MIAMI (September 29, 2017) – The FIU football team finally returns to Riccardo Silva Stadium for its 2017 home-opener, on Saturday, Sept. 30, when Charlotte comes to Miami. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday's game will be played in front of a live national television audience on beIN Sports. Mike Gleason will be calling the action while Donovan McNabb will handle the color commentary. Michelle Gingras will be reporting from the sidelines. 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 FIU game notes.
Click here for complete Charlotte game notes.
Click here for FIU's new clear bag guidelines.
 
Riccardo Silva Stadium will be a welcome sight for the Panthers after playing their first three games on the road. FIU opened the 2017 season at UCF on Aug. 31, and then was scheduled to face Alcorn State on Sept. 9 in its original home-opener. Hurricane Irma, however, forced the game to be moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where the Panthers defeated the Braves, 17-10, on Sept. 8. After its game at Indiana was also canceled, FIU got back on the field last weekend at Rice. Saturday's game will be the third latest home-opener that the Panthers will have played during their 16 years. FIU played its home lid lifter on Oct. 2, 2004 against Louisiana (L, 43-34) and then on Oct. 1, 2005 against Florida A&M (W, 23-6).
 
Saturday's game between the Panthers and 49ers marks the third meeting all-time, with FIU holding a 2-0 series lead. The two teams have met the past two seasons with the Panthers defeating Charlotte, 48-31, on Nov. 17, 2015, in Miami, and 27-26 on Oct. 15, 2016, in Charlotte.
 
Game Notables
- The Panthers look to improve to 3-1 for just the second time in the program's history, 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.
- Saturday is the fourth game for Butch Davis at FIU (2-1), and 132nd of his collegiate head coaching career.
- Saturday is the third meeting between FIU and Charlotte, with the Panthers holding a 2-0 series lead.
- Saturday will mark the 182nd game in FIU history.
 
Following Saturday's game with Charlotte, FIU will head back on the road when it travels to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where it faces Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET.
 
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/.