What You May Have Missed During FIU Football’s 2024 Spring Showcase

MIAMI, FL – With all the work that this FIU Football team has put in during the Spring practices, it’s all led up to the annual Spring Showcase, a tradition where the Panthers show off to the fans what they’re working with.

More than anything, this is to see how far FIU has come since last season, with new faces on both the roster and coaching staff making up for those they’ve lost to graduation, the transfer portal, or another reason.

“We were very competitive with each other,” said head coach Mike MacIntyre. “You saw the spirit…you can see the competition and how we’re doing, how we’re working. I was excited about that.”

With a solid turnout and some renewed optimism, there are still over 20 weeks to go until FIU’s first game of the 2024 season against Indiana, so an event like this will prove a nice placeholder for authentic football for the time being.

Back To The Traditional Format

For the past couple of years, the format of the Spring Showcase has changed to the point where it’s now called that instead of a Spring Game, which is what other schools across the country go with.

It’s essentially a drawn-out practice at the FIU Football Stadium with every position competing in drills with interviews and other fun activities sprinkled in here and there.

But this year, while those drills remained but in short order, actual contact football was back. Initially, the plan was for two 15-minute quarters with a rolling clock, but a 10-minute quarter with scenario plays for the offense was added, capped off with some tiebreakers at the end zone.

Both the Blue Team and White Team consisted of potential starters with familiar faces, as well as first looks at some freshmen and transfers to this squad.

The QB Room Makes A Splash

Let’s be clear here – the starting job at quarterback for FIU will most likely be given to Keyone Jenkins, and the real QB battle is for who the backup should be. Jenkins is coming off his freshman season at the helm, and put up mixed numbers overall but had a few marquee games where he’s shown off his talent.

His action in the Spring Game was somewhat limited, but not before making a few solid passes including a toss to Dean Patterson for the first touchdown of the day.

But passing isn’t the only thing in his bag – he can run as well when he has to, and he utilized the option play a few times and got solid yardage in the process.

Who turned heads in this game at the QB position was Haden Carlsson, who found plenty of success in the red zone and made some solid catches. A solid showing like this helps him make a case for being QB2 on this team.

Who’s Catching the Passes?

The wide receiver position took a big hit in the offseason, as Kris Mitchell, who joined the 1,000-yards-in-a-season club in 2023 is now playing for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

With that said, there’s plenty of depth at FIU, with players like Patterson (Who was mentioned earlier) looking to continue their success this season. In addition, tight ends such as Rocky Beers could prove to get their workload increased in the process.

The receiver that took over the Spring Game, however, was TJ Snowden. Technically a running back, the redshirt sophomore from Navarro College caught two touchdowns today, including the game-winner for Blue Team.

Overall, there are a few positions at FIU where questions are being raised, but the wide receiver room looks to be reliable as always, even with Mitchell leaving the team.

The Other Side Of The Ball

You could argue that the defense for FIU looked to be better than the offense in this game. There’s no getting by it, the Panther’s QBs were getting pressured a lot, with solid secondary coverage to boot.

“Our offensive line has gotten better,” said MacIntyre. “The competition between that has really helped us get better on the defensive side too. We’ve got some guys that can rush the passer.”

That’s to be expected when you have veteran defensive backs Hezekiah Masses and Brian Blades II returning. The defensive line is where most questions are being raised, with the losses of Jack Daly and Jordan Guerad leaving new opportunities.

In the Spring Game, one player who raised eyebrows was Shamir Sterlin, a freshman from Port St. Lucie. In the end zone, he found himself in the right place as he came away with the only interception of the game.

The Cage Was Rocking

With a solid turnout, the Spring Showcase has gotten back on track for FIU Football. After being rained out last year, the weather obliged in 2024.

Alumni tend to make appearances at these events, as was the case with both Jonnu Smith and Teair Tart, former FIU Panthers who now play for the Miami Dolphins.

With the Spring Showcase complete, it’s time for Summer workouts. They won’t last long before Fall practices take over, where it’ll be determined how this team will look when they kick off in Bloomington against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, August 31st.