FIU: (0-2, 0-0 C-USA) (0-0 away)
	UMass: (0-2) (0-1 home)

 

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Date: Sept. 17, 2016
Location: McGuirk Stadium (FieldTurf) (17,000) in Amherst, Massachusetts
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET
Press Box Phone: 413.545.3550
Television: American Sports Network (ASN) - John Rooke (play-by-play) and Pete Brock  (color analyst) will call the action.
Radio: AM 790 The Ticket (WAXY AM 790) - Josh Appel (play-by-play) and Wes Carroll (color analyst) on the call. Fans can listen by tuning into 790 on their AM dial or by logging onto either www.FIUSports.com or www.theticketmiami.com
Live Stats: www.UMassAthletics.com
Live Video Streaming: WatchESPN.com
Tickets: 305.FIU.GAME (348.4263) -or- www.FIUSports.com
Records: FIU enters Saturday's game with an 0-2 record following a 41-14 loss to Maryland on Friday, Sept. 9. UMass comes into this week's action with an 0-2 mark after a 26-7 loss to Boston College on Saturday, Sept. 10.
FIU Head Coach Ron Turner: Turner (Pacific, 1977) is in his fourth season at FIU (10-28, .263) and 13th season overall as a head coach (52-89, .369). Turner is 0-1 all-time versus Massachusetts.
UMass Head Coach Mark Whipple: Whipple (Brown, 1979) is in his ninth season at UMass (55-46, .545); 19th overall (127-78, .620). Whipple is 1-0 all-time versus the Panthers.
Series History: Saturday will mark the second meeting all-time between the two programs. The Minutemen hold a 1-0 edge in the series history. The last meeting between the two teams resulted in a 24-14 win for UMass on Oct. 3, 2015, in Amherst, Mass.

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The FIU football team travels to Amherst, Massachusetts, to take on the UMass Minutemen on Saturday, Sept. 17. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the American Sports Network with John Rooke (play-by-play) and Pete Brock (color analyst) calling the action. Fans can also listen to the game on AM 790 the Ticket, the Panthers' official radio broadcast home for the 2016 season. Josh Appel (play-by-play) and Wes Carroll (color analyst) will be in the booth all season long.
 
After opening the season with two-straight home games, FIU will hit the road for the first time in 2016.
 
Saturday will mark the return to McGuirk Stadium for the Panthers for the second-straight year. Last season FIU fell to UMass 24-14 (10/3/15). In that contest, the Minutemen outgained the Panthers, 495-188, in total yards of offense. A one-yard touchdown run by Alex Gardner pulled FIU within three, 17-14 late in the third quarter. But, a UMass touchdown pass with seven minutes left in the game midway through the fourth gave the Minutemen a 10-point cushion that FIU would not overcome.
 
FIU is coming off a 41-14 loss to the Maryland Terrapins last Friday. The loss dropped the Panthers to 0-2 on the year. Maryland was the second-straight Big Ten team to visit Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium this season as FIU dropped its season opener with Indiana, 34-13.
 
Gardner notched the fifth 100-yard rushing game of his FIU career on Friday, posting 109 yards on 16 carries versus the Terrapins. The Jacksonville, Florida, native scored on a four-yard run for his second rushing touchdown of the season. Wide receiver Austin Maloney made his first collegiate start, recording a game-high six catches for 49 yards. The product of Miami grabbed his first-collegiate touchdown with a four-yard reception in the corner of the endzone during the fourth quarter. The connection came from redshirt freshman Maurice Alexander, who completed 9-of-18 passes for 131 yards and one touchdown on Friday.
 
On the year, FIU is scoring 13.5 points-per-game, while averaging 351.5 yards of total offense-per-game. Under center, junior Alex McGough has completed 28-of-56 passes for 302 yards. McGough, who set the school record for touchdown passes in a season last year (21), is looking for his first TD pass of the 2016 campaign. Joining McGough in the backfield is Gardner, who is averaging 66.0 yards-per-game, having registered 132 yards on 26 carries. Gardner has found the endzone in three-straight games, dating back to the season finale in 2015. Tight end Jonnu Smith leads the Panthers in receiving, recording 13 catches for 153 yards. Smith has caught a pass in 34-stragiht games (No. 2 all-time at FIU).   
 
FIU's opposition is averaging 37.5 points-per-game and 481.5 yards of total offense-per-game. The Panthers defense is led by junior linebacker Anthony Wint, who has totaled 21 tackles this season. Fellow linebacker Treyvon Williams is second on the team with 19 tackles followed by safety Niko Gonzalez with 16.
 
This week's game will mark Head Coach Ron Turner's second meeting all-time with the Minutemen and will be looking to improve to 1-1 all-time versus UMass with a win on Saturday.
 
Game Notables
-  Saturday will be the first road game for the Panthers this season.
-  Saturday will mark just the second time the FIU football team will play a game in the state of Massachusetts.
-  FIU will look to improve to 1-2 on the year.
-  FIU will look to improve to 13-40 all-time in the month of September.
-  Saturday will mark the 39th game for Head Coach Ron Turner at FIU.
-  Saturday will mark Turner's 142nd game as a college head coach.
-  FIU will look to improve to 5-9 all-time in the month of September under Turner.
-  Saturday will mark the second meeting all-time between FIU and UMass.
-  UMass holds a 1-0 edge in the series history.
-  UMass won the last meeting, 24-14, on Oct. 3, 2015.
-  Saturday will mark FIU's 92nd televised game all-time (25-66).
-  Saturday will mark the Panthers' 10th game all-time on the American Sports Network (4-5 all-time).
-  FIU will be looking to record its 19th road victory all-time on Saturday.
-  Saturday will mark the 169th game in FIU history.
-  Coach Turner is 0-1 all-time versus UMass.
 
Old Versus New
Saturday's opponent, UMass, is playing in its 133rd year of college football in 2016. That is 118 years longer than FIU which is in its 15th season. In fact, FIU's first three opponents (UMass, Maryland and Indiana) have combined for 386 years of college football.
 
Alexander Makes Most of Opportunity
Redshirt freshman Maurice Alexander saw significant action during last week's game with Maryland following an injury to starter Alex McGough. Alexander completed 9-of-18 passes for 131 yards and one touchdown, while rushing for 30 yards on nine carries. The touchdown – a pass to Austin Maloney – was the first of Alexander's collegiate career. 
 
Maloney's First Touchdown
On Friday, Sept. 9, redshirt freshman Austin Maloney grabbed his first-collegiate touchdown catch with a four-yard reception from Maurice Alexander midway through the fourth quarter versus Maryland. Maloney finished the night with a game-high six catches for 49 yards as the Miami native made his first start.
 
Finding the Endzone
Junior Alex Gardner notched a four-yard rushing touchdown during FIU's game versus Maryland last Friday. The score marked the third-straight game (dating back to last season) in which the Jacksonville product has recorded a rushing touchdown. 
 
Traveling to the Bay State
Saturday the Panthers will travel to the Bay State for only the second time in school history. Last season FIU made its first trip to sixth state in the Union, visiting UMass on Oct. 3, 2015. The Panthers fell to the Minutemen, 24-14.   
 
FIU - UMass Connections
Below are members of both teams that went to the same high school:
 
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida)
FIU - Stone Wilson
UMass - Dom Cipriani
 
Oak Ridge (Orlando, Florida)
FIU - Daquane Wilkie
UMass - Cycoby Burch
 
Consecutive Catches - 34
Senior Jonnu Smith enters Saturday's game having caught a pass in 34-consecutive games. That is the seventh-longest streak in the nation.
 
Block that Kick
FIU enters Saturday's contest having recorded nine blocked kicks since the 2013 season. That is the eighth-most in the nation. Last season FIU's Vontarius West blocked 19-yard field goal attempt by UMass in the first quarter. Below are the most blocked kicks by a team since 2013. 
 
                                           
100-Yard Rusher
Junior Alex Gardner notched fifth 100-yard game, registering 109 yards on 16 carries versus Maryland. The 109 yards were the second-most in Gardner's career (138 vs. Wagner -9/6/14). The five 100-yard games are tied for third in the FIU record books for the most 100-yard games by a Panther.
 
34-Straight
With five catches versus the Maryland Terrapins on Friday, Sept. 9, Jonnu Smith extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 34. The FIU record for consecutive games with a reception in 44 held by Cory McKinney (2002-2005).
 
 
Wint Leads the Charge
Junior Anthony Wint enters Saturday's game with a team-high 21 tackles. The Homestead native registered a game-high nine tackles versus Maryland last Friday. With 14 solo tackles on the year (7.0 per game), Wint leads Conference USA and Ranks No. 9 nationally in solo tackles. 
 
Let's Not Forget About Gonzalez
Junior Niko Gonzalez is not letting the linebackers have all of the fun. The FIU safety enters Saturday's game with 16 total tackles to lead the secondary. Gonzalez is averaging 6.5 solo tackles-per-game good for No. 2 in the conference and No. 21 nationally. 
                                            
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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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2016 FIU Football Schedule
Sept. 1          INDIANA – L, 13-34
Sept. 9          MARYLAND - L, 14-41
Sept. 17         at UMass [ASN/NESN]; 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 24         UCF [beIN]; 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 1            FLORIDA ATLANTIC* [beIN]; 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 8            at UTEP; 8:00 p.m.
Oct. 15          at Charlotte; 6:00 p.m.
Oct. 22          LOUISIANA TECH* [ESPN3] (Homecoming); 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 29          MIDDLE TENNESSEE* [ESPN3]; 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 5           at WKU* [beIN]; 5:30 p.m.
Nov. 19          MARSHALL* [ASN]; 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 26          at Old Dominion* [ESPN3]; 3:30 p.m.
 
* denotes Conference USA Games
 Home games at Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium are capitalized and bolded;

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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. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.