FIU Football: Pressuring The Quarterback Is A Must in 2024

Kevin Barral | Apr 13, 2024

Sep 16, 2023; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; FIU Golden Panthers head coach Mike MacIntyre watches / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

In 2023, the FIU defense got the quarterback out of the pocket 168 times, but only sacked them 17 times - seventh in a conference where there are nine teams, soon to be 10. Defensive coordinator Jovan Dewitt sees that as unacceptable, but also as an opportunity to improve throughout the offseason.

“Last year we did a good job of getting the quarterback off the spot, but we didn’t do a great job of finishing with quarterback sacks,” said Dewitt. “I went back and analyzed what were we doing? How we were doing it? Why are we getting the quarterback and not being able to pull them back to the ground?”

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Dewitt sites the main issue being strength and agility at the top of the rush, leaving tacklers unable to finish. The Panthers' 2023 leader in sacks, Alex Nobles, has moved on. Reggie Peterson and Jeramy Passmore, both who were right behind Nobles in that category will return.

Dewitt has expressed that experience has played a factor into the progress he's seen in the defense this spring.

“It’s been fun,” said Dewitt. “We’ve implemented a couple of things. It’s been a lot of fun. Obviously, we’re a lot older than we’ve been since we’ve been here, so you’re starting to see some of that shine throughout some of the guys in terms of experience and just a little bit of savvy and now you implement new things, it doesn’t create confusion for us, as much as it does for the offense, so that’s been a lot of fun for us.”

With the Spring Showcase just one day away, the hot names to watch on the defense that multiple coaches have mentioned are Elijah Anderson-Taylor and Shamir Sterling.

Anderson-Taylor, who was a transfer last season out of Northern Colorado, didn’t play as much as expected given the number of linebackers at the position. Now, he will have the opportunity to line up with Reggie Peterson on the first-team defense. Anderson-Taylor lost 15 overall pounds, but gained eight pounds of muscle according to Dewitt. “He looks completely different than he did,” said Dewitt. “He’s way more sideline-to-sideline.”

Usually, you don’t hear many coaches talk as highly about a freshman as coach Dewitt did when it came to freshman Shamir Sterling out of Treasure Coast High. Standing at 6’1”, 185 pounds, both FIU head coach Mike MacIntyre and Dewitt have spoken very positively about him.

“He’s doing a great job, an unbelievable job as a freshman coming into his first semester,” said Dewitt of the early enrollee at spring practice this week. “He’s supposed to be in prom...He's done an unbelievable job adapting and learning everything and really processing packages. We can allow some of those young guys to learn where to be and how to do things.”

The Panthers will take the field in front of their fans on Saturday, April 13 for the Spring Showcase at FIU Football Stadium beginning at 5:00 PM ET. Tickets are free for all fans.

Final Note

FIU safety Ladarian Paulk has entered the transfer portal. He played in four games this past season, recording six total tackles, four solo tackles and two assisted tackles. He has one year of eligibility left.