At 1-5 FIU football team, coach Butch Davis face daunting challenge
The losses are piling up.
The injuries, too.
FIU’s football team has lost 12 of its past 13 games, including Friday’s 45-33 defeat to the visiting Charlotte 49ers on Friday.
The FIU Panthers (1-5 overall, 0-2 in Conference USA) haven’t beaten an FBS team since they shocked Miami on Nov. 23, 2019. The Panthers haven’t won a conference game since they beat Old Dominion on Nov. 2, 2019.
All of that has to be wearing on FIU coach Butch Davis, who was polite as ever when addressing the media late Friday night. Davis, who looked tired — not just from Friday night but also from a long two years – answered several questions for nearly 10 minutes.
But perhaps the most telling thing he said was contained in his first six words:
“I’m going to make this quick,” Davis said.
Who can blame him? Who wants to talk about the team when things are going this poorly?
Davis, the most accomplished and successful coach in FIU history, turns 70 on Nov. 17. One can imagine Davis possibly retiring following the season finale on Nov. 27 at Southern Miss.
FIU has a bye this week and then six consecutive conference games to close the season. The Panthers need to win five of six to become bowl eligible.
Three of those games are road tests at Marshall (3-3, 1-1), Middle Tennessee (2-4, 1-2) and Southern Miss (1-5, 0-2). The Panthers have lost 11 road games in a row, and they haven’t won away from Miami since 2018.
The home games are against Western Kentucky (1-4, 0-1), which is up next; North Texas (1-4, 0-1) and Old Dominion (1-5, 0-2).
Western Kentucky leads Conference USA in scoring (40.4). Given how poorly FIU’s defense has played this year, the Hilltoppers could be a headache for the Panthers.
Some of the toughest individual matchups left on FIU’s schedule figure to be North Texas’ DeAndre Torrey, who leads C-USA with 120.2 yards per game; Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe, who leads the league with 447.0 passing yards per game, 70.4 completion percentage and 21 passing touchdowns. Marshall’s Grant Wells is second in passing yards (333.8).
Meanwhile, the Panthers are banged up as wide receiver Shemar Thornton, defensive lineman Rashad Colson and defensive back Pierce Withers are among the injured FIU veterans. All totaled, Davis said there are “twentysomething” injured Panthers.
Injuries have helped force some freshmen onto the two-deep depth chart, including safety Demetrius Hill; cornerback Henry Gray; nickel back Joe Perkins; defensive end Reggie Peterson; tight end Rivaldo Fairweather; left tackle Miles Frazier; left guard Jahmari Sylvester; center Julius Pierce; right tackle Shamar Hodby-Lee; and quarterbacks Haden Carlson and Grayson James.
THIS AND THAT
▪ FIU quarterback Max Bortenschlager ranks third in the conference in passing yards per game (305.7) and throwing touchdowns (14).
▪ Panthers running back D’vonte Price ranks fifth in the conference in rushing yards per game (83.3). He is 10th in yards per rush (5.3).