To start off the second year for the Panthers in Conference USA, the Panthers will face both new and old opponents but will be at home for a majority of the season.
Of the first six games in the season, five will be played at FIU Stadium. This includes every out of conference game that the Panthers will play in 2014 barring a bowl game appearance.
The universities that will travel to Miami to face the Panthers to start the season are Bethune-Cookman University, Wagner College, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Louisville.
The first and the last of those groups should sound familiar as both were opponents in 2013. The combined scores of those games was 106-13 in favor of the opposing teams. The Cardinals scored 72 unanswered points in a meeting in Kentucky early on in last year’s campaign. The Wildcats of B-CU will be the opening game of the 2014 season on Aug. 31.
The two opponents that are newer for the Panthers are the Seahawks of WC and the Panthers of Pittsburgh. The Seahawks are coming off of a 3-8 season in which they had losses to Syracuse University 54-0 and the University of Delaware 49-9. On the other side the Panthers of Pittsburg enter into 2014 after a season of 7-6 which includes a three point win over Bowling Green University in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
The Panthers, who do not have back-to-back road games all season will then travel to the University of Alabama at Birmingham to try and avenge the 2013 Homecoming game loss. Following that game, rival Florida Atlantic University will bring the Shula Bowl to Miami in a yearly rematch.
Head Coach Ron Turner and his staff will then lead the Panthers to the University of Texas at San Antonio to face the Roadrunners for the first time before back-to-back home games versus Rice University – another new opponent of the Panthers – and Marshall University.
After that the Panthers will face new C-USA member in the Monarchs of Old Dominion University. The Monarchs do not have a butterfly for a mascot as some may think, but a lion.
“Football will not compete in the conference until 2014, as they begin the first year of the transition from the FCS to FBS level of football classification this fall, playing a mixed schedule of five FBS and seven FCS schools. The Monarchs will play eight C-USA opponents and be eligible for the league championship in 2014, and eligible for one of the six C-USA affiliated bowl games in 2015.” A statement previously given by the Old Dominion University Athletic Department.
The scariest part about playing the Monarchs in 2014 will be senior quarterback Taylor Heinicke, the 2012 Walter Payton Award Winner, which is the best player in the FCS. Heinicke set the Division 1 record with 730 passing yards in a single game, going 55-79 against the Hampton Pirates in the 2012 season as a sophomore. If he is still playing for the Monarchs for a senior campaign, look for him to be a major factor in every game.
Senior night for the Panthers will be held the the week after the trip to Norfolk, Va. as they will host the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders on Nov. 15. The Blue Raiders are a familiar opponent as both teams met while members of the Sun Belt Conference.
The final game, excluding the postseason, for the Panthers will be a matchup with the Mean Green of North Texas University.
-rhys.williams@fiusm.com
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