FIU Panthers Prowl

It's Gonna Happen

So there you probably were sipping on your Sunday morning coffee (make mine a colada, please) thinking "Wow, another almost for FIU against a BCS opponent on Saturday at Texas A&M".

You felt great after Anthony Gaitor (left, thanks Sam Lewis photo) returned that interception 54 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-6 after three quarters, but then you got kicked in the gut after the Aggies scored 21 unanswered points.

The Panthers have been on the cusp of victory in both their games this season, but just couldn't get that extra play in the fourth quarter that made the difference. So FIU is sitting at 0-2 today and not 2-0.

Yes, that loss to the Aggies hurts, but the Panthers outplayed another BCS team, A&M, with the exception of the fourth quarter.

This team is on the verge of breaking through. This is NOT a Chicago Cubs-like phenomena where the Cubbies faithful keeps saying "It's Gonna Happen" every year.

FIU football will turn nine years old on Dec. 5, 2010 when the regular season ends and the Panthers could be preparing for their first bowl game. We are starting to witness the turnaround job MC and his coaching staff have done with the program in just three years and two games. From recruiting the heck out of South Florida and most of the nation to turning around the academic side of the program. FIU football posted its highest APR number last season.

Now the Panthers just need that signature win against a BCS foe to take that next step and that could happen on Saturday at College Park, Maryland. This is not to say FIU can overlook any team -- because it can't -- but I got a feeling about Saturday's game against the Terps and after the Texas A&M game here's why:

The FIU D

Through three quarters, the Panthers D held down the No. 5 offense in the nation to just 203 total yards. Jerrod Johnson was like the kid from the "Sixth Sense" (left). Johnson was seeing dead people or in this case, ghosts coming out of every which way after him. The way Johnson was playing FIU had 22 defenders on the field. Johnson's Heisman chances were buried after four picks and six sacks.

Although, the Panthers dropped from No. 2 to No. 28 in the nation in total D, nationally FIU has the No. 6 pass D, No. 9 in tackles for loss and No. 12 in sacks heading into Saturday's game.

There is definitely a buzz building around FIU not only about this D, but about this Panthers team. Like one Aggie observer said to me outside the FIU locker room at Kyle Field after the game as the Panthers boarded the bus for the airport:

"Pur-ty soon, y'all gonna be comin' into these big stadiums 'round the country and leaving home with wins. With that speed, that D, there ain't gonna be too many out-of-conference teams that will wanna play you guys. Y'all have a nice flight back."

And that was not just southern hospitality talking -- although I must say about the Aggies fans they were very welcoming. When the FIU buses arrived at Kyle Field the majority of the A&M tailgaters greeted the Panthers with a thumbs up signal and a pleasant wave. The same went when the FIU buses departed for the airport at midnight, contrary to the New York taxi cab not-so-pleasant-gestures (that's putting it kindly) that greeted FIU in Gainesville last season or in the Orange Bowl in 2007 when the Panthers were the visiting team for that one Sept. 15 game.

The Panthers are getting a pass rush that they have not had in a while. Jarvis Wilson and Greg Hickman have been huge in getting pressure on the QB. Wilson (left, thanks SL photo) has to be one of the more unheralded defenders on the FIU D. Aaron Davis, Big Ontario and from the defensive backfield Gaitor have also been disruptive forces in the offensive backfield.

And it has been relentless. For the majority of Saturday's game, A&M had no idea how to stop the FIU speed and DC Geoff Collins was bringing it from every angle and at any time. Now the Panthers just have to finish off the opponent with a strong fourth quarter.

As for that No. 6 pass D, the FIU DBs made future NFL receiver Jeff Fuller look average. There were very few instances when an Aggie receiver had any kind of separation from a Panther DB. Senior safety Kreg Brown was huge with three pass breakups. Jonathan Cyprien was his usual All-Sun Belt self. Emmanuel Souarin was also stingy with the pass D and Ash Parker had an acrobatic INT to set up an FIU TD.

El Chili esta definitivamente caliente!

ST. THOMAS CONNECTION

Yes, the offensive numbers were not the best FIU has put up before, but you can see it is just a matter of time before this FIU O gets in gear. Jeremiah Harden didn't have much running room against the Aggies, but I liked the way he moved a pile on a couple of occassions. JH (5-9, 195) went up against some big Texas defenders, but still kept churning the legs. FIU tallied 115 rushing yards on Saturday.

Quarterback Wesley Carroll (right, thanks SL photo), Harden's high school teammate at St. Thomas Aquinas, also did not have the best numbers on Saturday, but what I took from WC's performance on Saturday was his poise.

There were 79,069 screaming Texans that made it very difficult to here anything on Kyle Field, but each time WC calmly stepped to the line of scrimmage, instructed his offensive teammates and got the snap off without any hitch. That situation on Saturday was ripe for a plethora of offensive pre-snap penalties. The Panthers had just two false starts and zero delay of game infractions among their seven penalties. Of course, it helps WC that he has played in those type of environments before while at Mississippi State in the SEC.

Although WC was not as accurate as he could be (14 of 33 for 117 yards), that's not anything to worry about. WC (NCAA transfer rules and relegated to backup at MSU after an All-SEC Freshman season) has not played in two years and this was just his second game since then.

KICKING GAME

Jack Griffin kept his composure and nailed field goals of 33 and 40 yards. He certainly has the leg to help the Panthers. Just as important, but not as well seen (hidden yardage) were the kickoffs by Dylan Lynch. The left-footed kicker pinned A&M deep when he kicked off. DL averaged 66.4 yards per kickoff. 

Punter Josh Brisk (59-yard punt) and even future Punt, Pass and Kick contestant WC (32-yard punt to the A&M 4-yard line) also contributed to FIU winning several battles of field position.

Now the Panthers have to keep this momentum that they are building rolling into College Park on Saturday, finish off in the fourth quarter and "y'all be leavin' home with a win".

PANTHER PAWSE

SPECIAL LIVE BLOG ON SATURDAY FROM THE S BAR

We're going to try something new this Saturday for the LIVE BLOG of the FIU/Maryland game. Starting at 11:38 a.m. on Saturday, The Prowl will be LIVE BLOGGING from "The S Bar" as part of the OFFICIAL FIU WATCH PARTY. We'll have several friends of The Prowl in Maryland roaming the sidelines to give us any updates we may need from the Terps field as FIU and Maryland collide.

You can enjoy FREE CHICKEN WINGS on The S Bar from 10 a.m. to 12 noon this Saturday.

Check out later this week on The Prowl a video on The S Bar and what you can expect from the OFFICIAL HOME OF FIU WATCH PARTIES if you go on Saturday. We will have S Bar manager Christi Moguel on The Prowl to tell you about it.

If you are in Miami come on down to The S Bar (11995 SW 26 Street) and be part of the festivities and maybe even get on the LIVE BLOG while we watch the Panthers and the Terps. The Golden Dazzlers, Roary, several drink and food specials and S Bar giveaways will be part of the party.

Q&A

FIUer: Nicely done. Thanks to you and the pres for this. Did he say we're already playing UCG in baseball? Did I miss something or did he just misspeak?

PP: As of right now, there are no baseball games scheduled with the Coral Gables school this coming season. The only sports FIU and the Coral Gables school are competing in is volleyball, cross country and tennis.

2010 The Prowl's GOLDEN PICKS STANDINGS

Scores for the FIU/Maryland game have to be in to The Prowl by 11:59 a.m. on Saturday. If you do not see your name below, then I did not receive a score from you for the FIU/TAMU game.

2-0 (points differential)

Baltimorepanther (21), NYCFIUFan (28), FIU0406 (29), Jimmy (34), theINTERNATIONAL (35), alt7787 (49).

1-1

FIUJM (16), Habanero (16), WesFIU (19), jcalex (20), FIUcanesFan (24), FIU Fanatic (25), CJ (26), LonePanther (33), SunblazerPanther (50),  

0-2

Tri-Panther (28), Quijote (33), FIUer (35), chiaPanther (36), Max (57).

THE PROWL WORLDWIDE READERSHIP SCORECARD

Welcome our newest TP reader from Littleton, Colorado. . . .

The Prowl blog is now read in:

31 STATES: AL, AZ, CA, CO, FLA, GA, ID, IL, IND, KS, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, NEB, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI.

7 COUNTRIES: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Canada, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, USA.

1 TERRITORY: Puerto Rico.

1 DISTRICT: District of Columbia

Online Surveys & Market Research

You Asked, The Prez Answered

A few weeks ago we asked that you send in your FIU Sports questions for FIU President Mark Rosenberg and he would answer them.

Well, here you are. This interview was taped a couple of hours before the season opener at FIU Stadium on Sept. 11. The video was produced by Christopher Necuze of FIU's External Relations.

FIU Pres. Mark Rosenberg Interview  

PANTHER PAWSE

In case you missed it on FIUSports.com yesterday -- and you can always click on the links to FIUSports.com on the left hand column of The Prowl -- the FIU vs. Pitt game on Oct. 2 will be at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN3, which was formerly known as ESPN360.com

Q&A

Max: Pete, do you have an e-mail where we can reach you? I looked around the prowl but couldn't find anything.

PP: My e-mail is pppelegr@fiu.edu. Feel free to drop me a line anytime.

pikedanny: Pete: Any word on whether S Bar will be hosting the official watch party this Saturday?

PP: Yes, S Bar is the official home of all FIU watch parties and the festivities begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday for the Panthers/Terps game. S Bar is located at 11995 SW 26 Street. FREE CHICKEN WINGS this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

I'm no food critic, but we will have a video interview with S Bar's owner and a tour of the place for you on The Prowl later this week.

Edward J. Wall: Hey, Pete. T.Y. got a pair of helmet stickers as a freshman. Check out his bio online.

PP: My apologies to Goodbye (left, thanks Sam Lewis photo). You are correct Mr. Wall. I was a little out of it yesterday.

chiaPanther: Pete, You're killing me with anticipation... It better be good!!... BTW did you get my game two prediction... OH, I was soooooooo close!!!

PP: The football post will be as detailed as you good people are accustomed to here on The Prowl. I would have normally had several posts for you good people on Monday, but I was away on a family emergency that is now better. I'm at the laptop all day here on Tuesday. So keep checking back for more FIU info later today.

FYI, I cannot write or comment about any FIU recruiting -- so that is the only thing about FIU that you will not be able to read on The Prowl. I got your game prediction and the "Golden Picks Standings" will be on The Prowl later today.

FIU D Gets Helmet Sticker; FIU/MD Watch Party

Will have a much more detailed post on last Saturday's FIU/Texas A&M game later, but first some more FIU football news to tell you about.

The Panthers defense received a Helmet Sticker from ESPN after they derailed Aggies QB Jerrod Johnson's Heisman Trophy chances, forcing him into four interceptions and sacking him six times.

The last time FIU received a helmet sticker was when former Panthers defensive end Audric Adger had four sacks against North Texas when FIU closed out the Orange Bowl with a 38-19 win at the end of the 2007 season.

Although the Panthers D dropped from No. 2 to No. 28 overall in total defense in the nation. FIU is now No. 9 overall in tackles for loss and No. 12 overall in sacks in the nation.

FIU defensive back Anthony Gaitor earned Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week for his 54-yard interception return for a TD vs. the Aggies. CLICK HERE for more details on AG's honor.

FIU/MARYLAND WATCH PARTY

pikedanny asked the question and here is the answer:

The Official Watch Party for FIU vs. Maryland (ESPNU 12 noon on Saturday) is at:

The S Bar (which is the official home of all FIU Watch Parties)

11995 SW 26 Street.

Here are some details for this Saturday's party: Doors open at 10 a.m. and FREE CHICKEN WINGS will be served from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. So have some chicken wings with your french toast or blueberry pancakes.

Kickoff for the game is at 12 noon.

FIU at Texas A&M -- LIVE BLOG

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS -- The Prowl stayed in Montgomery, Texas on Friday night and the joke around here is that Montgomery is about one hour from everywhere. Need to go to a good restaurant -- 1 hour away. Want to go to Houston -- 1 hour away. Heading down to College Station for the FIU game -- 1 hour away.

Not that far when you think of it. Well, one hour or 60 minutes is the amount of time the Panthers are from taking it to the Aggies later tonight. FIU is a big underdog, but that's why they play the game on the field and not on paper.

With that, we will be LIVE BLOGGING later tonight. Check back here at 6:43 p.m. as we get underway with the FIU/TAMU LIVE BLOG.

SOME FRIENDLY LIVE BLOG REMINDERS:

***So that the question is not asked 500 times during the LIVE BLOG, here are your viewing & listening options for today's game: 

BLOG: Right here.

VIDEO: NONE WHATSOEVER UNLESS YOU HAVE A TICKET TO KYLE FIELD. NO INTERNET VIDEO WEBCAST EITHER

RADIO: 790 AM 

A few reminders for all GPP LIVE BLOGS:

1) The size of the LIVE BLOG window is at its maximum, but the way the blog program works by making the window larger it takes away the scroll button. However, you can still view previous comments by using your arrow keys.

2) There are only 25 spots to be an unmoderated commentator which allows you to post comments without my approval.

If you are 1 of the first 25 to log-on AND I think you will contribute some worthwhile comments then I will go ahead and approve you as an unmoderated commentator.

3) After the 25 spots are taken up, I then have to approve each comment from each reader. So if your comment takes a minute or so to show up it's because I'm probably busy posting on the blog at the moment. At that time, I am not able to publish what you posted, but I will eventually get to it.

FIU vs. Texas A&M Preview -- Everything's Bigger In Texas

MONTGOMERY, TEXAS -- Howdy, cowgirls and cowboys. The Prowl is deep in the heart of Texas this weekend for the first-ever football meeting between FIU and Texas A&M.

We landed at Easterwood Airport which is just a stone's throw away from Kyle Field - home of the Texas A&M Aggies. Who do these people think they are having an airport right next to their campus -- FIU?

Anyway, one story around these neck of the woods goes that whenever an Aggie baseball player would mess up in practice, he would have to run a lap to the airport and back to the Aggies baseball diamond. That's how sort of close, but not really close, the airport is to TAMU's campus.

We'll be heading over to Kyle Field on Saturday afternoon. Kyle Field is home of the famous "12th Man" -- where a raucous crowd of more than 80,000 await the Panthers. Click HERE to read about the history of the 12th Man, who has been standing by the Aggies side since 1922. And now for a not-so-shameless plug:

LIVE BLOG COVERAGE of FIU vs. Texas A&M begins at 6:43 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday night right here on The Prowl

Deadline to send your scores in for the FIU/Texas A&M game is 6:59 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. This would be for our newly re-named "Golden Picks Predictions Contest". Thank you, Quijote. Standings after Week 1 are below this game preview.

As you know, the Panthers and Aggies went at it in baseball earlier this year at the Coral Gables Regional with A&M outslugging FIU.

Many, including those in the state of Nevada where the neon signs reign supreme, believe A&M will outslug FIU again.

Maybe not, if the new Panthers defense that was unveiled last week against Rutgers is the same one here in College Station, Texas.

For one thing, this game may take just a couple of hours to play with both teams featuring fast-paced, no-huddle offenses. This may pose a bigger problem for FIU than the Rutgers O presented last week.

Another significant difference between RU and TAMU is that on offense the Aggies are a bigger, more physical and athletic bunch than the Scarlet Knights. This is a much more explosive and larger offense than Rutgers. See, everything's bigger in Texas.

TAMU QB Jerrod Johnson (left) is the offensive catalyst. At 6-5, 245 pounds, Johnson is basically a linebacker playing quarterback. Johnson threw for 3,579 yards and 30 TDs last season. He's already got 671 passing yards and 6 TDs this season. FIU must also be wary of Johnson's ability to run and he is a load to bring down.

Running backs Christine Michael and Cyrus Gray can also pose problems for the Panthers. The duo is averaging nearly five yards per carry (4.84).

So FIU stops the run, but then it must also derail the pass by negating future NFL receiver Jeff Fuller (6-4, 215) and receiver Ryan Swope, who have combined for 32 catches and 363 yards thus far.

This game might be the toughest task that Big Ontario Smith (right, thanks Sam Lewis photo) and the FIU D faces this entire season. TAMU has the No. 5-ranked offense in the nation right now, averaging 552 yards per game.

Last year, A&M's defense finished 105th in the nation out of 120 teams. This year through two games the Aggies have improved and are No. 27 in the nation in total D. Damontre Moore leads the Aggies with three of the team's four sacks.

If the Panthers are going to challenge the Aggies, FIU must improve in two areas from last week: limiting turnovers and chopping down those 14 penalties. The Panthers do those two things, play another week of solid D and the Aggies might need the 12th man to put on a uniform and get on the field.

This game can be closer than what the majority thinks, but still the A&M offense appears to be too much for the Panthers.

PANTHER PAWSE

Q&A

SouthPaw: Pete, what's the status of James Jones and Jonathan Jackson for the game against Texas A&M?

PP: Jones is getting over flu-like symptoms and could play. Jackson will be a game-time decision.

FIUfantastic: Was the FIU Panther logo in the middle of the field always facing north? I thought it used to face to the FIU side and not the visitors side?

PP: They have the logo facing south so that when TV comes to broadcast games like they did last week, the ESPN cameras were focused on the finished south side of FIU Stadium as opposed to the leftover bleachers from old FIU Stadium on the north side.

Send in your questions for FIU basketball coach Isiah Thomas. You good people have IT lined up for your questions and his answers next week on The Prowl.

2010 The Prowl's GOLDEN PICKS STANDINGS

 

1-0 (points differential)

Baltimorepanther (8), NYCFIUFan (10), FIUPantherFan (11), TheChampionUnderdog (13), FIU0406 (15), esteban688 (16), theINTERNATIONAL (18), Jimmy (25), alt7787 (28).

0-1

PanteraDorada (8), The Point (8).

Habanero (9), jcalex (9), WesFIU (9).

FIUcanesFan (10).

FIUer (12), FIUJM (12).

FIU Fanatic (14); chiaPanther (16).

gpantera (18), LonePanther (18), Tri-Panther (18).

CJ (19), FIUPIKE (19), Quijote (19).

Gooch7 (26), SunblazerPanther (26).

panther viscosity (30).

Max (47); PanteraNation (49).

 

Out of the Cage with Garrett Wittels

Time for a new feature on The Prowl where we take you off the field, court or diamond with an FIU Panther.

As followers of FIU Sports, you good people know what the Panthers do while they are competing, but maybe you don't know your Panthers as well off the field. Well, here is the first of what we hope will become a regular feature on The Prowl. Tell us your opinion on Out of the Cage and vote in our poll question below.

FIU INFIELDER GARRETT WITTELS

Coming off a freshman season in 2009 where GW (right, thanks Sam Lewis photo) hit .246, the Panther third baseman/shortstop/second baseman and occasional relief pitcher captured the nation's attention last season with a 56-game hitting streak that is still active. On February 18, 2011, GW will continue pursuing NCAA Division I history (Robin Ventura's 58-game hitting streak) as FIU opens the new baseball season.

Let's step out of the batter's box and talk with GW.

PP: So you are a big fisherman and like being out in the waters. Why do you enjoy fishing so much and what do you catch?

GW: I love to be out in water, especially born and raised in Miami. It's definitely relaxing going out there and fish and snorkel different reefs. It ended up becoming a hobby of mine and I love eating fish too. It's always good to catch it and be able to eat it. I started getting into diving too. I've caught three marlins before. I caught two blue marlins and one black marlin. I got a photo of me with the marlin.

PP: When you first got to Alaska this summer what did you think and how did you know you were no longer in Miami?

GW: It was like I was in a whole different world. The mountains there are so beautiful and everywhere you go it is so different from Miami. It was really cold in the summer. It was like 55 degrees and always raining. You had to wear long sleeves to play in almost every game.

PP: You were at the ESPYs a few months ago. Were there any celebrities or other athletes that you wanted to meet and you did meet them?

GW: The coolest person I met was [Tennessee Titans running back] Chris Johnson (left). I was able to talk to him for a while and I ended up doing the "Choppa City Juke" (CLICK HERE for the "Choppa City Juke") with him. That's the dance that he does when he scores a touchdown. That was really memorable. Being nominated in the same category as [Alabama running back] Mark Ingram and being able to spend a lot of time with him was great. He is really down to earth. I actually texted him the other day, because he hurt his knee.

PP: What was the weirdest thing you ever heard last year on the field during the streak?

GW: Against ULM here on this field, I was 0-for-3 and I ended up walking in my last at-bat. I got to first base and the ULM second baseman called over to me at first and said "Congratulations, it's over." I was like "all right whatever" and I ended up having another at-bat in the 10th inning and I got a hit. When I got to first base then I said to the second baseman "Big dog, the streak is not over yet".

PP: Back to ULM, I heard during a game two years ago that the ULM fans were heckling you that you resembled Transformers star Shia LaBeouf (near right). How many times does that happen?

GW: I was playing third base and their fans started getting on me real bad telling me that I had to go film "Transformers" and bunch of different things like that. It's enjoyable and I don't really mind it. I don't really think I look like him, but some people do.

PP: What was an unusual moment for you off the field this summer?

GW: [New Orleans Saints tight end] Jeremy Shockey called me and asked if I was ever going to cut my hair. I asked him what he thought and he said, "Man, when I got traded to the Saints they made me cut my hair so if your coach lets you keep it, you better keep it." That was pretty cool for him to know that about me.

PP: Your father once told me that pretty much everyone in your family is studying to be a doctor or is a doctor. If baseball is not in your future, are you the next Dr. Wittels?

GW: My dad and both his brothers are both doctors. My cousin is in medical school. My brother is trying to get into a six-year medical program too. It kind of runs in the family, but that is definitely not what I enjoy. There is no chance I am going to be a doctor. Maybe I will be an agent or try to be a general manager of a sports team one day or run a team. Definitely something with baseball or football, I enjoy that.

PP: You had a heck of a year in 2010. From a .246 freshman season without a position to The Streak to being in the national news and a trip to the ESPYs. Sounds like someone should call Hollywood. If they were to make a movie of your year, who would play Garrett Wittels?

GW: I have no idea, at all. [GW laughs] Maybe Shia LeBouf.

PANTHER PAWSE

We'll be blogging to you next from College Station, Texas after the plane touches down on Friday. Check back here then for a preview of Saturday's FIU/Texas A&M game.

LIVE BLOG COVERAGE of FIU vs. Texas A&M begins at 6:43 p.m. Eastern time right here on The Prowl

As you prepare for Saturday's game, check out a story on Ash Parker's comeback right HERE.

You have until 8 p.m. Friday night to send in your questions for FIU basketball coach Isiah Thomas. You good people have IT lined up for your questions and his answers.

Q&A

FIU Fanatic: Pete, I got to say that the "Gameday Central" section for football looks excellent right now, and much improved than the "old look". A lot more information contained in there, including a scoreboard, which I presume will be updated as the game progresses. Good job, FIUSports.com!

PP: Thanks Fanatic. Gameday Central is the work of Mat "Spielberg" Ratner, who also produces many of our award-winning videos that you see on FIUSports.com and on The Prowl.

We're taking FIUSports.com to another level in order to make it the premier source for FIU Sports information and multimedia content for you good people. The re-design of FIUSports.com is coming later this fall. The scoreboard will be updated as the game progresses.

FIUFan: This blog was above and beyond; thanks Pete. Looks like we are going back to the days of RP-40.

PP: Thanks for the kind words. Trying to keep you good people informed. I'm going to need some help with the RP-40?

alt7787: This is for Pete. Very interesting story. Cant say I didnt see it coming. http://cbs4.com/local/layoffs.cuts.herald.2.1916597.html

PP: Not good news.

What is good news is that we've reached another country on Mother Earth as a reader from Gabon, Africa has joined The Prowl. Let's welcome him or her to our blog home:

THE PROWL WORLDWIDE READERSHIP SCORECARD

The Prowl blog is now read in:

30 STATES: AL, AZ, CA, FLA, GA, ID, IL, IND, KS, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, NEB, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI.

7 COUNTRIES: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Canada, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, USA.

1 TERRITORY: Puerto Rico.

1 DISTRICT: District of Columbia

 

Online Surveys & Market Research

Photos from FIU/Rutgers; GW On Deck

So you were wondering what a sold out FIU Stadium looks like? Well, below is one of many fine photos from FIU photographer Ivan Santiago from last Saturday's season opener against Rutgers. Click on the FIU Stadium photo to enlarge it and see the FIU Stadium record crowd of 19,872 in attendance.

Click HERE and HERE for the rest of Ivan's gallery from Saturday's pre-game and game.  

Check back here later today as we sit down with FIU hitting machine Garrett Wittels and see what he's been up to.

Also, keep sending in your questions for FIU basketball coach Isiah Thomas as he will be doing a Q&A with you good people next week. Deadline to send in questions for IT is at 8 p.m. on Friday night.

Q&A with Isiah Thomas

We're a little less than two months away from the start of the 2010-11 FIU basketball season. Practice will begin in about one month. Here is an early preseason conversation with FIU basketball coach Isiah Thomas. You can ask IT (left, thanks Sam Lewis photo) your own questions for a blog next week. Check out the details on that below this Q&A.

PP: Let's talk about some of the new guys.

IT: The addition of Jeremy Allen, Brandon Moore and Alex Legion plus Eric Frederick added to Marvin Roberts, Phil Gary, Stephon Weaver and Tremayne Russell gives us a pretty solid team. We still will be lacking in size, but with our speed and our quickness and our ability to trap and shoot the basketball, hopefully we can have an exciting style of play that will create turnovers and get us out in transition. With the quickness and the speed, hopefully we can negate some of the size that we will be playing against.

PP: I guess the tallest guy on the team this year would be Frederick or Moore?

IT: Brandon Moore at 6-9. We will do a lot of pressing, a lot of trapping, try to scramble up the game and use the three-ball a lot.

PP: What can you tell us about some of the guys you have seen over the summer?

IT: When you talk about offense and shooting the three-ball, Richaud Pack (right) comes to mind. I think he was the second or third leading scorer in Detroit. He shoots the three really well and has a nice, soft feathery touch. Jeremy Allen and DeJuan Wright are more or less streaky three-point shooters. I wouldn't say they are as accurate as Pack, but they can pull up and put the ball in the hole as well as drive the lane. But most importantly are Jeremy and DeJuan as defenders out on the wings. They can really defend the two and three positions where you have to control scorers every single night. Having the ability to put those two guys out there defensively will be beneficial to us.

PP: Down low you would be looking to Brandon Moore and Eric Frederick?

IT: Brandon and Frederick would be down low in the middle at the four and the five. Frederick can score the ball off of both blocks. Brandon can score down low, but he's best used at the high post. He has a nice jumper from the high post. He is a good passer as well as a good screen setter.

PP: Marvin Roberts looks like he lost some weight. A lot of the players look fitter. Did these guys change their off-season weight training and conditioning program?

IT: Our strength and conditioning program has been very effective. Roderick Moore has done a great job with the guys. It looks like they are in shape. We will see when the season really starts how good of condition they are in. They are attacking the weight room. The facilities we have in the weight room are second to none. Weightlifting is a big thing in basketball, because the stronger you are, the better you are. The less prone to injury you are. Last year, we were decimated by injury. I think being a little stronger and a little bit more physical will help with our style of play. We want to apply constant pressure.

PP: What do you think of your first signing class now one year later?

IT: When you go back to last year’s class, all of them are on pace to put on a cap and gown and graduate. I'm extremely proud of that group. A guy like Marvin has had a lot stacked against him in terms of graduating, getting a diploma and walking across that stage, and now he is on pace to graduate. That's one of the things we were hammering home to them last year.

PP: I was speaking with Legion earlier and he thinks he will probably be back in December. Can you see that happening?

IT: Alex Legion (left) may be able to play in December, because of the date that he transferred from IIlinois.

PP: It seems like a lot of the players on the team are in that 6-5, 6-6 range. Do you plan on changing the style of play this year, because of that? Maybe more like a Phoenix Suns style?

IT: No. We will still have the same style. We press and trap and we shoot the three. This year we will press and trap with a little bigger team and we will shoot the three with bigger guys. We still don't have the type of size that I eventually want to have here. The next recruiting class, hopefully, we get some bigger players that are coming in. You know in the 6-10, 6-11 range. When those guys start coming in and we start adding them to the group that we have, then we will really have something.

PP: Can everybody in this year's team shoot the three or are there some guys that you tell them, 'No, don't shoot the three'?

IT: No, everybody can shoot the three on this team; even the big guys.

PP: What did you learn from your first year of coaching college basketball?

IT: It still boils down to free throws, turnovers and rebounds. If you can rebound the ball, not turn it over and make your free throws, you still have a better chance of winning the game than the other team does. That was even more evident last year in college. Even with our lack size last year, we were in a lot of games. But, if you go back and look at the stat sheet, the thing that killed us -- particularly late in the season where I think we lost six or seven games by five points or less -- it really came down to that one turnover, foul shooting and rebounding.

PP: With Antoine Watson (right, thanks SL photo) coming back, is there anyone from last year's team that was supposed to be here that will not be with the team this year?

IT: Nikola Gacesa is the only one. It was his decision not to come back.

PANTHER PAWSE

You can ask Isiah your own questions. Send in your questions for the FIU basketball coach before 8 p.m. on Friday and we'll sit down with IT next week and have him answer what's on your mind.

Vote below in our poll question on how many wins FIU basketball will have this season.

LIVE BLOG COVERAGE of FIU vs. Texas A&M begins at 6:43 p.m. Eastern time right here on The Prowl

Q&A

FIUer: Pete. Is there at least a webcast of Saturday's game that we can stream from somewhere?

PP: There is no TV, video or webcast of this Saturday's game between FIU and TAMU. You can follow play-by-play of the game right here on The Prowl with our LIVE BLOG from College Station, Texas. We'll be on-line at 6:43 p.m.

Quijote: How about "Golden Picks", to honor our original "Golden Panthers" name?

PP: Sounds good to me.

FIURage: There was this one hit that made everyone go "oooooohhh" made on a Rutgers player (Sanu?) is there any video of that, because it was such a nice hit. And who made that tackle, Cyprien ?

PP: That was Cyprien with the big hit on Sanu and here on the right is the photo by Sam Lewis of Cyp crunching Sanu and making him go "Ow-u".

FIU Fanatic: Thanks for all the info, Pete. Are you going to the game in College Station?

PP: Yes, I will be at College Station on Friday and Saturday for the game.

FIUBalboa: Hey Pete, since the game is not on TV. If I give you my flip cam, can you tape the game and upload it after every quarter?

PP: It's a great idea and I wish I could do that, but I can't do the bootlegging. I will be as detailed as possible on the LIVE BLOG of the FIU/TAMU game, which we will start at 6:43 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday night from Kyle Field. To help you visualize, FIU will be wearing the white jerseys and TAMU will be wearing their crimson jerseys. When I get to the stadium I will provide more details.

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MC Wednesday Press Conference

Check out MC's Press Conference from Wednesday morning HERE. Also speaking at the press conference were FIU left tackle Caylin Hauptmann and safety Ash Parker.

As FIUFPL pointed out in a previous comment, Parker and the rest of the Panthers were very appreciative of the sold out FIU Stadium crowd and the noise created by the 19,872 fans last Saturday. AP said it was tough for the D to pick up the calls, because of the noise. That was a good thing.

As you learned on The Prowl on Monday, MC confirmed that Wesley Carroll will start on Saturday.

Also, click on the Gameday Central link on the press conference page above and read up on everything you need to know about Saturday's game between FIU and Texas A&M.

The Q&A with FIU hoops coach Isiah Thomas will be up here shortly. 

Talking with FIU Hoopsters

We're still going through the tape of the Q&A with Isiah that we did yesterday. That will be up on The Prowl this afternoon.

After speaking with IT yesterday, the FIU basketball coach said he would welcome your questions for a Q&A session with the FIU fans right here on The Prowl.

Send in your questions here for IT starting right now and we'll take questions for IT until 8 p.m. on Friday.

Next week, I'll sit down with IT and give him your questions and he'll have some answers for you.

For now, until we get yesterday's talk with IT on The Prowl, check out the TALK WITH FIU HOOPSTERS that we had after yesterday's individual drills. We talked to new Panthers: Alex Legion, DeJuan Wright and returning senior Marvin Roberts (right, thanks Sam Lewis photo).

One bit of news from yesterday, Legion might be eligible to play in December and not January -- which would have him available for all Sun Belt games this coming season.

Also check back here later today for MC's Wednesday press conference video.

If you have not been by the R. Kirk Landon Fieldhouse of late, here is some of the art work that is going up on the walls.

This photo on the left is the entrance to the FIU Football offices on the second floor. Click on the photo to get a closer look.

With no TV or video available of Saturday's FIU vs. Texas A&M game, you can follow play-by-play action right here on The Prowl.............

LIVE BLOG COVERAGE of FIU vs. Texas A&M begins at 6:43 p.m. Eastern time right here on The Prowl.