MIAMI (October 6, 2017) – After playing three of its first four games away from the friendly confines of Riccardo Silva Stadium, and playing its first home game of the season last weekend, the FIU football team heads back on the road this weekend to face Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 7. Kickoff at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is slated for 3 p.m. ET. The Panthers will take to the field looking for their best start in program history, and a 3-0 mark in Conference USA for the second-straight season and just the second time in program history. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Joe Leadingham calling the action and Duane Hickey providing color commentary. Fans can also listen to this weekend's game on Radio Caracol 1260 AM. A.J. Ricketts (play-by-play) and Hurlie Brown (color analyst) will be in the booth all season long.
 
Click here for complete FIU game notes.
Click here for complete Middle Tennessee game notes.
 
Saturday marks the 13th meeting all-time between FIU and Middle Tennessee with the Blue Raiders holding a 8-3 advantage. The actual on-field record is 8-4 MT, however the Panthers had to vacate one win due to NCAA sanctions. The Blue Raiders have won their last two-straight games against FIU.
 
FIU is coming off a thrilling 30-29 come-from-behind win over Charlotte last Saturday in its home-opener at Riccardo Silva Stadium. The Panthers trailed in the first half by as many as 19 points, then proceeded to outscore the 49ers the remainder of the game, 23-3, including the final 17 points of the game, led by quarterback Alex McGough's two touchdown runs in the second half. McGough, who had a hand in three of FIU's four touchdowns, also threw for a TD, a six-yard strike to Thomas Owens. McGough threw for 206 yards on 14-of-26 passing. Owens had 101 yards on seven receptions, and also threw for one touchdown, a 35-yard pass to Julian Williams. Napoleon Maxwell led the ground attack with 76 yards on five carries, and Alex Gardner had 62 yards on 16 carries and one TD.
 
Defensively, Anthony Wint led the way with 11 tackles, including nine solo, and one tackle for a loss. Treyvon Williams had 10 tackles, six of them solo, and one sack.
 
Middle Tennessee comes into Saturday's game with an 2-3 record on the season and an 0-1 mark in Conference USA The lone conference setback came last weekend at Florida Atlantic, 38-20. The Blue Raiders' first three games came against Power Five schools Vanderbilt (Sept. 2, L, 26-6), at Syracuse (Sept. 9, W, 30-23), and at Minnesota (Sept. 16, L, 34-3).
 
Game Notables
- The Panthers look to improve to 4-1 for the first time in school history. Last Saturday, against Charlotte (W, 30-29), FIU tied its current best-start of 3-1, joining the 2011 team that also accomplished the feat. That team finished the season with an 8-5 record (5-3 Sun Belt) and played in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl in St. Petersburg, Florida.
- FIU looks to improve to 3-0 in conference play for the second-straight year, and the second time in school history.
- Saturday is the fifth game for Butch Davis at FIU (3-1), and 133rd of his collegiate head coaching career.
- Saturday is the 13th meeting between FIU and Middle Tennessee, with the Blue Raiders holding an 8-3 series lead. The actual on-field record has them with an 8-4 advantage, however the Panthers vacated a win due to NCAA sanctions.
- FIU looks to snap a two-game losing streak to Middle Tennessee and a two-game skid at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium.
- Saturday will mark the 183rd game in FIU history.
 
For FIU football ticket information, 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.
 
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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 eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.