2013 Florida International
College Football
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After two straight bowl campaigns, Florida International dropped to just three wins last year. They brought in Ron Turner, who comes in from a few different NFL stints, to rebuild the troops. Immediate gains won’t be seen and to make matters worse, the team only returns seven total starters. Turner has his hands full in his first season at the helm.
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While the Golden Panthers don’t return many players, they’ll have some important ones coming back. That includes quarterback Jake Medlock, running back Kedrick Rhodes and wide receiver Willis Wright. All leaders at their respective position a season ago. The difference is that Turner is bringing in a new pro-style, West Coast offense that is much different than the spread attack the trio is used to. The question comes on the offensive line where all five starters are going to be new. Can they block for a group that battled injuries most of last season?
FIU’s defense is in close to the same situation with only Four returning starters. They couldn’t really stop anyone last year which was their main problem. This year, only two seniors are back so there are a lot of new faces. Middle linebacker Patrick Jean hopes to lead the squad in his sophomore season after getting decent experience last year. It’s going to be hard to expect much from these guys.
2013 Florida International Football Schedule
Aug. 31 at Maryland
Sept. 6 vs. UCF
Sept. 14 vs. Bethune-Cookman
Sept. 21 at Louisville
Oct. 5 at Southern Miss
Oct. 12 vs. UAB
Oct. 26 vs. Louisiana Tech
Nov. 2 vs. East Carolina
Nov. 9 at Middle Tennessee
Nov. 16 at UTEP
Nov. 23 vs. Marshall
Nov. 29 at Florida Atlantic
The Golden Panthers don’t get many breaks with their non-Conference Schedule, either. Bethune-Cookman is their most favorable Game, but that’s squashed between a couple road Games at Maryland and Louisville and a rematch with UCF (they lost 33-20 in 2012).
FIU will be looking for Conference wins right out of the gate at Southern Miss and against UAB. If they can’t get anything from those Games, it may be a longer season than expected. Most of their favorable opponents come on the road like UTEP and Florida Atlantic. Their easiest home Games are against Louisiana Tech and the previously mentioned UAB.
The Golden Panthers did beat their rival FAU on the road last year, so there’s hope for an upset here and there. In a rebuilding phase, it’s going to be hard for Turner to get past last year’s three wins. If they do, it’ll be because of the three leaders on offense.