As gametime approaches at Beaver Stadium, Mario Cristobal, Florida International's first-year head coach, said he'll likely be "popping out" of his skin with excitement.
The school's athletic director, Pete Garcia, is looking forward to the game, as well. But he has his sights set a little farther down the road -- on the 2010 season.
Garcia is in his first year as the school's athletic director. He's stuck with the football schedules put in place by his predecessor for the next three seasons, but he's currently hammering out the details of 2010's slate.
The team hopes to complete renovations of its stadium in 2008, expanding it to a 20,000-seat facility, a project that FIU expects to cost about $34 million. Garcia's mission is to secure as many opponents as possible who will pay a visit to South Florida. His predecessors, he said, used to hunt for big-name, marquee opponents -- ones who would use a hefty check to lure the Golden Panthers into a one-time trip to their massive stadiums but never reciprocate.
Garcia wants to throw that philosophy out the window. And that's a problem for schools like Penn State.
When the Nittany Lions cement their early-season, non-conference schedules, they want to bring teams to Beaver Stadium they can pay to play once but won't expect a return visit. Fran Ganter, who handles the Lions' schedules as their associate athletic director for football administration, calls them "guarantee games."
But the number of schools wanting to send their football teams to guarantee games, Ganter said, is drastically shrinking. He's found that not as many schools need that money because their programs are improving and are drawing larger crowds at home.
"It's just the way things are right now," Ganter said.
Buffalo, who will come to Beaver Stadium on Sept. 15, used to be willing to travel to an opponent's campus three or four times in exchange for one return visit, said Paul Vecchio, Buffalo's football team spokesman. But now, Buffalo is also trying to gravitate from multiple payday games toward building a schedule that allows it to play more home games.
"The problem with taking multiple payday games in a year is you end up playing seven, eight road games," Vecchio said. "You're really denying yourself an opportunity to get people to come to your stadium."
Last season, Buffalo played in two big payday games that helped support its athletic department, Vecchio said.
But Coastal Carolina, which will play the Lions in 2008's season opener at Beaver Stadium, will schedule only one game each season in which it will be receiving a guaranteed check, said John Martin, the school's sports information director.
Coastal Carolina's football program began five years ago, and its game next season against Penn State will be the first in the school's history that will pay a guaranteed amount -- $450,000, Martin said.
Coastal Carolina might not make it a yearly occurrence, though. The Chanticleers compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) where 120 teams fight for 16 playoff spots. Loading up on guarantee games just to make a few bucks would hurt its chances at a playoff run, Martin said.
Sure, there are reasons to trek from the comforts of home to a place like Beaver Stadium. Playing Penn State will give Coastal Carolina exposure on a national stage, Martin said.
The interest of potential recruits in central Pennsylvania may be sparked when they get to see Buffalo in two weeks, Vecchio said, adding that excitement is brewing among Buffalo students about the Bulls' match with Penn State two weeks from now.
"Obviously, for us to play Penn State, it's been the single most talked about game on our football schedule," Vecchio said.
But the incentive to cash in by facing bigger opponents is limited.
Coastal Carolina doesn't want to fall into a situation where it gets financially dependent on heading to bigger schools just for the money, Martin said.
"You can't really fully count on it because it's going to vary from year to year," he said. "Depending on a check of that magnitude ... we're definitely not doing that."
However, Penn State does count on getting small schools to come to University Park. There are 27 varsity sports at Penn State. The athletes have to travel and use school facilities, and the football team has to generate that money for them, Ganter said.
"We have to have seven home games," Joe Paterno said at the team's preseason media gathering back in August. "Not for football. We have to have seven home games to make enough money to support the sports that football supports."
