# 2019 FIU Panthers football team

The 2019 FIU Panthers football team represented Florida International University (FIU) in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Panthers played their home games at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida, (except for the November 23rd game against UM which was played at Miami Marlins Park) and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They were led by third-year head coach Butch Davis.

## Preseason
### CUSA media poll

Conference USA released their preseason media poll on July 16, 2019, with the Panthers predicted to finish in second place in the East Division.
East Division :
| Predicted finish | Team |
| 1 | Marshall |
| 2 | FIU |
| 3 | Florida Atlantic |
| 4 | Middle Tennessee |
| 5 | Western Kentucky |
| 6 | Old Dominion |
| 7 | Charlotte |

### Preseason All-CUSA teams

To be released

## Schedule

FIU announced its 2019 football schedule on January 10, 2019. The 2019 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 8:00 p.m. | at Tulane* | Yulman StadiumNew Orleans, LA | ESPN3 | L 14–42 | 16,361 |
| September 7 | 7:00 p.m. | Western Kentucky | Riccardo Silva StadiumMiami, FL | ESPN+ | L 14–20 | 13,311 |
| September 14 | 7:00 p.m. | New Hampshire* | Riccardo Silva StadiumMiami, FL | ESPN3 | W 30–17 | 11,756 |
| September 20 | 8:00 p.m. | at Louisiana Tech | Joe Aillet StadiumRuston, LA | CBSSN | L 31–43 | 18,782 |
| October 5 | 7:00 p.m. | UMass* | Riccardo Silva StadiumMiami, FL | ESPN3 | W 44–0 | 12,746 |
| October 12 | 7:00 p.m. | Charlotte | Riccardo Silva StadiumMiami, FL | ESPN+ | W 48–23 | 16,834 |
| October 19 | 7:00 p.m. | UTEP | Riccardo Silva StadiumMiami, FL | ESPN+ | W 32–17 | 13,951 |
| October 26 | 3:30 p.m. | at Middle Tennessee | Johnny "Red" Floyd StadiumMurfreesboro, TN | NFLN | L 17–50 | 9,512 |
| November 2 | 12:00 p.m. | Old Dominion | Riccardo Silva StadiumMiami, FL | ESPN+ | W 24–17 | 14,644 |
| November 9 | 6:00 p.m. | at Florida Atlantic | FAU StadiumBoca Raton, FL (Shula Bowl) | Stadium | L 7–37 | 17,603 |
| November 23 | 7:00 p.m. | Miami (FL)* | Marlins ParkMiami, FL | CBSSN | W 30–24 | 27,339 |
| November 30 | 12:00 p.m. | at Marshall | Joan C. Edwards StadiumHuntington, WV | CBSSN | L 27–30 $^{OT}$ | 18,596 |
| December 21 | 5:30 p.m. | vs. Arkansas State* | Cramton BowlMontgomery, AL (Camellia Bowl) | ESPN | L 26–34 | 16,209 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
    Schedule Source:

## Game summaries
### At Tulane

| Pregame line | Over/under |
| Tulane | -3.0 |
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Green Wave | 7 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 42 |
at Yulman Stadium, New Orleans, LA
* Date: August 29
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: 89 °F (32 °C); clear, fair
* Game attendance: 16,361
* Referee: Jonathan Noll
* TV: ESPN3
Game information :
First quarter
(05:34) TULN TD – Tyrick James 18-yard pass from Justin McMillan, Merek Glover kick Tulane 7–0; Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 3:25
Second quarter
(14:54) TULN TD – Amare Jones 7-yard rush, Merek Glover kick Tulane 14–0; Drive: 8 plays, 59 yards, 3:03
(10:05) TULN TD – Corey Dauphine 14-yard rush, Merek Glover kick Tulane 21–0; Drive: 7 plays, 80 yards, 2:58
(03:50) FIU TD – Anthony Jones 1-yard rush, Jose Borregales kick Tulane 21–7; Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 6:15
(00:28) TULN TD – Justin McMillan 17-yard rush, Merek Glover kick Tulane 28–7; Drive: 3 plays, 25 yards, 0:43
Third quarter
(10:04) TULN TD – Darnell Mooney 42-yard pass from Justin McMillan, Merek Glover kick Tulane 35–7; Drive: 6 plays, 70 yards, 2:38
(07:57) TULN TD – Corey Dauphine 50-yard rush, Merek Glover kick Tulane 42–7; Drive: 1 play, 50 yards, 0:12
(04:44) FIU TD – Shemar Thornton 17-yard pass from James Morgan, Jose Borregales kick Tulane 42–14; Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:13
Top passers
FIU – James Morgan – 19/34, 208 yards, TD, INT
TULN – Justin McMillan – 14/18, 199 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
FIU – Anthony Jones – 14 carries, 48 yards, TD
TULN – Darius Bradwell – 13 carries, 90 yards
Top receivers
FIU – Sterling Palmer – 2 receptions, 49 yards
TULN – Darnell Mooney – 4 receptions, 84 yards, TD :
| Statistics | FIU | Tulane |
| First downs | 16 | 28 |
| Total yards | 267 | 545 |
| Rushing yards | 59 | 350 |
| Passing yards | 208 | 195 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 26:18 | 33:42 |

### Western Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hilltoppers | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 20 |
| Panthers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Panthers | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 30 |

### At Louisiana Tech

| Pregame line | Over/under |
| Louisiana Tech | –7.0 |
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 43 |
at Joe Aillet Stadium, Ruston, LA
* Date: September 20
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: 76 °F (24 °C); cloudy; Wind: S 5 mph
* Game attendance: 18,782
* Referee: Ken Antee
* TV: CBS Sports Network
Game information :
Second quarter
(14:56) LT FG – Bailey Hare 25-yard field goal Louisiana Tech 3–0; Drive: 13 plays, 73 yards, 5:48
(12:24) FIU FG – Jose Borregales 36-yard field goal Tied 3–3; Drive: 7 plays, 51 yards, 2:32
(09:26) LT TD – Justin Henderson 29-yard rush, Bailey Hare kick Louisiana Tech 10–3; Drive: 6 plays, 71 yards, 2:58
(00:52) FIU TD – James Morgan 15-yard rush, Jose Borregales kick Tied 10–10; Drive: 9 plays, 74 yards, 2:45
(00:00) LT FG – Bailey Hare 45-yard field goal Louisiana Tech 13–10; Drive: 6 plays, 28 yards, 0:52
Third quarter
(13:24) FIU TD – Anthony Jones 2-yard rush, Jose Borregales kick Florida International 17–13; Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:36
(08:50) LT TD – Justin Henderson 6-yard rush, Bailey Hare kick Louisiana Tech 20–17; Drive: 10 plays, 86 yards, 4:34
(06:57) FIU TD – Shemar Thornton 31-yard pass from James Morgan, Jose Borregales kick Florida International 24–20; Drive: 4 plays, 60 yards, 1:53
(04:16) LT TD – Justin Henderson 6-yard rush, Bailey Hare kick Louisiana Tech 27–24; Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 2:41
Fourth quarter
(13:17) LT FG – Bailey Hare 41-yard field goal Louisiana Tech 30–24; Drive: 11 plays, 71 yards, 4:13
(05:09) LT FG – Bailey Hare 25-yard field goal Louisiana Tech 33–24; Drive: 12 plays, 84 yards, 7:10
(02:17) LT FG – Bailey Hare 29-yard field goal Louisiana Tech 36–24; Drive: 6 plays, 33 yards, 1:36
(00:51) FIU TD – Anthony Jones 1-yard pass from James Morgan, Jose Borregales kick Louisiana Tech 36–31; Drive: 8 plays, 72 yards, 1:26
(00:46) LT TD – Amik Robertson 30-yard kickoff returned, Bailey Hare kick Louisiana Tech 43–31; Drive: 0 plays, 0 yards, 0:00
Top passers
LT – J'Mar Smith – 27/41, 290 yards, INT
FIU – James Morgan – 29/41, 394 yards, 2 TD, INT
Top rushers
LT – Justin Henderson – 15 carries, 141 yards, 3 TD
FIU – Napoleon Maxwell – 8 carries, 78 yards
Top receivers
LT – Griffin Hebert – 5 receptions, 78 yards
FIU – Austin Maloney – 5 receptions, 113 yards :
| Statistics | FIU | Louisiana Tech |
| First downs | 29 | 31 |
| Total yards | 526 | 565 |
| Rushing yards | 132 | 275 |
| Passing yards | 394 | 290 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 23:13 | 36:47 |

### UMass

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minutemen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Panthers | 17 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 44 |

### Charlotte

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| 49ers | 10 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 23 |
| Panthers | 7 | 21 | 13 | 7 | 48 |

### UTEP

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| Panthers | 3 | 15 | 0 | 14 | 32 |

### At Middle Tennessee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Blue Raiders | 14 | 0 | 23 | 13 | 50 |

### Old Dominion

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Monarchs | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| Panthers | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 24 |

### At Florida Atlantic

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Owls | 7 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 37 |

### Miami (FL)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hurricanes | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 24 |
| Panthers | 10 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 30 |

### At Marshall

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 27 |
| Thundering Herd | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 30 |

### Vs. Arkansas State (Camellia Bowl)

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 26 |
| Red Wolves | 14 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 34 |
at Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, Alabama
* Date: Saturday, December 21, 2019
* Game time: 5:30 p.m. EST (4:30 p.m. CST)
* Game weather: Light rain • Temperature: 52 °F (11 °C) • Wind: ENE 7 mph
* Game attendance: 16,209
* Referee: Steve Varon
* TV announcers (ESPN): Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst) and Alyssa Lang (sideline)
* ESPN game summary

### Statistics

| Statistics | FIU | ARST |
| First downs | 23 | 31 |
| Plays–yards | 74–444 | 89–525 |
| Rushes–yards | 35–132 | 37–132 |
| Passing yards | 312 | 393 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 22–39–2 | 27–52–1 |
| Time of possession | 31:40 | 28:20 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| FIU | Passing | James Morgan | 22/38, 312 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT |
| FIU | Rushing | Napoleon Maxwell | 13 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD |
| FIU | Receiving | Austin Maloney | 10 receptions, 178 yards, 1 TD |
| Arkansas State | Passing | Layne Hatcher | 27/51, 393 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT |
| Arkansas State | Rushing | Jamal Jones | 10 carries, 59 yards, |
| Arkansas State | Receiving | Omar Bayless | 9 receptions, 180 yards, 1 TD |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 4 | 125 | James Morgan | QB | New York Jets |
| 7 | 221 | Stantley Thomas-Oliver | CB | Carolina Panthers |