Most of Florida’s wins this season have been too close for comfort as far as fans are concerned, but online betting sites expect FIU to provide the cure this weekend.
As of Tuesday afternoon, most oddsmakers had the No. 1 Gators (10-0) pegged as 45-point favorites, but UF coach Urban Meyer and recent history would advise against taking that bet.
Meyer had high praise for the Golden Panthers (3-7) at his press conference Monday.
“There is no question FIU will be a bowl team sooner than you think,” Meyer said. “There are quality athletes, and they are very well-coached. … This is not a smaller Division I team. This is a very good team that will be in a bowl game within two years. That’s our opinion, because they have very good personnel and they throw it around.”
Reaching a bowl in the next two years would mark an incredible achievement by FIU coach Mario Cristobal. The Golden Panthers are in just their eighth season with a football team and their fifth in Division I-A, and when Cristobal took over in 2007, the team was coming off an 0-12 campaign.
Things didn’t get much better in his first year, as FIU went 1-11, but with five wins last season, there is reason for optimism.
When Cristobal — who played at Miami in the early 1990s — enters The Swamp on Saturday, he’ll be taking mental notes on how to keep the turnaround headed in the right direction.
“[Florida is] the type of program you want to be like,” Cristobal said on the Sun Belt Conference teleconference this week. “They’ve been around for a long, long time, and their roster is full of phenomenal athletes. They do a great job in every phase of the game. They run the ball extremely well, they’re physical up front, they’re not only a fast and athletic team, they’re a team that will put a hurtin’ on you.”
Facing the Gators won’t be the first big challenge for the Golden Panthers. They opened the season at Alabama, where they took a 14-13 lead in the second quarter and trailed by just six at halftime.
The Crimson Tide went on to win 40-14, but the game proved FIU wasn’t willing to play the cupcake role.
Last week, the Golden Panthers topped North Texas 35-28, using a diverse offense that Florida will have to prepare for.
With quarterback Paul McCall coming off an elbow injury, backup Wayne Younger was subbed in for a change of pace on a few drives, and FIU also ran the Wildcat offense with running back Kendall Berry.
Berry, Darriet Perry and Daunte Owens — a high-school teammate of UF quarterback Tim Tebow — form a three-back rotation, and dynamic receiver T.Y. Hilton will also have to be watched closely.
Hilton was a Freshman All-American punt returner last season, and although Cristobal is confident in his selection of playmakers, he knows it’ll be a steep uphill climb to move the ball against UF’s defense.
“When they get to the football, they get there in numbers and they get there with an attitude,” Cristobal said. “They force the ball out. They create turnovers, they’re very secure with the football as well. Their special teams have obviously caused a lot of issues with a lot of teams because of not only their athleticism, but they’re well-coached.”
