2008 FIU Golden Panthers football team

2008 FIU Golden Panthers football
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	5–7 (3–4 SBC)
Head coach	Mario Cristobal (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Legg (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Phil Galiano (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	FIU Stadium

2008 Sun Belt Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Troy $		6	–	1					8	–	5
Louisiana–Lafayette		5	–	2					6	–	6
Florida Atlantic		4	–	3					7	–	6
Arkansas State		4	–	3					6	–	6
FIU		3	–	4					5	–	7
Middle Tennessee		3	–	4					5	–	7
Louisiana–Monroe		3	–	4					4	–	8
North Texas		0	–	7					1	–	11
$ – Conference champion

The 2008 FIU Golden Panthers football team represented Florida International University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Mario Cristobal and played their homes games at the on-campus FIU Stadium.

Regular season

The 2008 season started off with a loss at 13th-ranked Kansas, 40–10. Following that, Iowa routed FIU, 42–0. FIU then faced its highest-ranked opponent in school history, 12th-ranked South Florida, for the inaugural game of the new FIU Stadium. Trailing 17–0 with 2:30 left in the game FIU attained a safety, and subsequently scored a touchdown. FIU lost, 17–9, but played acted as a spoiler for South Florida, with the latter falling three spots in the rankings. The game against Toledo became their first-ever out-of-conference FBS win. Against, Toledo, FIU forced four turnovers and recorded its first road win since 2005.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	at No. 14 Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS		L 10–40	52,112
September 6	12:00 p.m.	at Iowa*	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	BTN	L 0–42	70,585
September 20	5:00 p.m.	No. 12 South Florida*	FIU Stadium Miami, FL	ESPNU	L 9–17	16,717
September 27	7:00 p.m.	at Toledo*	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	BCSN	W 35–16	19,004
October 4	7:00 p.m.	at North Texas	Fouts Field Denton, TX	ESPN Plus	W 42–10	16,781
October 11	7:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	FIU Stadium Miami, FL		W 31–21	15,108
October 18	7:00 p.m.	at Troy	Movie Gallery Stadium Troy, AL	ESPN Plus	L 23–33	19,316
November 1	5:00 p.m.	at Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field Lafayette, LA		L 20–49	29,031
November 8	7:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	FIU Stadium Miami, FL		W 22–21	15,106
November 22	7:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	FIU Stadium Miami, FL		L 27–31	12,925
November 29	4:00 p.m.	at FAU	Dolphin Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (Shula Bowl)		L 50–57 OT	16,781
December 6	7:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky*	FIU Stadium Miami, FL		W 27–3	9,405
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Associated Press All times are in Eastern time

Coaching staff

Name	Current Title	Years at FIU	Alma mater
Mario Cristobal	Head Coach	2006 –	Miami
Bill Legg	Offensive Coordinator Quarterbacks	2008 –	West Virginia
Phil Galiano	Defensive Coordinator Linebackers	2007 –	Shippensburg
Apollo Wright	Special teams Coordinator	2001 –	Wagner College
Mike Cassano	Assistant Head Coach Running backs/Recruiting	2006 –	New Hampshire
Bernard Clark	Assistant Head Coach Defensive line	2004–2005, 2007 –	Miami
Greg Laffere	Assistant Head Coach Offensive line	2005 –	Miami
Alex Mirabal	Assistant Head Coach Tight ends	2006 –	FIU
Frank Ponce	Assistant Head Coach Wide receivers	2005 –	FIU
Jeff Popovich	Assistant Head Coach Secondary	2006 –	Miami
Roderick Moore	Strength & Conditioning Coach	–	-
Chris Siegle	Graduate Assistant Coach	2005 –	-
Dennis Smith	Graduate Assistant Coach	2006 –	Miami

See also

• FIU Golden Panthers football
• FIU Golden Panthers
• FIU Stadium
• FIU

Game summaries

at No. 13 Kansas

Overall: (0–1), Conference: (0–2)

	1	2	3	4	Total
FIU	0	10	0	0	10
Kansas	7	23	10	0	40

at Iowa

Overall: (0–2), Conference: (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
FIU	0	0	0	0	0
Iowa	21	14	0	7	42

No. 12 South Florida

Overall: (0–3), Conference: (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
South Florida	7	3	0	7	17
FIU	0	0	0	9	9

Toledo

Overall: (1–3), Conference: (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
FIU	0	14	21	0	35
Toledo	13	3	0	0	16

North Texas

Overall: (2–3), Conference: (1–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
FIU	14	14	7	7	42
North Texas	0	0	3	7	10

Middle Tennessee

Overall: (3-3), Conference: (2–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Middle Tennessee	3	0	10	8	21
FIU	0	10	14	7	31

Troy

Overall: (3–4), Conference: (2–1)

	1	2	3	4	Total
FIU	9	7	0	7	23
Troy	16	3	7	7	33

Louisiana-Lafayette

Overall: (3–5), Conference: (2–2)

	1	2	3	4	Total
FIU	14	0	0	6	20
Louisiana-Lafayette	7	28	14	0	49

Arkansas State

Overall: (4–5), Conference: (3–2)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Arkansas State	0	7	7	7	21
FIU	0	6	6	10	22

Louisiana-Monroe

	1	2	3	4	Total
Louisiana-Monroe	0	21	10	0	31
FIU	3	0	14	10	27

Florida Atlantic

Shula Bowl

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
FIU	7	9	6	28	0	50
Florida Atlantic	14	0	8	28	7	57

Western Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Western Kentucky	3	0	0	0	3
FIU	0	7	6	14	27