Head Coach: Mike McIntyre is entering his 3rd year as the head coach of the Golden Panthers with a 8-16 record. He’s had success at previous stops, but is still looking for his breakthrough season here.
Program Outlook: It’s murky at best for FIU. They’ve had many stretches of struggles in their history, including the one they’re in right now, but past coaches have also shown you can succeed here. Most recently Butch Davis had a great 3 year run to start his tenure, 3 straight bowl appearances, a 9 win season and a win over the Miami Hurricanes. Things seemingly got tense between Davis and the administration, then FIU collapsed with a winless Covid season and 1-11 the next year. They are struggling to find their way back since.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: The good news is there’s a lot returning. FIU hasn’t seen much come easy for the offense in some time. They were extremely unproductive early in the year and turned the keys over to then freshman Keyone Jenkins. He had his struggles, wasn’t accurate enough at times, turned the ball over too much but he also got better as the year went on and his mobility really helps open up this offense. The biggest issue for FIU for a while has been the offensive line, but they have experience coming back. If you squint you can find some promise on the interior of the line which could help open holes for a strong duo of backs. Running will be the key because the Golden Panthers lost their star receiver to the portal, although the cupboard isn’t completely bare at receiver they have a few solid returnees. FIU’s defense will be led by their secondary they have one of the best safety duos in the conference and an experienced group of corners as well. There’s questions elsewhere, they’re trying to sort out their linebacker rotation, but the good news for run support is they will have massive former JUCO Nose Tackle Cole Gustafson to eat up space on the inside. Can they find a way to generate pressure on the opposing QB? If they can even get some sort of pass rushing presence up front this secondary could eat.
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: There’s no easy games for FIU but with some improvement the Golden Panthers have a window to go bowling. The non-conference schedule includes Indiana who is under new leadership, the Shula Bowl against what could be an improved FAU and a home game against a Central Michigan team that could be up in the air. Their FCS foe is the Monmouth Hawks, fun fact about them, they’ve only had one head coach in their program’s history! Kevin Callahan is in his 32nd year! FIU avoids Western Kentucky in conference play which is very helpful.
Vegas Projection: FIU’s win total is set at 4.5 with the odds geared toward the under. On the surface Vegas doesn’t see any improvement in win total for the Golden Panthers, but I’ve also noticed that they set about half of CUSA’s win totals at 4.5 which tell me Vegas essentially doesn’t know who will emerge out of this mid-to-back pack of the conference to reach bowl eligibility.
2024 Best Case: FIU finds the right answers for improvement on the offensive line, Jenkins makes a big step and the defense improves to allow the Panthers to make a big step forward. They show that right off the bat with a huge win over Indiana, they keep it going by beating Central Michigan and taking down rival FAU in the Shula Bowl and their fans let the Owls fans hear about it (seriously these 2 fanbases hate each other.) They beat Monmouth and Louisiana Tech to move to 5-0 and already hit the over. The Panthers undefeated start ends against Liberty but they keep up the strong play the rest of the season on their way to a 10-2 season. They even cap off the season with a bowl win to go 11-2 and suddenly the future is bright after one of the best seasons in program history.
2024 Worst Case: The offensive line struggles, Jenkins can’t stop turning it over and the defense still can’t make any impact up front. They’re blown out by Indiana, Central Michigan and rival FAU to begin the offseason. They struggle their way past Monmouth, but it doesn’t help them gain any momentum because they’re blown out by Louisiana Tech the following week. The Golden Panthers have a few close calls but don’t win a single game the rest of the season in a terrible stumble to 1-11. FAU surprisingly wins 10 games and it’s hard to tell when FIU will ever have hope again.
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