What to watch for when FIU football closes regular season at Sam Houston State
The 2-9 Sam Houston State Bearkats are all that stand in the way of the FIU Panthers clinching their first winning season since they went 9-4 in 2018.
FIU, which is 6-5 overall and 4-3 in Conference USA, will visit the Bearkats on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Sam Houston started this season 0-9, but the Bearkats have won two of their past three games.
Here are your Five Things To Watch:
1. MOST JUICE
FIU’s players-only “Leadership Council” voted recently for the athlete who provided the most “juice” or energy on the sidelines. Quarterback Keyone Jenkins, who has missed the past three games following a groin injury, earned that recognition for his support of new starter Joe Pesansky.
“The thing that has surprised me the most this year is how close our players are,” FIU coach Willie Simmons said. “I didn’t know if in January or February that if our starting quarterback at the start of the season wasn’t our starting quarterback at the end of the season that he’d be the biggest cheerleader for the guy who took his spot.
“I didn’t know the answer to that, but now I do because I’ve witnessed (Jenkins) supporting Joe. I’ve seen (Jenkins) still lead this team.”
That attitude, Simmons said, is why the Panthers have won three straight games.
“The closest and most-connected team wins,” Simmons said, “and we’ve shown that we’re a connected team.”
2. CHAMPIONSHIP MINDSET
Simmons said that, going forward, he doesn’t want FIU to play up or down depending on the level of the competition.
“I don’t want our team to say, ‘Sam Houston is 2-9. We can play OK and still win,” Simmons said. “I don’t want us to look at Penn State -- which was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time we played them – and say, ‘We have to play above our means to beat them.’
“I want us to be a team that every time we take the field we play with excellence.
“That’s the expectation. That’s how you grow a championship program.”
3. ALWAYS OPEN
Wide receiver Alex Perry, who leads FIU in receptions (46), receiving yards (675) and touchdown catches (seven), said Conference USA defenses play lots of man coverage.
“To us, 1-on-1 is like 1-on-none,” said Perry, who is having a career year. “When it comes down to the plays that matter, you just have to win your matchup.”
Perry, who played three years at the University of Hawaii before coming to FIU this season, has never been to a bowl game, and now that’s about to change.
“Going to a bowl game is … I can’t even describe it,” Perry said. “It feels like a national championship.”
4. LINEBACKERS UNITED
The Panthers rotate three linebackers – Johnny Chaney Jr., Josiah Taylor and Percy Courtney Jr. – over two starting spots, and those guys have developed a bond.
“We’ve been together 11 months, but it feels like five years,” Chaney said. “There are things I learn from Percy in coverage and from Josiah in slipping blocks. Every game, there’s (at least) one of us having a great game.”
Chaney, who has a banged-up shoulder, has yet to miss a game this season, and he leads the team with 96 tackles. He expects to play again on Saturday, and his goal is to get that seventh win.
“The message to the team is to not get complacent,” Chaney said. “There’s still history to be made.”
5. GOOD JOB
Simmons said he got 230 congratulatory text messages following FIU’s win over Jacksonville State last week, clinching bowl eligibility.
“I tried my best to sift through them all,” Simmons said. “There were a ton of texts.”
Simmons, who is from Gadsden County in the Tallahassee Metropolitan Area, shared with the media on Tuesday just how meaningful his accomplishments are to his supporters back home.
“Gadsden County is one of the most impoverished and illiterate counties in Florida,” Simmons said. “Violence is at an all-time high. Graduation rates are at an all-time low. There are not a lot of great things happening in our county right now.
“But it was great to see the amount of people from my county congratulating me and saying, ‘We can’t wait to see where we’re going (bowl game).’
“Like my wife said, ‘Gadsden County needs something to be proud of right now.’”