Weathering the storm: Hurricane Irma disrupts the Panthers’ 2017 schedule

By Brett Shweky/Sports Director

The FIU football team had to restructure their 2017 schedule due to the impact of Hurricane Irma.

 After canceling their away matchup with the Indiana Hoosiers this past weekend, the Panthers managed to schedule a game against the University of Massachusetts on Dec. 2 at Riccardo Silva Stadium. If FIU reaches the Conference USA title game, which is also on Dec. 2, the contest between the two teams will be moved to a further season.

FIU and Indiana reached an agreement to call off the game because of the traveling issues that the Panthers were going to encounter. FIU Athletics has announced that the matchup between the Panthers and the Hoosiers will be deferred to a future season.   

The home game against the University of Massachusetts Minutemen will mark the 12th game of the season for both teams. Currently UMass holds an (0-4) record and has picked-up losses against Hawaii, Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion and most recently Temple. The matchup against FIU will also be the second time the Minutemen will travel to the state of Florida this season, having an earlier contest against the University of South Florida on Oct. 14.

For the Panthers, the home matchup against UMass will compensate for the lost home game against Alcorn State, which was relocated to Birmingham, Alabama because of the concerns of Hurricane Irma. The contest between FIU and Alcorn State was originally set to be the home opener for the Panthers.

Regardless of where the game was played, FIU (1-1) managed to pull off the victory winning 17-10 against Alcorn State (1-1). The victory not only marked the first win of the season for the Panthers, but also the first win of coach Davis’ FIU head coaching career.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham was generous enough to not only allow both teams to play their game at their home stadium, but also allowed other FIU athletic teams such as the men’s basketball team to use their facilities during the storm.

FIU athletic director Pete Garcia expressed his gratitude to UAB and also explained how he felt having the game would help raise people’s spirits while the storm approached.

“(Ingram) and his staff have been unbelievable,” Garcia told The All-American. “The University of Alabama-Birmingham has been unbelievable and the city of Birmingham, to do everything they can to make us feel welcome. It’s not just one team.”

Now putting Irma behind them, the FIU football team will shift their focus to the University of Rice and prepare to travel to Houston, Texas, for their first conference game of the season. The Owls hold a (1-2) record and have already picked up a conference win against UTEP. The contest is set for Saturday at Rice Stadium and will begin at 7:30 p.m.