Bautista Samperi | Sports Director
The FIU football team will travel to Johnny ‘Red’ Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tenn. to face the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. ET.
The Panthers (3-5, 1-3 CUSA) are looking to get back into the win column as they have lost their two previous matchups against Kennesaw State and most recently against Missouri State.
Against the Blue Raiders, FIU has a losing record of 14-6, however, the Panthers were able to come out on top during their last matchup Nov. 30, 2024 with a 35-24 victory.
This will be the first time that Willie Simmons will face Middle Tennessee since taking over as FIU’s head coach.
During media day, the first year head coach said, “After two straight losses, you want to get that bad taste out of your mouth and get back to winning ways.” He added, “We will challenge the guys this week to do what we talk about all season and that is to chase perfection.”
This game will be a special one for Simmons as he was part of the Blue Raiders coaching staff from 2007 to 2011 in different roles such as running backs coach all the way to offensive coordinator.
Neither team arrives in their best moment, Middle Tennessee is in the mix of a five game losing streak and have not won a game since defeating Nevada in Reno, on Sept. 13. The Panthers have not won a game in almost a month as their last victory came against Western Kentucky, on Oct. 14.
After this week’s matchup, FIU will have three more games remaining in the season. Two of those games will be at home as they will host The Liberty University Flames on Nov. 15 in what will be the home coming game for the Panthers.
After that, they will face Jacksonville State, also at home, to then wrap up the season as they visit Sam Houston in Texas.
FIU is one victory away from matching last season’s win record as they finished 4-8.
Now seating at 3-5, the Panthers have a chance to finish above .500 for the first time since the 2018 season.
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