Davis: 45 players missed significant time due to virus

FIU will play its home opener this Saturday against Middle Tennessee, and that in itself is cause for celebration, and here’s why:

Few people outside the FIU football program knew this past summer just how much the pandemic had affected the Panthers.

FIU coach Butch Davis told the Miami Herald that 45 of his players missed between 25 and 55 days of practice, workouts or other activities because of a combination of COVID-19, contact tracing and quarantine protocols.

Things were so bad at one point that FIU had just three offensive linemen available. The Panthers did not have a single practice in the spring or a full scrimmage in the fall.

Two defensive linemen — Kameron Burns and Obinna Nwankwo — were moved to the offensive line just to be able to have some semblance of practice, and that was 12 days before the opener at Liberty, a 36-34 loss.

All those issues with the virus showed up in the Liberty loss.

“We had 16 missed tackles, and that cost us over 100 yards,” Davis said. “Before [Liberty], we hadn’t tackled anyone since our bowl game in December.”

Davis said among the players who didn’t make the trip to Liberty were defensive end Chris Whittaker

and defensive tackle Andrew Tarver.

In addition, wide receiver Shemar Thornton is out for the year, and all three are starter-caliber players.

“Hopefully we can get some players back going forward,” Davis said.

FIU was penalized 15 times for 127 yards against Liberty, which had just 4 for 40 yards on flags.

“Penalties cost us two interceptions that would have taken [Liberty] points off board,” Davis said.

Davis believes not having the ability to have scrimmages with referees caused the high volume of flags.

“It’s hard to blame our loss on the coronavirus because probably every school in the country has had some of these issues,” Davis said. “But we had some kids in quarantine for over 50 days — not practicing, not running, not lifting. And when they finally got out of isolation, they had to try to catch up on what they missed for two months.”

THIS AND THAT

Reviewing the statistics from FIU’s opener, just three Panthers wide receivers caught passes against Liberty: Bryce Singleton

(2 for 50, 1 TD); JJ Holloman (2 for 25); and freshman Nate Jefferson (1 for 5). FIU quarterback-turnedreceiver Caleb Lynum did not catch a pass.

Davis wants more from Holloman, a transfer from the University of Georgia who made his FIU debut. “He was OK,” Davis said. “He could have played a bit better. He’s talented.”

Tight end Rivaldo Fairweather had one catch for 22 yards. Davis called that “a phenomenal catch on the sideline.”

As for Fairweather’s drop on a two-point conversion attempt, Davis said: “The ball was little bit low but catchable. It crushed him that he dropped it, but it hit his shoulder pads. He’s going to make a lot of catches for us in his career.”

Davis praised a pair of his players on defense: linebacker Jamal Gates (7.0 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss) and tackle Davon Strickland (one sack).

Middle Tennessee

(0-4, 0-2 Conference USA) beat FIU 50-17 last year. FIU allowed a 92-yard run and also three TD drives of 23 yards or less. In addition, quarterback Asher O’Hara ran for 159 yards and two TDs.

This past Saturday, in Middle Tennessee’s 20-17 loss to Western Kentucky, O’Hara passed for 217 yards and one TD and ran for 98 yards and one score, with no turnovers. Senior wide receiver Jarrin

Pierce had nine catches in that game and leads C-USA with 7.8 receptions per contest.