NCAA College Football Betting Preview – FIU Golden Panthers

[Shame About Ray]

Finishing last in the Sun Belt conference pretty much says it all: we’re one of the worst teams in college football. Any sports betting enthusiasts looking to log in to the BetUS sportsbook and place an online college football betting wager on the Golden Panthers can simply snail mail the money directly to the BetUS head office!

So if you don’t hear Florida International mentioned in the same sentence as LSU, USC and Ohio State, don’t be surprised.

Second year head coach Mario Cristobal is trying to build the team into a contender, or something. Year two should move the Golden Panthers in that direction.

Offense

FIU’s offense endured growing pains last year with freshman quarterback Wayne Younger starting and going through the fire.

The bad news is that the offense struggled with such a raw quarterback last year. The good news is that he’ll be better for it this year.

Young is returning from a collarbone injury but he’ll be ready for the regular season. The 2005 Florida Today’s Offensive Player of the Year is the focal of the offense and they will go only as far as he takes them. He’s a dual threat but has to minimize the passing mistakes.

The offensive line is improving but has to mature quickly.

Behind Younger are two talented tailbacks in A’Mod Ned and Julian Reams. Their both seniors so look for the offense to lean on then more if Younger struggles.

At wide receiver, Jeremy Dickens and Marquis Rolle looked solid through spring and should be more reliable targets this year.

Defense

The defense is definitely the stronger point on the team. For starters, they are more experienced and boast decent playmakers at every level.

Jarvis Penerton and Jonas Murrell lead the way up front on the defensive line. Linebackers Scott Bryant and Michael Dominguez have continued to improve through spring practices after posting productive seasons last year. The same can be said for Jeremiah Wotherspoon and Ashlyn Parker in the secondary, who lead the strength of the defense.

There are a number of positives on the defense but after a one-win season, optimism is really the only thing that’s around. The defense is stronger than the offense but they are far from a dominant unit.

Outlook

One caveat to add to this Florida International squad is that they don’t have a lot of depth on the roster. They have some nice players both on offense and defense but any key injuries will curtail any expectations of significant improvement.

FIU is a young team that will be looking for some confidence but their out of conference schedule is fairly difficult to start the season. They have to Kansas and Iowa in the first two weeks of the season, and then they welcome South Florida in week three. That will likely result in three losses and deflate the positive balloon.

Some better talent is on the way but for now, FIU doesn’t have enough on the roster to think of a conference championship, bowl games, a winning record and maybe even a four-win season.

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