FIU Golden Panthers: CFN College Football Preview 2021
College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the FIU season with what you need to know.
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– FIU Schedule Analysis
– FIU Golden Panthers Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 0-5 overall, 0-3 in C-USA
Head Coach: Butch Davis, 5th year, 23-21 (86-64 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 125
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 110
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 85
FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– Let’s just say the offense took a step back. The Golden Panthers averaged a horrendous 281 yards and 22 points per game with a woefully inefficient passing game and not enough of a ground attack to make up for it. Any improvement starts with something happening through the air – FIU failed to hit 200 yards in any of the five games and was under 90 in two.
– Consider the quarterback race wide open. The FIU quarterbacks combined to average just 4.7 yards per attempt hitting just 45% of their throws. Stone Norton took off for Southern Illinois, Kaylen Wiggins is still an option, and former Maryland transfer Max Bortenschlager has the experience. After that it’s up to a few untested freshmen – at the moment, no other options are coming aboard.
The receiving corps has experience but now needs to help out the quarterbacks – and vice versa. Five of the top six receivers are back, and getting back 2019 leading target Shemar Thornton after missing last year is huge.
Junior Bryce Singleton led the way for the wideouts in 2020 with 14 catches for 150 yards, TE Rivaldo Fairweather is a 6-5, 245-pound second-year freshman who looks the part – he led the team with 165 yards on his ten catches; with almost all of it against Florida Atlantic – and there are plenty of options ready to do more.
– The line was abysmal in pass protection, but it was solid for the ground game and should be a bit better even with two starters gone. The transfer portal is active with three backups leaving, but landing a few new guys will help starting with Api Mane from Kansas for the inside.
The backs are there if the line can just give everyone time. Leading rusher D’vonte Price is a big 6-2, 215-pound veteran who averaged close to seven yards per carry, Shaun Peterson is an even bigger 6-3, 215-pound back who averaged six yards per run, and there’s plenty of help in the mix.
NEXT: FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: Defense
4. FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– For all of the problems the team had last year, the defense had its share of positives. Overall it was a struggle – the O didn’t provide a lick of help – allowing 423 yards and 32 points per game, but the pass rush was okay and there were plenty of tackles for loss. The run D was another story getting pounded on way too easily, but …
– There’s promise on the front four. There isn’t any size on the inside, but there are enough options to come up with a solid rotation to do a bit more to hold up.
6-1, 263-pound Davon Strickland is back at one tackle after leading the way with four tackles for loss, 262-pound junior Jason Mercier is at the other spot, and there’s help at getting behind the line from the linebackers.
Jamal Gates is back on the outside after finishing tied for second on the team with 26 stops, but losing Tyson Maeva to Fresno State hurts. However, getting 240-pound veteran Hal Vinson from Texas State brings some much needed size and experience.
– The secondary is the biggest strength with four of the five top tacklers coming from the group – for good and for bad. The all-star brother combination of Rishard Dames at corner and Richard Dames at safety is as good as any in Conference USA. Dorian Hall is a good-tackling veteran at the other safety spot, and Josh Turner returns on the other side of Rishard Dames.
NEXT: FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best FIU Golden Panthers Offensive Player
RB D’vonte Price, Sr.
Depending on which of the backs get hot in the rotation, Price doesn’t have to do it all. Former Arkansas transfer Maleek Willams has the upside to be a difference-maker after getting minimal work last year, and Shaun Peterson is a big option who can carry the load, but the 6-2, 215-pound Price is the four-year veteran who needs to handle the offense.
He ran for a career-high 581 yards and four scores, averages over six yards per carry for his career, and he’s good around the goal line. Now he needs the ball more as a short-range receiver.
2. WR Shermar Thonton, Sr.
3. OG Sione Finau, Soph.
4. WR Bryce Singleton, Jr.
5. TE Rivaldo Fairweather, Fr.
Related
FIU Football Schedule 2021, Analysis
Best FIU Golden Panthers Defensive Player
CB Rishard Dames, Jr.
It’s hard to go wrong with either of the Dames brothers for the top defensive spot. Richard is a veteran corner with 186 career stops with four interceptions and 13 brown up passes. The 5-11, 185-pounder can get behind the line, too.
Rishard is the lockdown corner with 89 tackles in three years with ten tackles for loss, a sack, six picks and ten broken up passes. These two lead a loaded secondary.
2. S Richard Dames, Sr.
3. CB Josh Turner, Jr.
4. S Dorian Hall, Jr.
5. LB Jamal Gates, Sr.
Top Incoming FIU Golden Panthers Transfer
OG Api Mane, Sr.
For an O line that needs bulk, here it comes. The 6-3, 334-pound former Kansas Jayhawk worked as a guard and center over two seasons, and he’ll be tried out at both spots as a potential anchor for a ground game that has the backs, but needs a blaster on the interior.
NEXT: FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
FIU Golden Panthers Biggest Key: Offense
The passing game has to stop being abysmal. No one’s asking for a high-octane fun show, but there has to be some semblance of production for an offense that averaged just 281 total yards per game.
The Golden Panthers weren’t great throwing the ball in 2019, but at least they hit 57% of their passes with 14 scores and six picks.
At least they threw for over 200 yards seven times.
The 2020 team never hit 200 yards and threw just three touchdown passes over the final four games.
FIU Golden Panthers Biggest Key: Defense
The run defense has to start holding up. Taking the ball away is a must after coming up with just four turnovers in five games, and there has to be more of a pass rush, but the run D can’t get ripped apart for 236 yards per game again.
The 2019 run defense was bad – it allowed close to five yards per carry with 26 touchdowns, allowing 200 yards or more six times going 1-5. The 2020 version was worse, allowing over five yards per carry and over 200 yards in three of the five games.
Jacksonville State and Florida Atlantic combined for 666 yards over a two game run. That’s a problem.
FIU Golden Panthers Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Max Bortenschlager, Sr.
He completed 46% of his passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in five games – and he was the team’s leading passer.
There are other options, and the coaching staff will go with anyone who isn’t awful, but the former Maryland starter has the size, experience and passing upside to get this working.
FIU Golden Panthers Key Game To The 2021 Season
at Florida Atlantic, Oct. 2
The Golden Panthers have to start beating that team up the road again, and doing it in their Conference USA opener would be a big deal.
They lost 38-19 last year after getting run over, and lost 37-7 the year before after getting run over. FIU has lost four in a row and five of the last six. Win this, and with Charlotte up next, 4-2 or even 5-1 isn’t asking for the world.
2020 FIU Golden Panthers Fun Stats
– Time of Possession: Opponents 33:48 – FIU 26:12
– Field Goals: Opponents 10-of-12 – FIU 3-of-4
– Punt Return Average: FIU 12.3 – Opponents -0.4
NEXT: FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
FIU Golden Panthers College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Just blow off the 2020 season.
Everyone had problems in their own way, but FIU could never get going. The season went through a slew of stops and starts, the lineups were always hit or miss with too many players in and out, and there was no way to get anything consistently working.
But the program should’ve been better than 0-5 against a super-soft schedule with no Power Five games and home losses to Middle Tennessee and the FCS’s Jacksonville State.
Set The FIU Golden Panthers Regular Season Win Total At … 5.5
It was an aberration.
Head coach Butch Jones hasn’t created a killer, but after his first few years there’s an expectation of winning seasons, bowl games, and wins over the mediocre teams on the slate.
FIU has been good at punching its weight under Jones and beating the lightweights, and this year there’s a bunch of them.
Not that FIU can take anyone for granted after last year’s disaster, but forget about the trip to Texas Tech and assume there’s a puncher’s chance against everyone else.
