FIU football picked first in preseason Sun Belt poll

FIU, the defending Sun Belt Conference champion, has been picked to repeat as champion in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Panthers also earned seven Preseason All-Sun Belt selections, including Heisman hopeful T.Y. Hilton being selected as the Co-Preseason Offensive Player of the Year along with North Texas running back Lance Dunbar.

Hilton was also selected as a wide receiver and return specialist. Joining Hilton on the preseason all-conference squad are offensive lineman Caylin Hauptmann, linebacker Winston Fraser, defensive lineman Tourek Williams and safety Jonathan Cyprien. FIU’s seven selections were the most of any Sun Belt team.

Hilton, the defending SBC player of the year and a three-time SBC first-team selection finds himself on the Biletnikoff Award watch list to start his senior year. Hilton, a junior from Miami, has earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous players not only in the conference, but in the country. A former Freshman All-American, Hilton is already FIU’s all-time leader in all-purpose yards with 5,392. In 2010, Hilton led the Panthers with 56 catches for 816 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 291 yards and four scores. Perhaps the biggest game of his career came against ULM on November 6, when he amassed 291 all-purpose yards and scored four touchdowns, two on receptions, one rushing and one on a kick return.

Photo courtesy of Samuel Lewis

Last December, playing on national television, Hilton wowed the football world with his performance in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, leading FIU to a 34-32 victory. In the game, Hilton caught one touchdown and scored another on an 89-yard kickoff return. However, the biggest play of the game was a 4th-and-17 play in which Hilton was on the back-end of a “Hook and Ladder,” tip-toeing his way down the sideline to pick up the first down and keep FIU in the game.

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The 2011 season kicks off on Thurs., Sept. 1, when the Panthers host the North Texas Mean Green. Game time is 7 p.m. For season tickets, call 305-FIU-GAME.