MIAMI (September 22, 2017) – The FIU football team returns to the gridiron on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. (ET) as it takes to the road, yet again, to face the Rice Owls at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas, in the Panthers' Conference USA opener. The contest is the third-straight game that FIU will have played, during the first four weeks of the season, on the road. The game will be broadcast on Stadium on Facebook with Chris Hassel calling the action, and Erik Coleman handling color commentary. Camryn Irwin will be on the sideline. Fans can also listen to the game on 790 the Ticket, the Panthers' official radio broadcast home for the 2017 season. A.J. Ricketts (play-by-play) and Hurlie Brown (color analyst) will be in the booth all season long.
Click here for complete game notes.
Click here to watch the game live on Stadium on Facebook
Saturday's meeting with the Owls is the second all-time between Rice and FIU, with the Owls holding a slight 1-0 series lead. Rice defeated the Panthers, 31-17, in the only other meeting on Nov. 1, 2014 in Miami. This will also be FIU's first-ever game in Houston.
FIU had an unexpected bye last weekend as its game at Indiana was canceled and deferred to a future year due to Hurricane Irma. The Panthers last played on Sept. 8, when they recorded their first win of the season, a 17-10 victory over Alcorn State. FIU played the game at historic Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, after the Panthers were relocated due to Hurricane Irma. Quarterback
Alex McGough had a big night throwing for 328 yards on 21-of-33 passing. It was McGough's second-highest single-game passing total of his career. The Tampa native also rushed for one touchdown - the game-winner - on a one-yard keeper with 1:12 left in the game.
Alex Gardner rushed for 102 yards on 20 carries and scored one touchdown, and
Julian Williams recorded five catches for a career-high 129 yards.
Following Saturday's game at Rice, the Panthers will make their first appearance on their home field, during the 2017 season, as they take on Charlotte on Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. at Riccardo Silva Stadium.
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, 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 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/.
