FIU Football: Can the Panthers improve in year two under Mike MacIntyre?

The FIU Football defense needs some work too.

If you need a frame of reference to understand how much the Panthers’ defense needs to improve, consider that FIU’s average margin of victory was about 10 points per game. Its margin of loss was over 30 points per game.

Coach MacIntyre and his staff need to lower the win/loss variance to lower its margin of error. The Panthers finished 120th in total defense, and offenses could get it any way they wanted. FIU football couldn’t stop the run or the pass.

However, the defense was about 40 yards and a field goal better in 2022. That might not seem like much, but this was the same defense that won one game in 2021.

The Panthers must deal with the loss of freshman All-American safety Demetrius Hill. FIU football did hit the portal hard on defense and landed some good pieces. North Carolina State transfer EDGE rusher Claude Larkins did not play much in Raleigh, but it’s hard not to want a player from a school that produced Mario Williams and Bradley Chubb.

Bryant transfer nose tackle Jack Daly gives the Panthers some much-needed size along its three-man front. Kent State transfer JoJo Evacan to step in for Hill at safety. Miami transfer Avery Huff should start at inside linebacker.

The defense might not be great, but there should be more progress this fall.