Sun Belt Sports Fans

Florida International 52, Troy 35

It’s hard to put into words, but the reality of what the Florida International Golden Panthers achieved on Saturday in the southeastern corner of the state of Alabama really speaks for itself.

In 2001, the FIU program didn’t even exist. In 2003, the Golden Panthers weren’t yet a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A). In 2004, Florida International hadn’t yet joined the Sun Belt Conference.

And now, Coach Mario Cristobal’s program is two wins away from a conference championship.

Moreover, that’s just half of the story.

What’s 100 times more remarkable than FIU’s rise over the past several years is the way in which the Golden Panthers have now arrived on the brink of a remarkable and highly improbable crown in the Sun Belt. This team hasn’t just covered a lot of terrain in an existence that’s not even a decade old; it is nearing the winner’s circle in its own corner of the country because it beat the big dog of the neighborhood on its own front porch.

The Troy Trojans have ruled the Sun Belt with distinction over the past four years. Coach Larry Blakeney’s bunch won the league three times and tied Florida Atlantic in 2007 (although FAU essentially won the conference due to a head-to-head win over Troy). There are some Trojans in Los Angeles who played pretty good football over the past several years, but these Men of Troy in Alabama were very accomplished in their own right. Although decorated quarterback Levi Brown – author of numerous Sun Belt records from 2006 through 2009 – was the main engine behind Troy’s ascendance, the Trojans owned a number of fleet-footed backs and receivers who could produce plays from every spot on the field. Moreover, Troy’s defense was opportunistic enough to make its offense appear even better by comparison.

Loads of touchdowns plus timely defensive interventions have made Troy the force it’s become in the Sun Belt, and even though a new freshman quarterback, Corey Robinson, had struggled at times to fill Brown’s shoes, the fact of the matter heading into this past Saturday was that Troy was on its home field at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium against an FIU crew that, for all its quality within the Sun Belt, was still 3-5 overall. Sure, Florida International had a chance to take control of the Belt, but the odds were very much on Troy’s side as Nov. 13 came across the calendar. Even if this game had been played in Miami’s FIU Stadium, the Golden Panthers would have been hard pressed to wrestle the conference lead from the program that has set the standard along the Gulf Coast for four years.

So much for odds and percentages, though. Florida International took hold of the Sun Belt with surprising ease, as Troy surrendered its grasp on backyard supremacy with a shockingly small degree of resistance.

FIU hung 31 points on the board in the second quarter to take a 38-21 halftime lead. The Golden Panthers rolled up – get this – 668 yards on the shellshocked Trojans’ incapacitated defense. Robinson quaked in his boots and gave away two interceptions on an afternoon when Troy coughed up four turnovers to just one for FIU. You never would have thought that FIU was the newbie on the block, looking to prove itself on the road. Similarly, you never would have thought that Troy was the veteran team (minus the quarterback spot) defending not only its two straight Sun Belt titles, but also its home field.

The roles were reversed, and accordingly, the outcome of this game defied most people’s expectations.

It didn’t defy the expectations of the young men from Miami, however. They’re now in control of the Sun Belt and need just two wins over teams other than Troy to win one of the most remarkable conference titles ever witnessed in major college football.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer