FIU athletic director Pete Garcia spent halftime of Friday night’s ‘home opener’ at Legion Field watching CNN’s latest update on Hurricane Irma and its destructive path toward South Florida with a worried look on his face.
“I have no idea when we’ll be heading back home,” said Garcia, who was not only talking about FIU’s football team, but all 170 student-athletes in eight sports who made the trip to Birmingham to get out of the storm’s way. “It all depends on how bad this really ends up being. But it’s not looking great.”
With most of the 5,017 fans in attendance cheering for the ‘road team’ and the threat of a dangerous storm affecting the lives of their families clearly on their minds, the Panthers still found a way to get past Alcorn State 17-10 and make coach Butch Davis a winner in his second game as coach.