Sun Belt Report
By Jamie Lay (Posted 9-23-08)
Winless FIU Opens New Stadium
This weekend Florida International University christened its new 17,000-seat on-campus stadium, a 17-9 defeat to No. 13 South Florida. The Golden Panthers defense in a spectacular effort kept USF quarterback Matt Grothe from the end zone for only the second-time in his 30-game career. Second-year FIU coach Mario Cristobal, a former University of Miami player and coach, tailored his defensive game plan specifically for the supremely talented Heisman candidate.
“I don’t know whether we contained him. He had some pretty long drives, a 90-yard drive on us. [Grothe’s] a phenomenal quarterback,” Cristobal said. “You have to do a great job up front. He made us pay for it a couple times. A couple third-down conversions he should have been wrapped up and it should have been our ball. He does a great job of getting in and out of trouble.
“We really stressed discipline in our rush lanes all week long,” he continued. “The pressure and blitz lanes all week long and made sure when we were in man coverage, we really stayed in man coverage and trusted that our d-line was going to get it done. We also did a couple things with our linebackers, our nickel and dime packages to spy on him so at least if he did come free, we had a chance to get him on the ground.”
Cristobal, 1-14 as coach of FIU, sees the similarity between where USF was 10 years ago and where FIU is right now.
“I think we’re at a very similar stages to Rutgers back in 2000,” he said. “You know you have to establish everything. You have to establish a foundation before you start building and that’s what we’re doing with great strength and conditioning. With great disciplinary work ethic with tremendous coaching to develop and unbelievable recruiting compare with what FIU has experienced in the past. I think staying at this relentlessly will put us on the same course that Rutgers and USF has had.”
At 0-3, the young FIU program has struggled to gain firm footing in Division I, but Florida has too many quality high school football players for it not to eventually win. The new stadium is a start. Cristobal, who turns 38 this week, acknowledged its significance.
“From the moment we pulled into campus it looked like a real college gameday atmosphere,” he said. “Obviously it was a special day for us on campus. It gives us a flash of what FIU will be doing in the future.
“I think FIU needed a jump-start being I-AA, Division II football its first four and half five years and jumping into Division I a year ago,” he continued. “To make that jump loud and make a strong statement, the administration knew what it had to do. The administration had to commit itself to building a prime-time facility so it is well known that we are going to commit to making a good football program. Our players take notice. Our recruits take notice. Obviously the community is extremely fired up about it. It’s not a promise, it’s not cheap talk. It’s a reality.”
MTSU Not in the Middle Anymore
MTSU admits realistically it is a rebuilding year. Still the Blue Raiders 1-3 record is a little misleading. After losing to Troy, MTSU upset an ACC team (Maryland 24-14) and almost beat a SEC squad (Kentucky) the following week. The upset became more meaningful when the Terps dominated Cal-Berkeley (35-28) and Eastern Michigan (51-24). Though MTSU lost to Sun Belt conference leader Arkansas State last week, the program is healthy.
Under third-year coach Stockstill, the Blue Raiders have made the Sun Belt title game twice and played in a bowl game, the Motor City Bowl in 2006. Stockstill, a 25-year veteran of the game, played at Florida State under Bobby Bowden and later coached for him. Bowden influenced Stockstill greatly.
“I think [Bowden] probably shaped my philosophies as much as anybody: your offensive philosophies, how you treat people, the things you demand. How he communicated with us as players. Probably he has much influence as anybody,” Stockstill said. “I’ve been fortunate to spend a year with Coach Holtz and Coach Spurrier [at South Carolina] and a few years with Tommy Bowden [at Clemson].
“I’ve used them to shape my own personality and my own beliefs and how I want things done and how I should run a program,” he continued. “You take a little bit from everybody and make sure it’s what fits your personality and your beliefs. We’re going to do things in a first class way and not going to take a short cuts to get there.”
ULM Offense Implodes
It depends upon whom you ask. ULM either had its worst offensive game of the year against Tulane or it was simply thwarted by the Green Waves’ defense. (ULM was 1 for 10 on third downs and had only 182 yards of offense. This is same team that put up 220 and 341 yards on Auburn and Arkansas.) Coach Charlie Weatherbie believes the former to be true.
“Self destruction was No. 1, offensively. It wasn’t really a whole lot what Tulane did, it was more what we did,” he said. “Not taking anything away from Tulane because they do have some good football players. We self destructed pretty much.”
On defense, Weatherbie is particularly impressed with the development of defensive end Aaron Morgan. The 6-5, 224-pound junior has three sacks, five tackles-for-a-loss and five quarterback-hustles only three games into the season. He views him as the cornerstone of the Warhawk defense.
“I think Aaron is a real fine player for us,” he said. “He’s done some good things for us on and off the field. I think he’s a good leader and a good player. He’s one of those players who’s going to continue to develop.”