MIAMI (Aug. 28, 2019) - Welcome back to Panther Tracks. If you are new here or you just forgot this is your one-stop shop for everything you need to about the upcoming FIU football game, but with a fun twist. Stats? We got'em. Trends to look out for on Thursday, Friday or Saturday? We got you covered. In-depth coverage of the opponent's mascot and how it compares to our man Roary? Oh, that's exactly what we are known for. With all of that being said, welcome home and strap yourself in because we're about to go on a ride the likes of which you've never seen before.
 
Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler
It has been 251 days (or 68.77% of a common year) since Butch Davis and the guys walked off the field in Nassau with the Bahamas Bowl trophy -- proclaiming that they were (inter)National Champions for 2018. You, the fan base, got to soak in the limelight and bask in the glory of FIU's first bowl win since 2010. Then winter came and things got cooler and a little less humid. That was followed by the renewed excitement of spring ball, but even that didn't last. The dog days of summer came and things were bleak. You know those days in late May and early June when the south Florida heat has returned, but all you can think about is pads poppin' and James Morgan tossing touchdowns. It is fine to admit because the staff at Panther Tracks was right there with you. That all changes on Thursday night, as football has returned for FIU.

Arguably the most anticipated season of Panther football is on us, but let's try to not get ahead of ourselves. Coach Alan Mogridge always tells his offensive lineman in practice to "be where your feet are" and that can apply to many things in life, but we'll apply it to this week's game. There is no need to worry about the home opener against WKU, homecoming against Charlotte or the game being play at Marlins Park in late November. Let's take it week-by-week and see where the journey takes us, starting with Tulane. As our Cajun friends would say, "Laiessez Les Bons Temps Rouler". Let the good times roll.
 
You Get a Watch List, You Get a Watch List, Everybody Gets a Watch List
It was a busy TalkSZN for a number of Panthers as five different Panthers received 14 preseason honors. James Morgan earned the most with seven, but we'll save him for later in this piece of leisure reading. Sage "The Chef" Lewis cooked up the second most with four honors including being named the C-USA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Lewis became the first FIU Panther to claim that honor since Richard Leonard was named Preseason DPOY in 2015. As much as we love offense here at Panther Tracks, we're just as excited to see what Lewis and the rest of the defense can do under new Co-Defensive Coordinators Jeff Copp and Jerod Kruse. We'd be remised if we did not mention Jose Borregales (Lou Groza Award), Dallas Connell (Remington Trophy) and Sterling Palmer (Mackey Award) being bestowed with their own preseason honors.
 
The Points of the Matter Is…
We told you guys that we'd get to James Morgan did we not? Well, this is all about him and his offense. The vaunted Panther offense returns almost everyone (expect CJ Worton, go Falcons!) on an offense that scored nearly 35 points a game to lead the league. Now think about something for a hot minute, all of that was in Morgan's first season. QB1 now has a full season under his belt on 8^th street. It's downright scary to ponder what Morgan and Rich Skrosky have in store for 2019.
 
Butch and Stuff
Our fearless leader, Butch Davis, has some milestones that are within his grasp this season. First, Davis is 8-4 all-time in season openers, but is 0-2 at FIU with losses to UCF and Indiana. A win on Thursday night in New Orleans would leave the ball coach just three wins shy of the career century mark. That's right the big 100. If Coach Davis keeps the Panthers prowling in the right direction, two more milestones could well be in reach this season. Six wins will make the Panthers bowl eligible for the third-straight season, something that has never happened at FIU. If FIU blows the doors off of six wins and finishes with its best season ever, aka 10 wins, Davis will become the winningest head coach in school history. Just some food for thought, but let's be where our feet are and take down Tulane first.     
 
Mascot Analysis: Riptide The Pelican
While Tulane's team name is the Green Wave, its mascot is in fact a Pelican named Riptide. Not much is know about Riptide, if you google his name all you will find is an article explaining how his grandfather used to carry around a skateboard and that he was once a clue to a New York Times crossword puzzle answer back in 2016. After presenting all that information to Roary, he came to only one conclusion. He believes that Riptide isn't even the best Pelican in his own town. That's right. Roary is bros with Pierre the Pelican, the mascot for the New Orleans Pelicans of the NBA. The big cat really wanted to emphasize that it wasn't anything personal, he just really likes his Smoothie King meet ups with Pierre.   
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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