FIU: (2-1, 0-0 C-USA) (1-1 away)
Louisiana Tech: (1-2, 0-1 C-USA) (1-0 home)
 
Date: Sept. 26, 2015
 
Location: Joe Aillet Stadium (FieldTurf) (28,019) in Ruston, La.
 
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. ET
 
Press Box Phone: 318.257.3144
 
Television: FOX College Sports (FCS) - Mike Morgan (play-by-play), J.C. Pearson (color analyst) and Steffi Sorensen (sideline) will call the action.
 
 
Radio: 1210 ESPN Deportes (WMNA 1210 AM) - Mike Levine (play-by-play) and Wes Carroll (color analyst) on the call. Fans can listen by tuning into 1210 on their AM dial or by logging onto either www.FIUSports.com or www.1210ESPNdeportes.com
 
Live Stats: www.LATechSports.com
 
Live Video Streaming: N/A
 
Tickets: 305.FIU.GAME (348.4263) -or- www.FIUSports.com
 
Records: FIU enters Saturday's game with a 2-1 record following a 39-14 win over N.C. Central on Saturday, Sept. 19. LA Tech enters Saturday's action with a 1-2 record following a 39-33 (3OT) loss at Kansas State on Saturday, Sept. 19.
 
FIU Head Coach Ron Turner: Turner (Pacific, 1977) is in his third season at FIU (7-20, .259) and 12th season overall as a head coach (49-81, .377). Turner is 0-1 all-time versus the Bulldogs.
 
LA Tech Head Coach Skip Holtz: Holtz (Notre Dame, 1986) is in his third season at LA Tech (14-15, .482) and 16th overall (102-86, .543). Holtz is 1-0 all-time versus the Panthers.
 
Series History: Saturday will mark the second meeting all-time between the two schools with LA Tech holding a 1-0 edge in the series history. The last meeting between the two teams resulted in a 23-7 win for the Bulldogs on Oct. 26, 2013, in Miami, Fla.
 
Game Four – FIU Opens Conference USA Action in Ruston
The FIU football team begins Conference USA action with a trip to Ruston, La., to take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on Saturday, Sept. 26. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on FOX College Sports with Mike Morgan (play-by-play), J.C. Pearson (color analyst) and Steffi Sorensen (sideline) calling the action. Fans can also listen to the game on 1210AM ESPN Deportes with Mike Levine (play-by-play) and Wes Carroll (color analyst) on the call.
 
The Panthers are coming off a 39-14 win over N.C. Central in the team's home opener on Saturday, Sept. 19. FIU racked up 490 yards of total offense, including 248 on the ground. The 490 total yards of offense were the most under Head Coach Ron Turner. It also marked the second-straight game in which the Panther recorded 400-or-more yard of total offense (406 at Indiana – Sept. 12).
 
Three Panthers rushed for over 60 yards versus the Eagles as sophomore Alex Gardner gained 81 yards on 20 carries, including one touchdown, freshman Anthony Jones rushed for 60 yards on 10 carries and one touchdown, and quarterback Alex McGough rushed for a career-high 77 yards on eight carries.
 
McGough moved into fourth place all-time at FIU in career touchdown passes (21) after recording three versus the Eagles. The Tampa, Fla., native has thrown for over 200 yards in each of the Panthers' first three games, including 242 yards during last Saturday's win.
 
Junior Jonnu Smith recorded his first touchdown of the season with a 10-yard reception versus NCCU. The Ocala, Fla., native has registered a catch in 27-straight game, grabbing six catches for 42 yards versus the Eagles. Smith comes into Saturday's game with 14 catches for 85 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Thomas Owens leads all Panthers with 22 catches for 286 yards and three touchdowns. The Boynton Beach, Fla., native caught three passes for 42 yards and one touchdown last Saturday.
 
Defensively, FIU comes into Saturday's contest ranked No. 34 in total defense, allowing 314.3 yards-per-game. The Panthers have the No. 20-ranked rushing defense (96.3 yards-per-game) after allowing just 38 yards on the ground to the Eagles.
 
The Panthers are led by sophomore Anthony Wint, who has tallied 27 total tackles. Senior Denzell Perine leads the team with three sacks, after notching two versus NCCU.
 
This will mark the second meeting all-time between the two programs, with LA Tech holding a 1-0 edge in the series history.
 
Game Notables
-  FIU will play four of its first five games on the road.
-  Saturday will mark the 28th game for Head Coach Ron Turner at FIU.
-  Saturday will mark Turner's 131th game as a college head coach.
-  Saturday will mark the second meeting all-time between FIU and LA Tech.
-  FIU trails the series history, 1-0, falling to the Bulldogs, 23-7, on Oct. 26, 2013 in Miami, Fla.
-  FIU is 4-12 all-time in C-USA action.
-  FIU will be looking to record its 19th road victory all-time on Saturday.
-  Saturday will mark the 158th game in FIU history.
-  FIU will be looking to improve to 3-1 to start the season.
-  Saturday will mark FIU's first trip to Ruston, La.
-  Coach Turner is 0-1 all-time versus the Bulldogs.
-  FIU is 2-0 in C-USA openers.
-  Saturday will mark FIU's first and only home game during the month of September.
 
A Quick Look at LA Tech
Louisiana Tech outgained Kansas State by 96 yards but fell to the Kansas State Wildcats in triple overtime, 39-33, on Saturday, Sept. 19.
 
LA Tech (1-2) managed 451 total yards.
 
LA Tech senior quarterback Jeff Driskel led the offense with 314 passing yards and a touchdown, and 42 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
A Wildcat forced fumble set up Kansas State for the go ahead field goal 23-20 with 2:44. The Bulldogs forced overtime with a 45-yard field goal. LA Tech tried to send the game to a fourth overtime after a K-State touchdown, but the Wildcats defense held strong.
 
A Look Back at the NC Central Game
-  Jonnu Smith extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 27, which makes him tied for seventh among all active players nationally entering Saturday's games.
-  Dennis Turner's 64-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was a career-long catch.
-  Alex McGough's touchdown pass to Turner was the 19th of his career, putting him alone in fourth place in school history.
-  McGough's 29-yard rush in the first quarter was a career-long.
-  With 77 yards on the ground, McGough passes his career-high for rushing yards in a game.
-  McGough eclipsed 200+ yards passing for the third straight game in a row, with his 242-yard effort. The 200-plus yard passing game is also the sixth of his career.
-  Through three games this year, McGough has seven touchdown passes and 751 yards. Last season through three games, he had five touchdowns and 401 yards passing.
-  Anthony Jones' 26-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the first of his career.
-  With 60 yards, Jones passes his career-high for rushing yards in a single game.
-  Niko Gonzalez' interception in the second quarter marked the first of his career.
-  Anthony Wint's interception at the end of the first half marked the first of his career.
-  Julian Williams recorded his first career reception in the second quarter.
-  With five catches tonight, Ya'Keem Griner passed Joe Struyf (2002-03, 05) for third all-time at FIU for most catches by a tight end, as he now has 43 for his career.
-  Tyree Johnson recorded his first seven tackles of his career.
-  Jordan Davis' second career interception came in the third quarter.
 
27 and Counting
Junior Jonnu Smith enters Saturday's game having caught a pass in 27-straight games. That currently ranks tied for No. 8 among all active players, nationally.
           
Offensive Explosion
On Saturday, Sept. 19, the Panthers racked up 490 yards of total offense versus the N.C. Central Eagles, marking the most total yardage by an FIU team under Head Coach Ron Turner. It also marked the second-straight 400-yard game for the Panthers, which totaled 406 yards at Indiana a week earlier. The 490 total yards are the most since FIU put up 522 versus Middle Tennessee on Oct. 13, 2012.
 
Record Watch - Richard Leonard
Senior Richard Leonard enters this Saturday's game ranked No. 3 in career kick returns (65), No. 2 in career kick return yards (1,679) and No. 2 in total return yards (2,478) in the FIU record books.
 
Home Openers
The 39-14 win over N.C. Central marked the first home-opening win for the Panthers since the start of  the 2011 season (41-16 over North Texas). The victory improves FIU to 5-9 all-time in home openers.
 
37 Cubed
Through the first three games, FIU's Alex McGough has attempted 37 passes in each outing.
 
Coach to Cure MD
On Saturday, Sept. 26, Head Coach Ron Turner and the FIU coaching staff will wear patches in support of the Coach to Cure MD cause.
 
Coach To Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), a professional organization for over 10,000 college football coaches and staff, and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest national charity devoted exclusively to Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
 
For more information log onto http://www.coachtocuremd.org/
 
Get Your Popcorn Ready
"Get your popcorn ready" is a phrase TO (Terrell Owens) made popular in NFL as a way to let people know that a good show was coming. FIU's TO (Thomas Owens) put on a show on Thursday, Sept. 3, recording 10 catches for 78 yards at UCF. In the sophomore's first-career start, the 10 catches were two shy of the school record set by T.Y. Hilton (Oct. 8, 2011 at Akron). Not to be outdone, Owens followed that performance up with a nine-catch, 166-yard outing at Indiana last Saturday. The 166 yards were the fourth-most in a single game in FIU history. The sophomore also caught two TDs in that game including a 75-yard bomb from Alex McGough. The reception tied Owens for the fifth-longest touchdown catch all-time at FIU (Jonnu Smith – 75 yard touchdown at UAB – 9/27/14).
 
First-Time Opponents in 2015
- FIU will face four first-time opponents in 2015.
- FIU faced Indiana for this first time on Saturday, Sept. 12, falling to the Hoosiers, 36-22, in Bloomington, Ind. The Panthers followed that up with a 39-14 win over first-time opponent N.C. Central on Saturday, Sept. 19.
- In its history, 2002-15, FIU is 17-42 in first-time meetings with its 59 all-time opponents.
- Three of FIU's four first-time opponents will be visiting Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium this season.
 
200+
Sophomore Alex McGough enters Saturday's game with 751 yards on 71-of-111 passing (64.0 percent) and seven touchdowns. The Tampa native has thrown for over 200 yards in each of the Panthers' first three contests.
 
Road Trip
With only four road games during the 2014 season, FIU will play seven games away from Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium, including four of its first five games to start the season.
 
Airing it Out
On Saturday, Sept. 12, sophomore Alex McGough connected with wide out Thomas Owens for a 75-yard touchdown pass versus the Indiana Hoosiers. The reception tied the school record for the fifth-longest TD catch, tying the mark set last season when McGough hit junior Jonnu Smith for 75 yards at UAB (9/27/14).
 
FIU and the Sunshine State
- In its 14-year history, FIU has played against eight of 10 FBS or FCS programs in Florida.
- FIU will play two Sunshine State schools in 2015 (UCF and Florida Atlantic).
- FIU has played Bethune-Cookman (0-4), Florida (0-1), Florida A&M (0-0/2-0#), Florida Atlantic (3-9/4-9#), Jacksonville (1-0/2-0#), Miami (0-2), UCF (2-2) and USF (0-2). [# - wins from 2003-05 were vacated].
- The only FBS or FCS schools FIU has not faced are Florida State and Stetson, which just brought back its football program in 2013.