Sterling Palmer’s “welcome to big-time college football” moment came at Hard Rock Stadium on Sept. 22, when he had to try to block the Miami Hurricanes’ two ferocious defensive ends, Joe Jackson and Jonathan Garvin.
A year ago, Palmer — FIU’s 6-6 true freshman starting tight end — was in prep school at Fork Union Military Academy, where he was a 205-pound wide receiver.
But, since enrolling at FIU in January and working with his new school’s strength-and-conditioning staff, Palmer is now up to 235 pounds. His three-repetition bench press went from 200 pounds to 240, and his 40-yard-dash time improved from 4.