Florida International, 8-4 (Sun Belt) vs Marshall, 6-6 (C-USA) get ready to to “get it on” at Tropicana Field (Home of The Tampa Bay Rays professional baseball team). This venue is one of three baseball stadiums to host a bowl game; the other two are Yankee Stadium (no further explanation required) and AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
The conference tie-ins are the Big East & Conference USA (the Sun Belt is the alternate). The Big East was unable to provide a representative this year and as a result, an invitation was was extended to and accepted by FIU. This bowl was first played in 2008 and was named after its cooperate sponsor magicJack, thus…. the magicJack St.Petersburg Bowl. This bowl lasted all of one year, in 2009, Beef O’Brady acquired the game’s naming rights and the official name of the event is now (for now) “St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef O’Brady.”
The inaugural game in 2008 was won by South Florida, who handled Memphis, 41-14 and last year’s winner, in a wild affair, saw Louisville outlasted Southern Mississippi, 31-28! Alright…let’s take a peek at these teams and see where it leads us.
Head to Head and Common Opponents
These teams have not met in the past six years and, in fact, Marshall has not played anyone from the Sun Belt Conference during that same 6 year time period. The same was true for FIU, who had not squared off against a C-USA opponent… that is… until this year’s game vs Central Florida. FIU took on their in-state rival and more than surprised college football fans across the State of Florida, with a 17-10 victory. Marshall fell to UCF 16-6 on October 8, three weeks after FIU victory on September 17. Advantage: FIU
Total Offense & Defense
FIU averages 370 YPG, 219 yards passing and 150 rushing (for you math people… we round up .5… Thus 370) while Marshall counters with 335 YPG. passing for 212 yards Per Game and rushing for an average of 125 yards. Advantage: FIU
Offensive & Defensive Scoring
Marshall is averaging 22 PPG while giving up 30. Meanwhile, FIU is ringing up 26 PPG while holding its opponents to 19. FIU has scored 24 or more 8 times this year to Marshall’s accomplishing this point total but 4 times. Marshall has held its opponents to 17 points or less 3 times this season while FIU has done so in seven games. Advantage: FIU
Turnovers Gained & Lost
FIU has turned over its opponents a total of 19 times for an average of 1.58 Turnovers Per Game, while giving up the ball 14 times for an average of 1.17 TPG. This leaves FIU with a plus .41 Turnover Margin in each of their games. Marshall has turned over their opposition 27 times and turned it back 27 times, resulting in a flat-line Turnover Margin of zero. Advantage: FIU
Third Down Conversions Offense & Defense
Marshall has had 164 Third Down Conversion Attempts and made it 58 times for a 35.4 success rate. FIU has has attempted to make a 1st down, on 3rd down, 172 times and converted 65 for a success rate of 37.8. On Defense, FIU has allowed 68 conversions of 189 attempts for a success rate of 36%; while Marshall has struggled to get of the field on 3rd down…. 65 conversions /160 attempts….. allowing its opponents to keep the drive alive a full 40.6 percent of the time. Advantage: FIU
Red Zone Offense & Defense
Marshall’s offense has penetrated the Red Zone 32 times and put points on the board 28 of those 32 possessions. There is an 88 percent chance that they will score it they enter your Red Zone and a 59% chance that the score will be a TD. FIU has been in its opponents Red Zone 45 times and scored on 39 of those drives…. thus scoring 87 percent of the time. Of those 39 scores, 19 have been for touchdowns which translates to a 47% likelihood that FIU’s score will be a TD. In defending their respective Red Zones, FIU has allowed 33 entries and 25 scores, while Marshall permitted 52 penetrations with 43 scores. Marshall has been scored on 83 percent of the time when their opponent has entered their Red Zone, with 62% of those scores being TD’s. While FIU’s opponents have scored 76 percent of the time with 52% being TD’s. Advantage: Push
One closing thought… Special Teams. Please remember this name…TY Hilton. I believe he and FIU’s ‘D’ will be the difference in this game. FIU 34 Marshall 14
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