about Monroe’s defensive ability to make run reads and pass coverages difficult, a good talent to have when facing a spread option, especially one run by a redshirt freshman quarterback. This game might force us to see more of Medlock’s arm than FIU would like, although, what’s to lose? FIU’s already bowl eligible, can’t win the Sun Belt and won’t get one of the Sun Belt’s two bowl tie-in spots. They’re in the position Tony Stewart’s been telling everybody he’s in this week – can’t lose a spot in the standings, so no pressure. Hopefully, this means players playing loosely and coaches coaching loosely.

(But not too loosely – FIU has a tendency to let their Duck Dodgers-Dr. Doofenshmirtz come out when their base stuff is working just fine.)

  

In the kicking game, FIU’s got the paper advantage. FIU kicker Jack Griffin could probably kick with his left foot wearing Ferragamos and make five of 12, which is what Monroe’s field goal kicking has been this season. In kick and punt returns, FIU’s second and first in the Sun Belt, respectively, while Monroe’s third in kickoff returns, but next to last in kickoff coverage and last in punting (gross and net). Expect to see some avoidance of T.Y. Hilton and Luther Ambrose today, especially if it starts to look like one or two big plays could decide the game. That could lead to some shanked punts and field position swings over a few possessions.

“The two most dangerous returners (in the Sun Belt) will be on the field Saturday,” Cristobal said.

I like FIU’s defense lately and in this matchup. Overall, this season, running backs haven’t damaged them badly – Louisiana-Lafayette’s guys ran on them and Western Kentucky’s Bobby Rainey got his yards, but yards to nowhere – and sophomore Kolton Browning’s not the kind of running quarterback that FIU’s had problems containing. Then again, Browning hasn’t faced FIU, which gave up 31.0 percent of Aplin’s rushing yards this season and 19.4 percent of Lou-La’s Blaine Gauthier’s rushing yards for the season. One thing Browning hasn’t done is throw interceptions and FIU’s been gobbling those up the last few games.

Tough call. FIU’s more likely to get a special teams score and to get points out of good field position. But Jake Medlock’s more likely to make le grand boo-boo. And, it’s a road game…

I picked Monroe to upset FIU in the preseason and I’ll stay with that here, although without conviction. La-Mon 19, FIU 16.

That’s just one black man’s opinion. I could be wrong.

Now, off to kill some breakfast…

 

Men's ball opens vs. George Mason tonight at 9:30; T.Y. Hilton Special Teams POW; Medlock starting (we think)

 

FIU men’s basketball needs an ignition victory like the gatekeeper needs the keymaster. Chance No. 1 for that comes Monday night against George Mason at Virginia Tech, the start of the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Tip-Off (9:30 p.m., ESPN3).

George Mason opened a 15-poit favorite, now down to 14 or 13.5 most places. Their point guard, Andre Cornelius, has been suspended for the first 10 games of the season after pleading guilty to misdemeanor credit card fraud. The Patriots finished 27-7, 16-2 in Colonial Athletic Association last season  George Mason threw up some major league masonry, two of 14 from three-point range, while beating Rhode Island 92-90 Friday night in overtime. That’s one more game in which to start working out the kinks and getting to know themselves under new coach Paul Hewitt, who spent 11 years at Georgia Tech.

“A big opportunity for us,” senior Jeremy Allen said. “Not many people get the chance to play on that big stage. It comes with a lot of responsibility. We need to be mature about it.”

Fellow senior DeJuan Wright said of his younger bretheren, “They’re mature young guys, so they should be able to handle it.”

The young player from which the most will be expected is 6-7 sophomore Dominique Ferguson, who joined FIU midseason. Ferguson said he felt apart from everything all season because he wasn’t allowed to join the team, even in conditioning workouts, until December. Still, he blocked 30 shots in 20 games.

 “That’s just instinct,” he said. “I’ve always blocked shots.”

Nobody’s worried about FIU’s offense…

“We move the ball around,” Ferguson said. “We don’t have any selfish people. We don’t have anybody that’s going for their own thing. If anything, we’ve got people who are passing up shots. That’s the only negative.”

…it’s the defense that’ll make the difference between set the pace and create an identity, if this team is to find one. And they’ll start finding out who they are and where they are tonight in Blacksburg, Virginia.

FOOTBALL

T.Y. Hilton's 97-yard punt return Saturday night earned him Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week, his third player of the week award for the season and the seventh of his career. The record is nine, held by current Buffalo Bills cornerback and former Troy defensive back Leodis McKelvin.

FIU will look for a medical redshirt for senior safety Chuck Grace. Also out for the rest of the season with a sprained knee is long snapper Mitch McCluggage.

As for who'll start at quarterback between Wesley Carroll and Jake Medlock Saturday at Louisiana-Monroe, Mario Cristobal insisted it was still an open competition. But Medlock goes into this week with the edge.

"To keep it fair, yeah, they'll both get plenty of reps in practice," Cristobal said. "Jake will  go in as the starter."

By the way, I'm not much for playing Bowl Bingo, but we can play that later today if you folks want. The one bowl that was a possibility that's definitely out now is The New Orleans Bowl, which will have Sun Belt champion Arkansas State.

VOLLEYBALL

FIU, host of this week's Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Championship, will start as the No. 4 seed and face No. 5 seed Denver at 7:30 Thursday at U.S. Century Bank Arena.The winner will face Western Kentucky. Technically, the winner will face the winner of No. 1 seed Western Kentucky, 15-1 in the Sun Belt, vs. No. 8 Troy.

 

A few thoughts from FIU 41, FAU 7...

Ahhh, something new has been added.

Or, as a later generation might say, And now for something completely different.

 

Watching redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Medlock (I can’t help but think, “A Quinn Martin Production”) in camp scrimmages and earlier in the year against Louisiana-Lafayette, his advantages on fifth-year senior Wesley Carroll couldn’t be more apparent: bigger, stronger, better runner. As a passer, Carroll’s still better but with the gap closing. Carroll carries his real advantage on his shoulders. He’s played more, takes more practice reps, knows the offense better. When running the spread option, which relies so much on rapid quarterback reads, that’s like being a near-equal martial artist to your opponent, but having the Iron Fist.

Cristobal said the decision to go with Medlock got made early in the week. I’m going to bet it got made last Sunday or even late Saturday night as coaches went over film from the Western Kentucky loss.

Early in the week, when I talked to Cristobal about the offense over the last three games, his first answers seemed very confined to the Western Kentucky game. Carroll threw a bad interception in the end zone right after a fumble recovery in Western territory with FIU up 3-0. Cristobal lamented that a touchdown there really changes the game, especially with Western’s one-note, ground-bound offense.

But I’m thinking the 13-yard sack on FIU’s last possession clinched it. You can’t take that sack late in the game, deep in your own territory, up by only two, doubly so against a team with a flabby passing attack that they trust more than their dicey kicker. A senior with Carroll’s experience shouldn’t take that sack. I can see some coach sitting around a table and saying, “Hell, if we’re going to get decisions like that, let’s get them from the more physically talented guy.”

So, enter Jake Medlock...

 

Cristobal admitted they threw some thought into the timing, that they’d be making the change on Senior Night. As to be expected, that didn’t override the consideration that the offense needed something.

Going back to the Lou-La game, when Medlock took over in the second quarter, FIU scored 56 points in the next five quarters. Now, there was a 97-yard T.Y. Hilton punt return and a one-play, 9-yard drive after Jonathan Faucher smothered a punt. Take those out and that’s still 42 points in five quarters or 33.6 per four quarters.

Allegedly, the job remains an open competition. Medlock, coached postgame as well as he was for the game, said all the right things in his postgame press conference about Carroll, who worked with Medlock during the week and during the game. Medlock also made sure to thank the offensive line, which managed to limit its penalties again and cleared the way for a zero-sack, 220-rushing yard night.

“When Jake puts his head down, it’s pretty effective," Cristobal said. "It keeps defenses from stacking the box. I think we’ve experienced the last couple of weeks being outnumbered in the box and being tough to get push and tough to run the football. Today, we broke out with over 200 yards and some of it was him. Some of it was just the threat of him running the football opening it up.”

Medlock did throw two balls that should’ve been picked off, just bad decisions. But that’s to be expected. It’s probably why he got kept in to the end. He needs playing time.

As Hilton settled under the punt, I thought not “What the hell is he doing fielding a punt on the 3?” but rather, “It’s 24-0, why not?”

Hilton blew through a gaping hole, yet stayed just far enough from the sideline to keep it from being used as another defender until he passed almost everyone but punter Mickey Groody. Hilton tried to signal up ahead for Wayne Times to take care of Groody. Instead, Times peeled back on FAU’s Damian Parms and, well…I don’t know what Parms spiritual beliefs were before, but he’s a Christian now because he got BAPTIZED by Times. FIU coaches came off the sideline to check on Parms while Hilton decelerated over the goal line. Parms stayed down for a bit, then made it back across the field.

I thought it was cool that Hilton owned up to crying four times Saturday. Nothing wrong with that. One of the most macho men in sports history, hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier, surpasses former NFL coach Dick Vermeil as a weeper.

While discussing the emergence of safety Justin Halley (two interceptions), Cristobal reminded everyone that FIU still is working without a full complement of scholarships.

Honoring Kendall Berry during the pregame Senior Night ceremony counts as a class move. That almost caused me to weep.

Two fun lines of the night: fan next to the press box, not 10 feet from where Mike Biamonte sits behind me, saying, “We’ve got the Heat announcer. He’s not working right now.”

Member of the stat crew in the press box during the flag-filled third quarter: “That referee is going to need Tommy John surgery.”

I know this is a blog concerned with FIU, but I’m sorry, the longer that game went on and hearing FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger postgame, the more I felt this had to be said to some FAU players: someday, if you have any more sense than God gave my cats, age will grant you a greater idea of what longevity, stature and history means. And you will feel great sorrow at your performance Saturday.

Not the losing by 34. That happens. As they said in GoodFellas, everybody takes a beating sometime. You’re a young team playing a team with more talent and more mature talent. But to do so with 7 personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and an ejection, to embarrass your coach so badly, he apologized to coaches who molded him both living and dead, is an abomination. It goes to character. It doesn’t matter if some of you think Howard Schnellenberger should’ve retired a year ago, two years ago, whenever. You chose to play at FAU in a program of which he is head coach. And while, to you, “Shula Bowl” might be some appellation meaning no more than “GoDaddy.com Bowl” because “Shula” means steak house chain, expressway or some guy who used to coach the Dolphins when they used to really ball, it still means something to your coach. To him, Don Shula’s a great football coach who influenced his career. And putting Schnellenberger’s career in parenting terms, he took one program in South Florida off the streets, saved it and got it going to success, did the same for another program in Louisville. Later, he birthed and has been raising the program you’re in now. If not for him, the University of Miami program might be in the childhood of its rebirth, assuming there was a rebirth. FAU? FIU? Please. You owe it to him to play hard and come correct. According to Howard, you’d done that before Saturday. Behaving so shamefully in a game and stadium that wouldn’t probably wouldn’t exist but for your coach reflects poorly on you, your parents and your school.

Women's soccer opens NCAA's against UCF; TY to Senior Bowl; Water Women

FIU's first match in the NCAA women's soccer tournament will be at Central Florida (11-4-5) Friday at 7 p.m. The winner faces the winner of Florida Gulf Coast (14-4-2) vs. Florida (16-7), both teams FIU lost to at home early this season. FIU lost to Florida 2-0 on Aug. 21, and Gulf Coast 3-2 on Sept. 9, the latter after holding a 2-0 lead.

FIU coach Thomas Chestnutt said UCF was perhaps the one team in Florida he didn't know much about, but "I'm not concerned about that. They're always a good team."

Besides, Chestnutt feels his team is "in a good place" mentally and physically. Certainly, since beating Western Kentucky on penalty kicks for the Sun Belt championship, they've been bathing in joy.

"It's been crazy," sophomore Nicole DiPerna said. "We've all been on such an emotional high for a while. We were at dinner (Saturday night at Toots) and were like, 'We actually won!' Coach told us to order anything we want and we kind of went crazy. Right know, walking in to see who we'd play, we felt like we were going to another game, we were all so excited and hyped."

FOOTBALL

Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton has been invited to the 2012 Senior Bowl, Jan. 28 in Mobile, Alabama. Hilton's the first FIU player to be invited to the event, attended by almost every NFL scout, coach and agent.

Though it seems the jelly's out of the donut on the football season after Saturday's touchdown-free loss at Western Kentucky, there's still, somehow, a shot at a bowl for FIU. Although, frankly, I don't think there's a better argument that there are too many bowls than a fourth place Sun Belt team getting in one.

Over the weekend, Tampa Alonso safety Jordan Davis verbally committed to FIU as did Titusville Astronaut quarterback Favian Upshaw.

Long snapper Mitch McCluggage sprained his knee Saturday. If he can't go Saturday, expect freshman Brandon Taylor to take that job so underrated by most fans...until their team suffers an ill-timed bad snap. Mario Cristobal said defensive tackle Joshua Forney was "ready to go this week" despite not playing Saturday but free safety Chuck Grace wasn't as close as they thought.

Defensive lineman James Jones did some extra drills after practice, a punitive measure for his unnecessary roughness penalty during Saturday's game. The penalty, after a third down stop, extended a Western Kentucky drive that eventually amounted to nothing, but in a defensive struggle, giving up 15 yards of field position is like giving up a 30-yard play in a normal game. On the game's most important call, the unnecessary roughness call on Isame Faciane that turned a Bobby Rainey 12-yard reception into a 27-yard play on the drive to the game-winning field goal.

"I just think that's playing hard football. At the end, it's a discretionary call. I'm not taking a shot at an official, they've got to call it as they see it," Cristobal said. "You're looking at two teams trying to find a way to win, trying to get their best player out of bounds. It wasn't like he took a shot at the young man or tried to hit him. He's trying to make sure he gets out of bounds and save us a few yards, whatever it may be, as they're trying to get into field goal range, that they're pushed back as far as they can be. That one's easy to talk about unless you're on the field and trying to hunt down that kid as fast as he is...that's a tough call." 

Larry Milian, The Amigo on 640AM's "Armando and The Amigo" morning show (or, as this caffeine mainliner thinks it should be called since the addition of Chris Perkins, "Morning Sports Colada and Black Coffee"), will be doing the radio color on this week's FAU-FIU game. Rick Sanchez has a prior committment. 

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Saturday: Drama Queens and Kings Day. The football team's loss in the late afternoon. The women's soccer team outlasting Western Kentucky on penalty kicks for the Sun Belt title earlier in the afternoon. And somewhere between all that, the swim team's meet with FAU and Florida Southern coming down to the 400 Free Relay.

Or, at least, that's how it seemed at the time.

Behind Stanley Cup playoff sudden death overtime, NFL playoff sudden death overtime and the last laps of a close auto race, I'll put a track or swim meet coming down to a final relay as the most exciting setup in sports. The speed and co-dependence involved might as well be an adrenaline IV to me. FIU trailed FAU by 12 and needed a 1-2 finish by their 400 Free Relay teams. So take the normal quality and depth involved in winning the relay and double it.

FIU's No. 1 team Vicnan Torres, Nadai Farrugia, Colleen Quinn and Johanna Gustafsdottir came home first in 3:35.89 and the No. 2 team of Kayla Derr, Kariann Stevens, Chelsie Kidd and Kelly Grace powered home in 3:37.05 to give FIU a 119-118 win over FAU (Florida Southern was drowned, 194.5-35.5).

FIU also won the 200 Medley Relay with Stevens, Sonia Perez Arau, Klara Andersson and Mariangela Macchiavello in 1:49.73; the 200 Back with Perez Arau in 2:02.66; and diving with Sabrina Beaupre rolling up 275.7 points.

But FAU protested the 200 Back result, claiming the electronic timing system showed Ivana Lefanowicz had outtouchced Perez Arau. Officials agreed and the reversal of the event meant FAU won the meet 123-114.

 

Men's Hoop Belt Media Day, football injuries, volleyball pounds FAU

Meant to make this post yesterday afternoon, then last night, then fell asleep early after pounding blackened fish and Rice-A-Roni, still didn't win Lotto, so here I am getting my daily cup of Colombian from Europa with a little mini-jambalaya of topics.

FOOTBALL

Wide receiver Glenn Coleman got the wind blasted out of him on the play that resulted in Troy's fumble return touchdown, then spent Tuesday dealing with bruised ribs and a stiff neck.

According to FIU coach Mario Cristobal, defensive tackle Joshua Forney suffered a sprained ankle when we went down in the third quarter.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

 

Only on TV.

The Sun Belt coaches voted FIU 5th in the six-team Sun Belt East and honored only one player, DeJuan Wright, with a preseason All-Sun Belt selection (second-team at that). Somewhat predictably, FIU coach Isiah Thomas didn't show pique at the poll even if he felt it.

"We just want to play well every night," Thomas said during Wednesday's Sun Belt men's basketball teleconference. "Clearly, the people making the poll think other teams have better players than we do and they probably do."

But, Thomas said, he hopes the team learned from the way they lost several close games last year.

"We lost with a young  group that hopefully learned the importance of making foul shots, not making key turnovers in situations," he said.

Thomas also thinks the team's got a better grasp of defensive concepts he wants to execute, which involve a lot of trapping, switching and rotation. FIU's foul problems last season, he believes, came after they got seduced into "excessive gambling" by their success at making steals: "We were second in the league in steals. I think our team got too excited about trying to steal the ball rather than containing their man and forcing a tough shot."

By the way, FAU coach Mike Jarvis responded to being the East Divsion favorite and the consensus overall favorite with some suspicion and paranoia -- "I know there are people who pick us to win because they don't think we will. It's the ol' set up game" -- but also said, "every team I've coached that was expected to win has."

What Jarvis can't be happy about is the only place FIU's been shown any love, the Sun Belt Network schedule. The Panthers have three games on the Sun Belt Network while FAU has only one. That one is the game at FIU Jan. 21. FIU's also on against North Texas, a Feb. 9 home game, and on the road Feb. 16 against Arkansas-Little Rock.

The FIU women will be on Sun Belt Network Dec. 11 at Western Kentucky live. The women's Jan. 21 home game against FAU will be on the next day at 1 p.m. 

VOLLEYBALL

Sabrina Gonzalez had a team high 15 kills, Jovana Bjelica had 11 kills, freshman Silvia Carli had three service aces as FIU crushed FAU 3-0 (25-9, 25-22, 25-16) Wednesday night. FIU's 14-7, 6-4 in the Sun Belt. Or, put another way, 14-4, 6-0 in the Sun Belt against everyone except Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State. 

A few thoughts from FIU 23, Troy 20 (OT)....

What we’ve seen from FIU over the last month:

Slopping about and losing prompts anger. Slopping about, but winning with some difficulty against a lousy opponent prompts annoyance. Slopping about, but winning against an opponent with some talent prompts giddiness – especially if you’ve saved your season.

That’s what we’ve seen from FIU over the last month, most recently in the Tuesday night-early Wednesday a.m. moments after a fun, flawed, augmented, drama-drenched 23-20 overtime win against Troy. Wesley Carroll, usually coolly happy or frustrated into rote cliché, didn’t just laugh, he seemed on the verge of giggling. Mario Cristobal chuckled, joked about his demeanor after a first half of flags, fumbles and assorted foibles ("Oh, there was some talk in the locker room. Good thing we had the doors closed.")

Maybe it’s that, acknowledging media deadlines or just the lateness of the hour, Cristobal and the players entered the postgame media conferences much sooner than usual. I don’t think so, though. Wins against Louisville and Central Florida prompted fist pumps, flying chest and hip bumps. This was more the “phew, that was close. You OK?” after your tire blows at 80 on I-95, but you keep it out of the ditch and the semi misses you.

Or, the other side’s kicker misses to the left – twice.

“He pulled them,” Troy coach Larry Blakeney said of kicker Michael Taylor’s second extra point attempt and the 43-yard overtime field goal attempt. “He flat out pulled them. That’s the one little problem he has.”

Actually, when Taylor clanked his second extra point off the left upright, it didn’t keep Troy from winning in regulation. It just opened the door to overtime. If FIU trailed 21-17 with 3:31 left and fourth and 2 at the Troy 3-yard line, they’d have gone for it. That opens another of possibilities, most of which end at a winner decided after 60 minutes. But at 20-17, FIU took the safe route and we got overtime.

Tuesday’s imperfections kept the game as entertaining even while being exasperating. Somebody on Twitter said during the fourth quarter that I must be falling asleep in the press box from the bad football. No, that would’ve been Sunday’s first 55 minutes of the Dolphins game – awful and excruciating to watch. Tuesday could’ve kept me riveted even if I had been at home with pizza, Long Islands and the DirectTV universe at my command. So many moments of “Ooo, nice play!” “C’mon, man!” “Oh, my goodness!” “Whoa!” “That’s some ridiculous stuff there!”

Dealing with Troy’s go-go offensive pace concerned FIU. As Cristobal pointed out, they also substitute late before the snap, making defensive adjustments difficult. Tourek Willams said, “We had a package where we added two defensive ends and took two defensive tackles out. We wanted more speed on the field.”

Also, give the FIU defense credit for not getting spastic in the face of Troy’s pace. No offside penalties. Williams, matched against redshirt freshman right tackle Terrence Jones, had two sacks and several pressures. The right side of Troy’s line needed a kiddie menu, with Jones and freshman guard Zach Johnson. Most of Troy’s big runs came around the left side, where 6-4, 312-pound left tackle James Brown can make a running back look like Jim Brown.

Troy, whose running game previously just let quarterback Corey Robinson rest his arm, actually ran well, with backs Shawn Southward and D.J. Taylor picking up 95 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries. But they couldn’t protect Robinson and their receivers kept running the four-yards-short-of-the-marker third down patterns that the Dolphins run so well. FIU squatted on those routes and tackled better than they have in a month. Troy made no adjustments after a first half with only four first downs and zero third down conversions. Overall the last two weeks, FIU’s downfield coverage has improved. Troy threw for only 215 yards on 20 of 34 passing. They ran only 59 plays, 18 below their average.

FIU’s offensive line was the Panthers’ game in microcosm. Their first half penalties -- two holds on left tackle Caylin Hauptmann, a hold on Rupert Bryan, two false starts on Bryan in the same series – interrupted more drives than Dolphin Expressway wrecks. But Hauptmann, Bryan, left guard Shae Smith, center Giancarlo Revilla and right guard Curtis Bryant moved Troy well enough for Kedrick Rhodes’ 172 yards on 30 carries and Darriet Perry’s 60 yards on 12 carries. By the end, they were just buffaloing Troy to the side most plays and it wasn’t like the Trojans didn’t know what was coming.

Such as on the fourth quarter fourth and 1 from the FIU 39. If that ball’s snapped, everyone, his mama and his unborn grandkids know Perry’s getting it. And he did for 6 yards over the left side. In overtime, nobody thought FIU would risk an interception. Six Rhodes runs, 21 yards, chip shot Jack Griffin field goal.

Rhodes, who said they knew they’d have success on some zone blocking inside runs, has 762 rushing yards for the season. Unless the coaches really see something in the defense that says a brute force back or a pure speed back works better, they should ride Rhodes the rest of the season like Seattle Slew and use the other backs as just a change of pace or to give him a rest. Perry’s now second in FIU history with 1,703 career rushing yards.

Griffin’s kickoffs were much better than in previous weeks. His average kickoff length was 65.8 yards and FIU’s net yards were 46.2.

Josh Brisk averaged 37.6 yards per punt, an average dragged down by his last punt, a 14-yarder in the final seconds of regulation. That left Troy a chance to Fredo the Panthers with a Hail Mary from the 50. Justin Halley picked that one off, giving FIU four interceptions in the last three games.

Carroll’s got three interceptions in the last three games and admitted Tuesday’s was something “that shouldn’t have happened.” He threw downfield for an open tight end Jonathan Faucher not just off his back foot, but hopping backwards in the face of pressure.

That throw aside, Carroll ran FIU’s offense expertly. Here’s FIU’s offense: in the second half, Carroll completed only five of 15, but for 144 yards and two touchdowns. This is a slugger’s offense. I love that Carroll, with T.Y. Hilton taking regular snaps most of the night, hit other guys deep as he did in finding Wayne Times for the 76-yard score and stepping up almost beyond the pocket to hit Jacob Younger for a 43-yarder on third and 21. Hilton’s FIU’s Ferrari, but he’s not the only potential playmaker in the Panthers garage. Several times this season, under a modicum of duress, Carroll has tried to make a tougher throw to a multi-covered Hilton rather than an easier downfield throw to a single covered receiver.

“It worked out exactly like we drew it up,” Carroll said. “Jacob Younger did a great job on his. Wayne Times beat man coverage. Great pre-snap read by everybody.”

Speaking of Hilton, the groan familiar to Dolphins fans late last season when they saw the increasingly ineffective Wildcat came from my throat each of the three times FIU lined up Hilton in the Wildcat Tuesday. With the base offense walking downfield in rhythm, the Hilton Wildcat couldn’t get in step.

The first time, a second and 1 from the Troy 20, they had moved the ball 50 yards in four plays, plus gotten a Troy offside. Perry got called for a false start (the only thing early in this town Tuesday – players on both sides of the ball moving before an FIU snap). Next time, first and 10 from the Troy 43 with a 47-yard drive working: Hilton carries left for a 2-yard loss. A punt ensued two plays later. The final time, FIU had driven 39 yards to the Troy 32 when Troy read the reverse to Coleman, who slipped for a 6-yard loss. That’s the series and drive that ended with the Younger touchdown, but you don’t get many 43-yard bombs on third and 21.

Hilton wound up with four catches for 62 yards and 161 all-purpose yards. He seemed a little ouchy late, although he looked roused after jawing with Troy's Xavier Lamb in the fourth quarter. Rhodes had 194 all-purpose yards.

Against Louisville and Central Florida, FIU demonstrated mental toughness at pivotal points that could’ve seen them collapse. Tuesday saw many such moments, most glaringly after a first half the Panthers owned everything but the scoreboard and, in the third quarter, Troy’s two touchdowns in 44 seconds to turn 17-7 into 20-17. A collapse at either time would’ve meant a collapse of the season.

Instead, they showed the maturity and strength from September that they didn’t show in Jonesboro last week. The Panthers sit 5-3, 2-2 in the Sun Belt. All they desire remains possible.