MIAMI (November 16, 2017) - FIU travels north to Florida Atlantic for the 16th edition of the annual Shula Bowl in the Conference USA East Division showdown. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Stadium with Ron Thulin (play-by-play), Maxx Starks (color analyst) and Made Morris (sideline) calling the action. Fans can also listen to the game on 790 the Ticket, the Panthers' official radio broadcast home for the 2017 season, or by logging onto either www.FIUSports.com or www.theticketmiami.com. A.J. Ricketts (play-by-play) and Hurlie Brown (color analyst) will be in the booth all season long.
 
The Panthers (6-3, 4-2 Conference USA) dropped a heartbreaker to Old Dominion at home, 37-30, last week. The Panthers and Owls meet for the 16th time in their series history. FAU leads the series with FIU 10-4. The Panthers defeated the Owls 33-31 last October in Miami.
 
A victory against FAU would make it just the second time in FIU history that a Panthers team has won seven games in a regular season. The 2011 FIU team holds the program record for wins in a season with eight.
 
FAU is 7-3 overall and 6-0 in C-USA. The Owls can clinch the C-USA East Division and a spot in the C-USA Championship game with a win. The Owls are coming off a 48-23 win over Louisiana Tech.
 
The Panthers had their three-game win streak snapped by the Monarchs last week despite outgaining ODU, 487-439. FIU senior quarterback Alex McGough completed a career-high 35 passes in 50 attempts for a season-high 323 yards and two touchdowns against the Monarch.
 
Defensive backs Richard Dames and Niko Gonzalez led the FIU defense with six tackles a piece. Anthony Johnson had two of FIU's four sacks against ODU. The Panthers limited ODU to 120 yards in the second half.
 
Game Notables
- The Panthers look to extend the best start in school history to 7-3 which would put them one win away from tying a program-best eight wins, which the 2011 team accomplished.
- FIU looks to move to 5-2 in conference play which would be its best league mark since 2010. The 2010 Panthers started Sun Belt play 6-1 and went on to win the league finishing 6-2.
- Saturday is the 10th game for Butch Davis at FIU (6-3), and 131st of his collegiate head coaching career.
Saturday will mark the 188th game in FIU history.
- FIU receiver Thomas Owens looks for his fifth 100-yard receiving game in the last seven games. In the last six games, Owens has gone for 87 yards against ODU, 72 yards against UTSA, 114 yards at Marshall, 152 yards against Tulane, 162 yards against Middle Tennessee and 101 yards against Charlotte.
- FIU's trio of linebackers look to add to their totals. Treyvon Williams (63), Anthony Wint (57) and Sage Lewis (46) have each racked up over 40 tackles.
- Senior wide receiver Thomas Owens leads C-USA in receiving yards (887) and receiving yards per game (100.0).
- FIU is 25-of-26 (96%) when it gets inside its opponents red-zone, which ranks fourth nationally.
 
Shula Bowl XVI
Saturday will mark the 16th edition of the annual Shula Bowl between FIU and Florida Atlantic. FIU has won four of the last six Shula Bowls which includes last season's 33-31 win at home. 
 
Series MVPs 
Year - FIU MVP / FAU MVP
2002 - Jerrid Lundstedt (RB) / Jared Allen (QB)
2003 - Adam Gorman (RB) / Jared Allen (QB)
2004 - Cory McKinney (WR) / Jared Allen (QB)
2005 - Ben West (RB) / Thomas Parker (WR)
2006 - Chandler Williams (WR) / Rusty Smith (QB)
2007 - A'mod Ned (RB) / Rusty Smith (QB)
2008 - Paul McCall (QB) / Rusty Smith (QB)
2009 - Daunte Owens (RB) / Alfred Morris (RB)
2010 - T.Y. Hilton (WR) / Lester Jean (WR)
2011 - Kedrick Rhodes (RB) / Alfred Morris (RB)
2012 - Jake Medlock (QB) / William Dukes (WR)
2013 - Markeith Russell (LB) / Martin Wright (DE)
2014 - Richard Leonard (CB) / Lucky Whitehead (WR)
2015 - Alex Gardner (RB) / Trey Rodriguez (RB)
2016 - Alex Gardner (RB) / Greg Howell (RB)
 
The Last 4
FIU's three-game win streak was snapped by Old Dominion, but the Panthers' have still been rolling in the last four games. FIU has outscored opponents 108-84 and out-gained them in yards 1681-1444 during the stretch. Here's a look at some key numbers during the win streak.
 
- FIU is averaging 27.0 points per game and limiting opponents to 21.0 points per game.
- FIU averaged 186.5 rushing yards and 233.8 yards through the air while holding opponents to 175.0 on the ground and 186.0 through the air. Overall, FIU is averaging 420.2 yards per game while holding teams to 361.0 yards per game.
- FIU has forced seven turnovers – four fumbles and three interceptions.
- The defense has recorded 10 sacks while the offensive line has only given up three sacks.
- Teams have been held to one touchdown in the first quarter while the Panthers have outscored opponents, 28-7, in the quarter to get off to a fast start.
- FIU forced a season-high three turnovers against Marshall –two interceptions and one fumble.
- Senior quarterback Alex McGough has completed 84-of-124 passes for 935 yards with seven touchdowns and three INT's. McGough's completion percentage sits at 67.7 percent with a 144.87 passing efficiency.
- Three running backs have gone over 100 yards with Alex Gardner leading the way with 64 carries for 273 yards and two touchdowns. Napoleon Maxwell (30 carries, 141 yards, 2 TDs) and Shawndarrius Phillips (35 carries, 156 yards, 1 TD have added to the ground game.
- WR Thomas Owens has 32 catches for 425 yards and three touchdowns, while averaging 13.3 yards per catch and 106.2 receiving yards per game.
- Linebackers Treyvon Williams (24), Anthony Wint (21) and Sage Lewis (20) have combined for 65 tackles.
- Defensive lineman, Newton Salisbury and Fermin Silva have combined for 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks while Anthony Johnson has 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
- Senior cornerback Brad Muhammad has all three interceptions and three pass breakups.
- Kicker Jose Borregales is 5-of-6 in field goals and 13-of-13 in PAT's.
 
Bowlin'
- FIU became bowl-eligible for the third time in school history with the 14-7 win over UTSA. The Panthers joined FAU, Marshall, North Texas and UAB as bowl eligible teams from Conference USA.
 
Davis Among First Year Success Stories
- There were 22 new head coaches hired for the 2017 season in the FBS. Nine are currently bowl-eligible and only two have produced better records than Florida Atlantic's Lane Kiffin and five have been better than FIU's Butch Davis:
 
2017 First-Year FBS Head Coaches
9-1    Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
8-1    Charlie Strong, South Florida  
7-3    Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic
7-3    Jeff Tedford, Fresno State
7-3    Ed Orgeron, LSU
6-3    Butch Davis, FIU
6-3    Major Applewhite, Houston
6-3    Shawn Elliott, Georgia State
6-3    Tim Lester, Western Michigan