2008 FIU Golden Panthers football team

The 2008 FIU Golden Panthers football team represented Florida International University (FIU) as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by second-year head coach Mario Cristobal, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 5–7 with a mark of 3–4 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for fifth in the Sun Belt. The team played home game at FIU Stadium in Miami.

2008 FIU Golden Panthers football
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	5–7 (3–4 Sun Belt)
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
Seasons ← 2007 2009 →

2008 Sun Belt Conference football standings

v t e	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 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 renovated FIU Stadium. Trailing 17–0 with 2:30 left in the game FIU scored a safety and a touchdown. The Golden Panthers 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. It was also the program first non-conference win against an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent.^{[citation needed]}

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 AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[1][2][3]

Game summaries

at Kansas

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

at Iowa

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

South Florida

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

Toledo

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

North Texas

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

Middle Tennessee

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

Troy

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

Louisiana–Lafayette

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

Arkansas State

	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

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