MIAMI (Oct. 11, 2019) - Welcome back to Panther Tracks. After spending the bye week on an Everglades excursion, which ultimately led to a number of Panther Tracks' research members getting lost deep in the glades for the UMass game, your one-stop shop for every useful tidbit of information to impress your guest at a Friday night dinner party is finally back. So, with apologies to whomever it may concern and without any further ado, here are Panther Tracks for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
 
It Feels Like I'm Coming Home
Word must have gotten out that Panther Tracks was coming back this week because there have been parties, concerts, and fireworks all over FIU's campus this week in celebration of everybody's favorite satirical football column of the week. Wait one minute, something just arrived in the Panther Tracks e-mail inbox. Oh. Is it FIU Homecoming? That explains a lot then. Reckon' we should talk about that, right? All jokes aside, happy FIU Homecoming 2019 to everybody! The ol' Pawty Panthas have done particularly well in recent history when it comes to Homecoming games at Riccardo Silva Stadium. Since 2015, FIU is 3-1 in Homecoming games and has outscored opponents 115-80. The 3-1 record is also the best four-year Homecoming record since winning three-straight from 2008-2010. The good Homecoming vibes don't end there, ladies and gentlemen. Butch Davis-coached teams have been downright dominant in Homecoming games under his reign. The head cat is 11-1 all-time in Homecoming games, including mind-boggling 10-straight victories. His only loss came in 1996 to Virginia Tech while he was still coaching at the school in Coral Gables, before most, if not all, of the current Panthers were born.

Another interesting Homecoming factoid involves Saturday's visitors of Charlotte. The 49ers are based in the state of North Carolina, making Charlotte the third North Carolinian team FIU has hosted for Homecoming. North Carolina is tied with Texas for the state with the second-most Homecoming FIU opponents. Only Louisiana has more with four. With all of that being said, all the historical data points towards a Panther victory on Saturday in The Cage.
 
Back On Track
With a healthy James Morgan again under center the last two weeks, the King James Royal Panther Air Force has returned to its 2018 hay day, scoring 70+ points during the previous two games. At the beginning of the year, Morgan only needed 16 touchdowns to surpass Josh Padrick's 42 to become the aerial touchdown king at FIU. With back-to-back two-touchdown games in the books, the QB is back on track to break not only Padrick's all-time passing TD record for a career but also numerous other records that will be documented here at Panther Tracks. 

If Morgan keeps scoring, that means another Panther record will probably fall soon as well. Kicker Jose Borregales is 47 points shy from breaking Jack Griffin's record for most points scored by a non-QB in a career. Borregales should get very close to this mark by the end of the season, but don't get sad if he doesn't break it. The kicking extraordinaire is only a junior, so there will always be 2020.

Maurice Alexander is tied with former Panther legends Richard Leonard and TY. Hilton, for most punt return touchdown at two. A smart man once said that the best defense is a good offense. It appears that the FIU offense is getting back to its high-flying 2018 roots.
 
You Will Get Nothing and Like lt
Not to be outdone by their buddies on the offensive side of the ball, the Panther defense was downright nasty on Saturday against UMass. FIU recorded only the second-ever shutout in the history of FIU football and first since 2002. Let's just take a moment and give some love to the Dames twins, King Louis and big boys upfront for only surrendering 115 yards of offense to UMass. By far, the fewest ever gained by an FIU opponent. Matter of fact, Anthony Jones rushed for the same number of yards that UMass had as a whole. That's how good the FIU defense was on Saturday night in The Cage.
 
3-of-6
This one is for the kids. If you're a fan, alumni or general person perusing the internet for college football content at your desk (welcome by the way, we'll be here every Thursday for the rest of the season), I'll get back to you with our world-famous mascot analysis in a second. I need to talk to the students first.
  
Hey, guys! How's everybody doing? Football is here and man do I have a deal for you! If you are an FIU student and attend three or more FIU football home games at Riccardo Silva Stadium this year, you are guaranteed one free ticket to the November 23rd match-up between your FIU Panthers and the Miami Hurricanes at Marlins Park. A valid FIU One card is required for admittance. Following the conclusion of the 3rd quarter, students will be asked to head up to the upper northwest concourse for a second swipe of their FIU One Card. You must swipe your card upon entry and after the 3rd quarter to be counted as in attendance for promotional purpose.
 
So get everybody you know, your friend group, your on-campus organization, your fraternity/sorority chapters and maybe even that person in your 10:00 am that you've been trying to figure out a way to talk to since the start of the semester. We bet they like football too, so bring them. 
 
Mascot Analysis: Norm
Please excuse us while we indulge ourselves…
 
"Good afternoon, everybody" *clears throat* "NORRRRRRRRRRRRM!"
 
Now let's get down to brass tax. If you recall from last year, Charlotte are the 49ers, and their Mascot is Norm the Miner. We also found out in 2018 that Norm was a simple, straight-forward fellow that enjoys straight black coffee while picking his banjo when he isn't at Charlotte sporting events. There's one thing about people like Norm. They don't change much from year-to-year. They are very even keel. That is why he and Roary get along so well together, except for this week, of course. While Roary is out entertaining folks in only the way a big cat from South Florida can, Norm is in the back of the room tapping his toe to whatever song is playing and making a quick joke. Norm is a good dude, but Roary just hopes he goes back to the Carolina hills mad on Saturday night.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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