FIU and Louisville have never met before on the gridiron and the two teams have never met before in The Other Game. This is the first of two trips into Kentucky for FIU this season as the Panthers play at WKU later this fall. The Cardinals and their city made for a worthy adversary for FIU and the city of Miami. Let's see how it all went down.
FIU vs. LOUISVILLE -- The Other Game
-- Louisville has massive defensive tackle Randy Salmon, who is 6-3, 291 pounds. Too bad that Panthers eat salmon, among several other fish. FIU 1, UL 0.
-- FIU baseball alum Mike Lowell won the 2007 World Series MVP and had a fine major league career. There has yet to be a UL baseball alum reach the World Series. FIU 2, UL 0.
-- There are several horse racing tracks around Miami and south Florida, but there is no Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. FIU 2, UL 1.
-- Pizza battles: FIU won the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl and that will always be a great moment in FIU Football history. UL plays at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Going on pizza alone -- "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza" tops "Pizza, Pizza". FIU 2, UL 2.
-- Cardinals coach Charlie Strong has a fit surname. Panthers coach Mario Cristobal was named College Football's Most Fit Coach by an ESPN blog. FIU 3, UL 2.
-- Musical acts: UL's nose tackle combination is (Jamaine) Brooks & (Brandon) Dunn. FIU has Prince (Matt), who is not the offensive tackle formerly known as Prince. I'll take the country music duo over the "Purple Rain" singer from Minnesota. FIU 3, UL 3.
-- Louisville alum, the late Frank Neuhauser won the first-ever National Spelling Bee back in 1925. You can spell Frank Neuhauser without the i in FIU. UL 4, FIU 3.
-- Al Pacino movies: "The Insider" was filmed in Louisville. "Scarface" (left) was filmed in Miami. I fell asleep watching "The Insider". FIU 4, UL 4.
-- FIU's basketball home, U.S. Century Bank Arena, is named after a financial institution. UL's basketball home, KFC Yum! Center, is named after several fast food joints -- KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. I will take the money over the coronary. FIU 5, UL 4.
-- The last category could be up for debate, but how could you go against the Golden Dazzlers? The Louisville dance team, the Ladybirds, have won seven national titles. The Dazzlers have officially won one national title, but won about 55 national titles in the hearts of opposing fans who ask if the ladies made the trip when FIU plays in their town. FIU 6, UL 4.
PANTHER PAWSE
We'll be departing for Louisville on Thursday afternoon. We'll have blogs, photos and tweets, Twitter: @petepelegrin for you from the home of the Kentucky Derby and Louisville Slugger bats, and of course, we'll have the LIVE GAME BLOG at 6:49 p.m. on Friday. Since the game is on ESPN, I won't be doing a play-by-play blog, but I will be on-line all game long to keep you updated and to answer any questions as I am helping out the new FIU radio guys.
E-MAILBAG or Twitter: @petepelegrin
pikedanny: Pete, when will the game notes be posted on FIUSports.com? Also, when you're on the FIUSports.com website and you click on "Gameday Central" it takes you to last year's MTSU game page.
PP: Game notes should be up on Thursday. I have let the good people know that handle Gameday Central about that.
roary: Oye PP, how can parking lot roary be more energetic than on the field roary? Inquiring minds want to know?
PP: Probably because it was parking lot roary's feature film debut in front of Oscar-winning director que bola fiu Spielberg.
Maybe it was the world premiere feature film "Live Free or Dance Hard" starring Lloyd Roary and co-starring the FIU tailgaters and the Golden Dazzlers or it could have been another T.Y. Hilton weekly honor or curiosity over the FIU/Louisville game. Whatever the reason, Tuesday's posts, with 1,608 of you dropping by, cracked The Prowl's Top 20 blog posts rankings at No. 17 dropping the Dazzlers Calendar Shoot to No. 21.
The Prowl's Top Blog Posts Rankings
1. Welcome to The Prowl (2,676); 2. Where Are They Now? -- Golden Dazzlers Edition (2,615); 3. Meet FIU DC Todd Orlando/NSD Wrap-Up (2,270); 4. National Signing Day -- LIVE BLOG (2,246); 5. Andy Leavine -- Silent Rage/Jose Behar the Marlin (2,126);
Tie-6. 2011 FIU Golden Dazzlers Auditions/FIU vs. Stetson -- LIVE GAME BLOG (2,096); Volleying with Yarimar Rosa & Natalia Valentin (2,096); 8. Kyle Fitzpatrick No-Hitter/The Champs are Back (2,087); 9. Ashley McClain HR Derby Champ/Andy Leavine Among Final Six (1,962); 10. New FIU Football Jersey (1,960);
11. 2011 FIU Football Opening Practice (1,864); 12. Post Scrimmage (1,858); 13. All the Pizza Bowl Videos (1,847); 14. Juliana Silvernail (1,674); 15. Name The Play (1,669);
16. Visit to a 7-on-7 (1,627); 17. Another Day, Another Honor for T.Y. (1,608); 18. 2010 Sun Belt Champs/Goodbye ESPN Top Play (1,555); 19. FIU Signs 4 Basketball Players (1,546); 20. Garrett Wittels Signs with the St. Louis Cardinals (1,538); 21. Dazzlers Calendar Shoot (1,534).
