Miami, Fla. (FIUSports.com) – The FIU football team travels out of the state for the final time in 2012 as the Panthers head to Mobile, Ala., to face the University of South Alabama (2-6, 1-3 Sun Belt) at Ladd Peebles Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 3:30 p.m. EST.
The FIU Sports Radio Network will have the only broadcast of the game, heard anywhere around the world on FIUSports.com.
Click HERE to view FIU-USA Game Notes
With a late-season bye-week following the South Alabama game, FIU (1-8, 0-5 Sun Belt) will next head 57 miles north on I-95 to play Florida Atlantic University on Friday, Nov. 16, at FAU Stadium. The 8 p.m. kickoff with the Owls will be nationally-televised on ESPNU. The Panthers regular season finale will see the ULM Warhawks travel to Miami on Sat., Nov. 24. The ULM kickoff time is still to be determined.
For the first and only time in 2012, FIU will be facing a new opponent in South Alabama. The Jaguars recently joined the Sun Belt Conference for football, and will be a full-member of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision by 2013, once its planned transition is complete. However, South Alabama is no stranger to the Sun Belt, as the Jaguars are the lone remaining charter member of the league (1978) with its 16 other varsity programs.
The Panthers enter the South Alabama game coming off a 14-6 loss at home to Sun Belt Conference title hopeful WKU on Saturday, Oct. 27, while the Jaguars fell 38-24 on Saturday to ULM on the road in Monroe, La.
Willis Wright went passed the 100-yard receiving mark for the third-straight game vs. WKU, hauling in five catches for 128 yards. It is the first time in program history that an FIU receiver has top the 100-yard receiving mark in three consecutive games. Wright's 366 yards receiving over the past three games is the fourth-most by an FIU receiver in a three-game span.
Jake Medlock, who threw for 187 yards in the WKU game, moved into No. 4 in career passing yards. He now has 2,086 passing yards, moving ahead of Wayne Younger (1,938; 2007-10). Medlock has thrown for 1,710 yards in his seven appearances in 2012. It is the most passing yards by an FIU quarterback through his first seven games played of a season.
Wayne Times caught five passes on Saturday, extending his career-long streak to 26 games with a catch since 2010 - the third-longest receptions streak in FIU history.
Greg Hickman had one of his top defensive performances vs. WKU, recording career-highs with eight tackles, 2.0 sacks, 3.0 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry. Hickman is already school-record holder in career quarterback hurries with 10 and is now tied for fourth all-time with four forced fumbles.
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GAME DETAILS:
Date: Saturday, Nov. 3
Location: Mobile, Ala.
Time: 3:30 p.m. (EST)
Stadium: Ladd Peebles Stadium (40,646)
2012 Records:
FIU: 1-8 Overall, 0-5 Sun Belt
USA: 2-6 Overall, 1-3 Sun Belt
Series: First Meeting
Social Media: Twitter.com/@FIUFootball
Game Broadcast: FIU Sports Radio Network [Radio Only]
Next Up:
Opponent: FAU (2-6/1-4 Sun Belt) [at Navy, Sat., Nov. 3]
Date: Friday, Nov. 16
Location: Boca Raton, Fla.
Time: 8 p.m.
Stadium: FAU Stadium (30,000)
Game Broadcast: ESPNU; FIU Sports Radio Network
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FIU - South Alabama Roster/Opponent Notes
For the fourth time this season FIU will have a player from its opponent's home-state on its present roster (Alabama). Including South Alabama, the Panthers played in-state rival UCF, Louisiana and Troy, with the states of Florida, Louisiana and Alabama all represented on the FIU roster.
FIU's roster contains one player from Alabama in sophomore defensive end Denzell Perine (Mobile - Davidson High School).
With upcoming games against FAU and ULM, FIU will have played six opponents whose home states are reflected on the FIU roster. In 2012, FIU will have played an equal six opponents whose home states were NOT reflected on the FIU roster: Duke (North Carolina), Akron (Ohio), Louisville (Kentucky), Arkansas State (Arkansas), Middle Tennessee (Tennessee) and WKU (Kentucky).
However, each of FIU's opponents has fielded many players from the state of Florida.
The USA football roster has 28 players from the state of Florida, including four Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The majority of South Alabama's Florida players hail from Florida's Panhandle, which is geographically situated near Mobile in Alabama's southern-most region.
Excluding in-state opponents, UCF and FAU, USA's 28 Florida players are the third-most amount of “opponent Floridians” FIU will face this season: Duke (13); Akron (11); Louisville (34); Louisiana (7); Arkansas State (2), Middle Tennessee (17), Troy (25), WKU (32), South Alabama (28) and ULM (1).
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FIU - South Alabama High School Connections
Miami/Southridge H.S.
FIU: Jeremiah McKinnon (Fr., CB); USA: Anthony Harris (Jr., CB)
Tampa/Alonso H.S.
FIU: Jordan Davis (Fr., DB); USA: C.J. Bennett (So., QB)
Hollywood/Hollywood Hills H.S.
FIU: Caleb Vincent (R-So., LB); USA: Alvin Arnold (Fr., DE/OLB)
Itawamba (Miss.) Community College
FIU: Tevin Blanchard (Sr., CB); USA: Wes Saxton (So., TE)
Davidson H.S. (Mobile)
FIU: Denzell Perine (So., DE); USA: Terrance Timmons (R-Fr., RB)
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Playing another Young Program - South Alabama (Began 2009)
FIU, in its 11th season playing football and eighth at the FBS level, is facing an opponent, South Alabama, who can relate to the Panthers' young history. USA began its program in 2009. Looking ahead the following week is FAU, which began in 2001.
What is so interesting in facing another young program, is that FIU's previous nine opponents have a combined 829 years playing football (92-year average): Duke (100), Akron (112), UCF (34), Louisville (94), Louisiana (110), Arkansas State (98), Middle Tennessee (98), Troy (90) and WKU (93).
ULM in the season finale began in 1931.
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FIU has just one home game remaining in 2012, as the ULM Warhawks come to town on Saturday, Nov. 24. Tickets can be purchased by visiting FIUSports.com or by calling 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263).
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelors, masters and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls nearly 48,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
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