MIAMI (Sept. 15, 2014) -- The FIU football team hosts the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday, Sept. 20, in the Panther's fourth-straight home game and second-straight versus a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Kickoff from Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 with Craig Bolerjack (play-by-play) and Ryan Nece (color analyst) calling the action. Fans can also tune into 1210AM ESPN Deportes with Mike Levine (play-by-play) and Pete Pelegrin (color analyst) on the call. Saturday will be Military Appreciation Day with the first 2,000 fans receiving an FIU Camo hat.

The Panthers are coming off a 42-25 loss to the Pitt Panthers on Saturday, Sept. 13. Despite jumping out to a 16-0 lead heading into the second quarter, FIU was unable to pick up its first-ever victory over Pittsburgh. Freshman quarterback Alex McGough had a solid day, completing 15-of-30 passes for a career-high 224 yards and two touchdowns. The Tampa, Fla., native also ran one in for his first-career rushing touchdown. Sophomore Jonnu Smith (12-yards) and redshirt senior Glenn Coleman (57-yards) were on the receiving end of McGough's TD passes.

In a game which tied an NCAA record with three combined safeties (one for FIU, two for Pitt), FIU's defense forced three fumbles (recovering two) and picked off one pass, increasing the team's turnover total to nine (No. 5 in the nation). The defense also registered three sacks versus Pittsburgh (the first sacks of the season given up by Pitt) as the Panthers enter this week's action ranked No. 13 in the nation in sacks-per-game (3.67).

Redshirt junior Richard Leonard notched a career-high-tying 10 total tackles (8 solo) versus Pitt, while forcing and recovering a fumble. Leonard has 14 tackles on the year. Leading the team in tackles this season is senior Demarkus Perkins with 16 (13 solo). Perkins registered five tackles and a half sack last Saturday. Junior Denzell Perine leads the team in total sacks (4.0) and ranks No. 13 in the nation in sacks-per-game (1.33). The Mobile, Ala., native has 15 tackles and five and a-half tackles for loss through three games.

On the offensive side of the ball, Smith grabbed a game-high seven catches for 62 yards and a touchdown versus Pittsburgh. The Ocala, Fla., native has caught at least one pass in each of the last 15 games. On the year, Smith has recorded 18 catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Juniors T.J. Lowder (83 yards) and Dominique Rhymes (40 yards) have six grabs each. In the backfield, freshman Alex Gardner leads the way with 228 yards on 39 carries (5.8 yards-per-carry). Sharing time in the backfield with Gardner are juniors Lamarq Caldwell (15 carries for 37 yards) and Anthon Samuel (11 carries for 25 yards).

In the return game, FIU ranks No. 3 in the nation in kickoff returns (39.00 yards-per-return) and No. 14 in the nation in punt returns (17.85 yards-per-return). Leonard is averaging 21.4 yards-per-return, good for No. 9 in the nation.

Saturday will mark the fourth-straight year that FIU and Louisville have met on the field with the Cardinals holding a 2-1 edge in the series history.

Head Coach Ron Turner will be looking to even his record all-time versus Louisville to 3-3 with a victory on Saturday.  

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FIU hosts the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 3:30 p.m. from Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
The game will be broadcast live on 1210AM with Mike Levine (play-by-play) and Pete Pelegrin (color analyst) calling all of the action. FIU's remaining five home games features non-conference foe +Louisville (Sept. 20) and C-USA opponents Florida Atlantic (Oct. 2), Marshall (Oct. 8), Rice (Nov. 1) and Middle Tennessee (Nov. 15).
 
For FIU football ticket information, log onto www.FIUSports.com or contact the University Credit Union Box Office at 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263).
 
For the latest information on Panthers football, follow us on Twitter, @FIUFootball, and check out Pete Pelegrin's in-depth coverage of FIU Athletics on his official blog, The Prowl, at www.FIUSports.com.
 
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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 FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s 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. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu