Gameday Need To Know – FIU

Quick Game Info

πŸ“…: Saturday, August 26th
πŸ•—: 8:00 pm CT
🏟️: Joe Aillet Stadium (Ruston, LA)
πŸ“Ί: CBS Sports Network
πŸ“»: KXKZ 107.5 FM

Series History

Tech and FIU have faced off five times since FIU started a football program, the first of which came in 2013 – the year both programs entered Conference USA.

The Bulldogs were undefeated against the Panthers until last year when FIU picked up their fourth and final win of the season over Tech in a late October matchup. That puts the current series record against FIU at 4-1

Your Weekly To-Do List

πŸ—Ή Read the weekly Need to Know blog post
☐ Listen to the gtpdd Podcast
☐ Read Nathan’s BTB Stat Attack postΒ 
☐ Complete the gtpdd Contest
☐ Read Evan’s BTB Three Keys to Victory post
☐ Watch Tech beat FIU

The FIU Offense

QB Grayson James returns to lead a Panther passing attack that ranked 123rd (out of 132 teams) in yards per pass a year ago. That said, he did throw for 321 yards and 3 TDs against Tech in last year’s matchup.

The run game was almost an afterthought. Not only were the Panthers below average in yards per rush, the were also one of the Top 25 most pass heavy offenses in college football in 2022.

We won’t see last year’s leading rusher Lexington Joseph either, due to an injury in spring camp.

The FIU Defense

Like Tech, FIU didn’t get a lot defensively from the transfer portal and is betting on their returning defenders.

And also like Tech, those defenders were less than impressive a year ago. Bottom 10 in points per game allowed, yards per game, and even third down conversion percentage allowed.

Will the returners be meaningfully improved with another year of experience?

Other's Predictions

Massey Ratings
77% chance to win, 35-21

ESPN FPI
76.9% chance to win

Vegas
Tech is favored by 11, with an over/under of 58.5. So about a 35-24 Bulldog win is expected.

Our Predictions

Matt (@DenizenMatt): Tech 42 – FIU 10

Evan (@EvanRSpencer): Tech 31 – FIU 17

Nathan (@ntruppel): Tech 34 – FIU 24

Josh (@iamjoshfarrar): Tech 35 – FIU 34

Courtney (@scientistcourt): Tech 42 – FIU 21

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