Who is Florida International, anyway?

For all intended purposes, the Golden Panthers of Florida International are the first cupcake on the schedule. I can safely say that cause I am a firm believer that Nick Saban does not read this blog (or any blog for that matter.)

The Panthers are coming out of the Sun Belt conference and will be kicking off their season this Saturday against the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.

FIU has only been playing football since 2002 and are 21-59 in their seven-year history. The school has never had a winning season, but have won five games on three occasions, including last season's 5-7 effort. An overtime loss to Florida Atlantic in the next to last weekend of the season was the only thing short of keeping the school from a .500 record.

The Panthers have played in Tuscaloosa before back in 2006 when Mike Shula led the Crimson Tide to a 38-3 victory, the only meeting in the series.

As for this year's Panthers squad, they return 16 starters from last season, 10 of which are on offense.

On offense, the Panthers are a predominantly passing team, having their air attack more than double the yards churned out on the ground in 2008. Quarterback Paul McCall only completed 52% of his passes last season, but did throw 15 touchdowns to nine interceptions. His favorite target is T.Y. Hilton, who as a freshman had 1,000 yards receiving and seven touchdowns. He will be the focus of the Alabama defense even though FIU's top five receivers return this season, including all of their touchdown receptions from last year.

On defense, Florida International is quite vulnerable both on the ground and through the air. The Panthers gave up an average of four yards per carry last season and allowed for an average of 60% of pass attempts to be completed. Despite these stats, they still have some players. Linebacker Scott Bryant was the team leader in tackles (89) and tackles for loss (7) from a year ago and he returns for his final season in Miami. Lurking in the secondary is Anthony Gaitor, a first team All-Sun Belt last season. Gaitor led the team in interceptions (5) and pass break-ups (11) last season and will be a focus on locating him on the line before each passing play. The Tide should expect a break on the four-man defensive front as FIU is replacing three defensive linemen this season.

On special teams, Hilton is once again the man for the Panthers. Last season he averaged 23 yards per kickoff return and 15 yards per punt return. He also had a touchdown from each position. For kicks, FIU will rely on Dustin Rivest, who has only hit 19-35 for his career with a long of 43. Rivest will also be taking over the punting duties this season.

For Alabama, the game plan seems pretty simple: run the ball down their throats, play sound defensively, get out without getting hurt. If the Crimson Tide can do this, Saturday will be a successful 60 minutes.