If the FIU Panthers under new head coach Butch Davis in his first four games are 3-1 and with not many Panther fans at their home stadium in attendance to view it does it count?
What if the first home win of the season is a comeback conference win does it help get Panther fans in the seats?
In life, there is never a bad question.
The Panthers have won three in a row and are sitting atop the conference USA east division.
The Panthers were down by as many as 19 points to the Charlotte 49ers in the first half. Panthers quarterback Alex McGough in the third quarter threw an interception that led to a field goal by the 49ers. Next Panthers possession McGough caps off a 6 play, 75-yard drive with an 8-yard leaping over a defender touchdown run. The swagger meter went up from there.
“I saw a guy come from this way and I just jumped. I don’t know.” McGough stated. “I did not really think in my head I am going to hurdle this guy it was kind of like oh he is right here let me jump. I jumped over him. I jumped it the end zone. It was awesome.”
It was one of two touchdowns McGough ran for throwing for another one. He was 14 of 26 for 206 yards passing.
This game was a home opener delayed by Hurricane Irma. The Panthers were forced to relocate their original, September 8 home opener against Alcorn State to Birmingham, Alabama because of the hurricane.
“The eight days that we spent in Birmingham there is some bonding that comes” Davis stated. “There were a lot of guys on that trip that was worried about their families, worried about other teammates and their families that were back home. Maybe somehow some way those kinds of things make a difference in the lives of these kids.”
This Panthers team may not come with cool gadgets or a power five-conference school but they are getting the job done. The Panthers can only get better with a favorable schedule ahead and a conference full of teams on both ends who many can not pick as a clear outright favorite record-wise.
Panthers visit the Middle Tennessee Blue Devils on the road. Both teams statically are fairly even.
Photo/LemonCityLive/EdwinGarcia
