My Thoughts on the Game

Let me start on a positive note.  We should all be proud of the effort that our Golden Panthers put forth on Saturday night.  To go into a game against a heavily favored and highly ranked opponent and come out with only an eight point loss is definitely something to build on and means that this program may in fact be heading in the right direction.  

On defense, the whole effort put forth was incredible.  USF made four trips inside our red zone and came out with only two touchdowns, a blocked field goal attempt and a turnover on downs.  Matt Grothe, the best college quarterback in the state of Florida that isn’t named Tim Tebow, was held to less than 200 yards of total offense and sacked twice.  Also, the Bulls’ top three receivers combined for only eight catches totaling 84 yards.

The FIU offense was 53 seconds away from going three straight games without finding the end zone until Julian Reams’ one yard touchdown run.  Setting up Reams’ run was a 61 yard throw and catch from Wayne Younger to T.Y. Hilton.  As I write this I am sure that Offensive Coordinator Bill Legg is drawing up plays specifically intended to get T.Y. more touches.  Although the offense continues to struggle, keep in mind that we are playing top notch competition.  Before anyone starts calling for Paul McCall’s head, let him take some snaps in conference games.  Once the Golden Panthers are playing against teams more on their level, we should see this offense running in the manner that it should.

The atmosphere before and during the game was incredible.  Being there for the pre-game tailgate in Tamiami Park, you would never know that this is a program that is only in it’s seventh season and is 1-25 in it’s previous 26 games.  I’ve tailgated in Tuscaloosa for Crimson Tide games, Gainesville for Gator games including Auburn, Tennessee and Florida State, and Jacksonville for Florida/Georgia, aka The World’s Largest Cocktail Party, and the atmosphere outside FIU Stadium on Saturday rivaled any of them.  Inside the stadium, the student section was rocking.  They were loud and energetic and that energy was matched by the team’s play on the field.

That being said, let me address some of the negative issues I had with the game.  Why were there so many empty seats?  What happened to the standing room only crowd that the school was marketing?  I understand the school not wanting the stands to be filled with USF fans and therefore limiting the number visitors tickets and not allowing single game tickets to be sold for this game.  

But that takes me back to a major sticking point I’ve had since student vouchers were given out.  Why were students not allowed a guest ticket as well?  Those empty seats could have been filled had students been allowed to bring a guest, even two.  On top of that, what was the point in the vouchers anyway?  Myself and the few people I was with walked right through the gates, only having to flash our student ids.  Had I known that, I would have brought my wife and had her flash my other student id.  I was very disappointed by that.  Like I said in my Lack of Communication entry last week, as a student, I don’t feel that I am very high on the administration’s priority list.

There are three weeks until our next home game against Middle Tennessee.  Hopefully changes will be made by then.

ELI3