RE: St. Pete Bowl: FIU vs. Marshall
MU bowl opponent making progress
December 11, 2011 @ 12:00 AM
ANDREW RAMSPACHER
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON -- On Oct. 10, 1998, 63,617 crazed Sunshine State football fans packed the Orange Bowl for what was set to be another chapter in the storied Florida State-University of Miami rivalry.
The Seminoles were led by a veteran gun-slinging quarterback by the name of Chris Weinke. His favorite target was a slashing, exciting receiver who went by Peter Warrick.
The Hurricanes, loaded as always, were going to try to match that explosive FSU attack with their hard-hitting, ball-seeking safety Ed Reed and tackle-gathering linebacker Dan Morgan.
The perennial national powers went at it for four quarters until Bobby Bowden's boys eventually trumped Butch Davis and crew, 26-14.
The significance of that result played a major role in the Noles' run to the national championship game and the Canes' near Big East title.
But those were short-term effects.
On that very same day, over the top of that very same stadium, something happened for the long-term.
In a way, Marshall University's Dec. 20 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl opponent was born on Oct. 10, 1998.
That's when Florida International University officially entered itself into this crazy world that is college football.
Baby steps
"They hadn't played a game, but someone from that FIU committee rented a plane to fly over the Orange Bowl during the second quarter," said Pete Pelegrin, a former FIU beat writer for the Miami Herald newspaper and current member of the Golden Panthers' media relations staff.
Trailing that plane was a banner reading, "FIU Football Still Undefeated."
The message was strong and it was true.
Florida International, a school that began operation in 1969 in Miami, had never fielded a football team.
Some 30 years later, it was decided to begin discussions.
"Back in the late 90s, the university, itself, explored having football," Pelegrin said. "They wanted to keep growing and one way to keep growing is to make a Division I athletic program. And back then, the only major sports they had were baseball and basketball.
"So they got a committee together -- the university and local leaders. And they asked the students."
At the time, this meant surveying about 30,000 college kids.
"They asked the students, 'Would you guys want to play football?,'" Pelegrin said. "And everybody, resoundingly said, 'Yes.'"
Cue the Orange Bowl banner. Cue the serious interest.
"FIU started getting flooded with calls," Pelegrin said. "Like, 'What is this thing about this banner saying, 'FIU Football Still Undefeated?'"
On Sept. 1, 1999, Don Strock, a former Miami Dolphins quarterback, was hired as FIU's director of football operations. On Sept. 13, 2000, he was named head coach.
On Aug. 29, 2002, the Panthers, garbed in blue and gold, made the dream a reality. They defeated St. Peter's College of New Jersey, 27-3, at FIU Community Stadium in their first game as a program.
"Back then, the end zone bleachers were rented for football season as well as the press box and the president's suite," Pelegrin recalled. "If you wanted to call it that. It was just a big room on stilts."
And the players. ...
"They just took anybody who had any semblance of being a football player because they were just brand new," Pelegrin said. "They were looking for anybody that could play."
Brawl leads to change
From 2002 until 2005, FIU competed as a member of the NCAA's Division I-AA. Under Strock, there were some strides -- a pair of 5-6 seasons and a win over rival Florida Atlantic in '05.
But on Oct. 14, 2006, the program hit its first major setback.
Playing Miami -- in the Orange Bowl no less -- things got a little heated under the South Florida sun.
In the first-ever matchup between schools separated by a mere nine miles, emotions were running high. With nine minutes to go in the third quarter of a 7-0 game, the Hurricanes' James Bryant hauled in a 5-yard touchdown catch and proceeded to let the Panthers know about it.
He reportedly pointed to the FIU sideline and then bowed to Miami fans in the end zone.
On the ensuing extra-point, a melee broke out that didn't ended until punches were thrown, kicks were made, helmets were used as weapons and a combined 13 players were ejected, including eight from FIU.
When the dust settled, two Panthers were asked to leave the team and 16 others were suspended.
On Nov. 15, 2006, Strock resigned. Less than one month later, FIU finished a forgetful season with a 26-13 loss to Troy. In their second year at the Division I-A level, the Panthers went 0-12.
This was the hand Pete Garcia was dealt barely into his first year as FIU's athletic director.
A change was needed in the worst way, so Garcia reached out to a figure well-versed in the Miami culture.
On Dec. 19, 2006, he hired former Hurricanes offensive tackle Mario Cristobal to be the Panthers' next head coach.
"(The brawl) was obviously an embarrassment to the program," said Marshall offensive coordinator Bill Legg, an FIU assistant from 2008-09. "And that's when they brought in Pete and that's when they brought in Mario. And that's when Mario brought in that staff.
"They've done a marvelous job of changing the image of the university, changing the image of the football program."
A tradition in the making
It didn't take long for Pelegrin to notice the Cristobal way of doing things.
It was almost an 180 degree difference from the previous regime.
"The first thing that stood out to me was discipline," he said. "Under Strock, there wasn't much discipline. ... Cristobal changed the culture. The first year was a big adjustment for the players because they had never been faced with that discipline he brought. The accountability. The attention to detail.
"And when that happened, there was a good handfull of players that couldn't survive. They're like, 'This is too tough for me,' and they quit. Or they weren't good enough and they quit. That type of stuff."
Cristobal's new ways didn't get off to the best start -- 9-27 from 2007-09 -- but have since kicked in.
Pelegrin said the breakthrough moment came in November 2010 when the 3-5 Panthers traveled to take on Sun Belt Conference powerhouse Troy.
"Troy had been the perennial Sun Belt champion forever," he said. "And FIU had never won at Troy. But they went in there and spanked them. They rolled up 660 yards of total offense, 440 of them were rushing yards. I mean they ran all over Troy and ended up winning, 52-35.
"And that was the spark that just, I believe, turned the season around. That these guys started believing in themselves."
From there, FIU ended up taking the Sun Belt title and the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in dramatic fashion over Toldeo, 34-32 (YouTube "FIU Hook and Ladder" for the highlight).
This season, the Panthers are 8-4, their best year ever. Among Sunshine State teams, only Florida State has as many wins.
FIU is a tradition in the making.
"The fan base, off the momentum of last year, just took off," Pelegrin said. "We had two straight games where it was standing room only. The stadium holds 19,000 right now. They're going to keep building it this offseason. By next year, it could be 27,000 or close to 30,000 maybe. ... It happens when you win. When you win, people like you.
"Especially in Miami."
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