2008 FIU Golden Panthers football team

American college football season February 2026 August 2023 2008 FIU Golden Panthers football Florida International University FIU logo.svg 175 Sun Belt Conference Sun Belt 5–7 3–4 Mario Cristobal 2nd Bill Legg 1st Spread Phil Galiano 2nd 4–3 FIU Stadium The 2008 FIU Golden Panthers football team represented Florida International University (FIU) as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by second-year head coach Mario Cristobal, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 5–7 with a mark of 3–4 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for fifth in the Sun Belt. The team played home game at FIU Stadium in Miami. The season started off with a loss at 13th-ranked Kansas, 40–10. Following that, Iowa routed FIU, 42–0. FIU then faced its highest-ranked opponent in school history, 12th-ranked South Florida, for the inaugural game of the renovated FIU Stadium. Trailing 17–0 with 2:30 left in the game FIU scored a safety and a touchdown. The Golden Panthers lost, 17–9, but played acted as a spoiler for South Florida, with the latter falling three spots in the rankings. The game against Toledo became their first-ever out-of-conference FBS win. Against, Toledo, FIU forced four turnovers and recorded its first road win since 2005. It was also the program first non-conference win against an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent.March 2009 Schedule 2008 AP Eastern August 30 7:00 p.m. l y y Kansas 14 Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS 10–40 52,112 September 6 12:00 p.m. l y y Iowa Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA BTN 0–42 70,585 September 20 5:00 p.m. l y South Florida 12 FIU Stadium Miami, FL ESPNU 9–17 16,717 September 27 7:00 p.m. w y y Toledo Glass Bowl Toledo, OH BCSN 35–16 19,004 October 4 7:00 p.m. w y North Texas Fouts Field Denton, TX ESPN Plus 42–10 16,781 October 11 7:00 p.m. w Middle Tennessee FIU Stadium Miami, FL 31–21 15,108 October 18 7:00 p.m. l y Troy Movie Gallery Stadium Troy, AL ESPN Plus 23–33 19,316 November 1 5:00 p.m. l y Louisiana–Lafayette Cajun Field Lafayette, LA 20–49 29,031 November 8 7:00 p.m. w y Arkansas State FIU Stadium Miami, FL 22–21 15,106 November 22 7:00 p.m. l Louisiana–Monroe FIU Stadium Miami, FL 27–31 12,925 November 29 4:00 p.m. l y FAU Dolphin Stadium Miami Gardens, FL Shula Bowl 50–57 OT 16,781 December 6 7:00 p.m. w y Western Kentucky FIU Stadium Miami, FL 27–3 9,405 Florida International Panthers Schedule 2008 https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/2229/season/2008 ESPN July 29, 2025 2008 Florida International Golden Panthers Schedule and Results https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/florida-international/2008-schedule.html College Football at Sports-Reference.com Sports Reference July 29, 2025 2008 Football Schedule https://fiusports.com/sports/football/schedule/2008 Florida International University Athletics July 29, 2025 Game summaries at Kansas FIU 0 10 0 0 10 Kansas 7 23 10 0 40 at Iowa FIU 0 0 0 0 0 Iowa 21 14 0 7 42 South Florida South Florida 7 3 0 7 17 FIU 0 0 0 9 9 Toledo FIU 0 14 21 0 35 Toledo 13 3 0 0 16 North Texas FIU 14 14 7 7 42 North Texas 0 0 3 7 10 Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee 3 0 10 8 21 FIU 0 10 14 7 31 Troy FIU 9 7 0 7 23 Troy 16 3 7 7 33 Louisiana–Lafayette FIU 14 0 0 6 20 Louisiana–Lafayette 7 28 14 0 49 Arkansas State Arkansas State 0 7 7 7 21 FIU 0 6 6 10 22 Louisiana–Monroe Louisiana–Monroe 0 21 10 0 31 FIU 3 0 14 10 27 Florida Atlantic Shula Bowl FIU 7 9 6 28 0 50 Florida Atlantic 14 0 8 28 7 57 Western Kentucky Western Kentucky 3 0 0 0 3 FIU 0 7 6 14 27 Coaching staff Name Current Title Years atFIU Alma mater Mario Cristobal Head Coach 2006 – Miami Bill Legg Offensive CoordinatorQuarterbacks 2008 – West Virginia Phil Galiano Defensive CoordinatorLinebackers 2007 – Shippensburg Apollo Wright Special teams Coordinator 2001 – Wagner College Mike Cassano Assistant Head CoachRunning backs/Recruiting 2006 – New Hampshire Bernard Clark Assistant Head CoachDefensive line 2004–2005, 2007 – Miami Greg Laffere Assistant Head CoachOffensive line 2005 – Miami Alex Mirabal Assistant Head CoachTight ends 2006 – FIU Frank Ponce Assistant Head CoachWide receivers 2005 – FIU Jeff Popovich Assistant Head CoachSecondary 2006 – Miami Roderick Moore Strength & Conditioning Coach – - Chris Siegle Graduate Assistant Coach 2005 – - Dennis Smith Graduate Assistant Coach 2006 – Miami References FIU Category:FIU Panthers football seasons FIU Golden Panthers football