Week 4: South Florida at Florida Internaional

South Florida’s eventful two-week run will temporarily take a backseat to another event, as Florida International unveils its long-awaited on-campus stadium. FIU’s team is only in its seventh year of existence, and the Golden Panthers hope a new facility and a regional opponent like USF will jumpstart their program.

USF’s only other meeting with FIU wasn’t easy. The Bulls pulled out a 21-20 victory in 2006, but they have gone 19-8 since then, including a 3-0 mark this season. USF has lived on the edge for back-to-back weeks, beating Central Florida 31-24 in overtime and capping a 17-point comeback (the largest in school history) in a 37-34 win over Kansas last week. Statistically, USF couldn’t be much better offensively. It leads the Big East in total offense, scoring offense and passing offense and even ranks second in rushing. Quarterback Matt Grothe keeps getting better. He has nearly 800 total yards in the last two games and has passed for seven touchdowns on the year.

FIU could only hope for half that production from its quarterback or offense in general. The Panthers long-standing offensive woes won’t go away. They scored 10 points against Kansas in the opener, but were shut out at Iowa. Neither Paul McCall nor Wayne Younger has sustained success at quarterback, and FIU has the worst statistical offense in the country. It takes more than a new stadium to change that, but FIU simply wants steady improvement.

Notes:

FIU Stadium’s first phase includes 18,000 seats, 1,500 club seats, a 6,500-square-foot stadium club and 19 suites.

FIU will play most of its home games in its new stadium late in the season. The Golden Panthers have only two home games before Nov. 8.

USF’s defense has intercepted a pass in 14 of the last 16 games.

FIU head coach Mario Cristobal and assistant coach Bernard Clark were teammates of USF assistant coach Kevin Patrick at University of Miami.

Key Player (Bulls) — Taurus Johnson, WR

The senior has tied or set a career-high in catches twice in three games this season. He has 235 receiving yards and two TDs in the last two games alone.

Key Player (Golden Panthers) — T.Y. Hilton, PR

The freshman punt returner has FIU’s lone touchdown this season. Lightning must strike twice, or at least another big special teams play, for FIU to have a chance at the upset.

South Florida by 24