MIAMI (Sept. 20, 2019) - Welcome back to Panther Tracks. Just like the Panthers in the win column, Panther Tracks is back with all the useful and antidotes to impress the people at your watch party Friday night or your business associates or the pot of coffee you'll be sipping on this afternoon at work. Without any further ado here are Panther Tracks for Louisiana Tech University.
 
Run Da Bawl
Before looking forward, let us look back and reflect on last Saturday night at Riccardo Silva Stadium. By now, everybody knows Kaylan Wiggins' stat line (127 pass yards on 12-of-18, 187 yards on the ground with two scores). Wiggins' 187 yards on the ground are the most EVER by a Panther QB on the ground. To put that in perspective, Wiggins obliterated the previous record by 79 yards which only stood for 20 months. That's right, the record was held by the GOAT Alex McGough. In McGough's final game on the turf in The Cage, he rushed for 108 yards to lead the Panthers to a 63-45 victory over UMass on Dec. 2, 2017. Wiggins' performance not only rewrote the FIU record book, but also dare we say made a paw print on the Conference USA record book. The 187 yards on the ground is the most by a C-USA signal caller since 2016 and the fourth most ever in the history of the conference that is celebrating 25 illustrious years this season. As per usual in football, while one guy's stat line might be the headline, it is always a team effort. The Pawta Panthas rushed for 310 yards on Saturday night, the seventh most all time. When numbers like that are being tossed around everybody should be recognized. Anthony Jones and De'vonte Price each ran for over 50 yards. Napoleon Maxwell's first quarter touchdown opened the scoring and set the table for rest of the FIU attack. We would be remised if we did not mention the offensive line. Coach Mo's guys were opening holes that the equipment truck could have driven through. Did you guys see that thing on social media this week? They got it looking nice just in-time for Louisiana Tech.
 
Friday Night Lights
Well this is it. We're back again. Back on the national stage once again. For the first time this season and for the first time since the 2018 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl, your FIU Panthers will be on national television. CBS Sports Network (check your local listings) will carry the battle of two C-USA teams just trying to prove themselves in the crazy college landscape that is 2019. With the game being on national TV every soul from Barrow, Alaska to Key West, Florida can watch FIU football. It is one of the, if not the biggest, stages that the 2019 iteration of FIU football will be on all season. Nervous yet? The team isn't. You shouldn't be either. On a very much lighter note, the game is also on Friday. Which is really underrated for college football games. It's like getting back to your roots. Not only are we getting back to our roots, it's also kind of a throwback to high school football, which some argue is the backbone of American society. All the guys on both sides grew up dreaming of performing under the Friday Night Lights. Tropical storm Imelda will pass, and it is supposed to be a beautiful night in Northern Louisiana. Conditions will be ripe for the Panthers on Friday night in Ruston. In the words of a long-forgotten TV show about high school football in West Texas. Clear eyes. Full heart. Can't lose.  
 
Mascot Analysis: Tech
If you know anything about how the world works, you know that cats and dogs don't usually get along. If they did it would be mass hysteria. Friday night will not be the exception. Since the dawn of the 20^th century, Louisiana Tech has always been the Bulldogs. It all started in 1899, when a group of male students came across a stray Bulldog while walking home from campus. The students stopped and fed the poor thing before the dog eventually followed them home. On the very same night, a fire broke out in the house where the students were staying. The newly adopted Bulldog alerted the residents of the house, who were all asleep at the time of the blaze. All but one of the students escaped the engulfed house and legend goes that the dog ran back into the flames and within minutes the final student came running out of the house, but the dog never came back out. Assuming the worst, the students reentered the ruins of the house the next morning to find the dog in an undamaged part of the house. Despite avoiding the fire, the poor dog perished due to the smoke. The heroic dog was buried at the same exact spot where the five students found him only hours before. When football started in Ruston, the student body voted unanimously to name the team the Bulldogs. No mascot beef or potential diss tracks that could be dropped this week from Roary, just respect to the mascot greats that came before him. That is, until the whistle blows on Friday night and the Panthers show the Bulldogs who the biggest cat in the jungle is.  
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIU.Football on Instagram and @FIUFootball on Twitter and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.