G5 Football Daily

FIU Football: Flex Joseph is Treating Every Game Like A Championship Game

Flex Joseph, the player with the most experience on FIU is treating this final stretch of games like a championship game

Kevin Barral

Lexington "Flex" Joseph
Lexington "Flex" Joseph / FIU Athletics
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With three games left in the season for Florida International, the message is simple: one more loss, and a bowl game is off the table.

FIU running back Flex Joseph has taken that message to heart.

"As everybody knows, we gotta win out to make a bowl game, so we're treating every game like a championship game," Joseph told local media this week.

Joseph has sensed more fight and more belieg from his team recently, knowing what is on the line.

"There's something to fight for. We all have this common goal, this common idea that we can do something at FIU that we haven't done since my freshman year in 2019, which is go to a bowl game. Practice has been more intense and the coaches have been on us harder. We've been holding each other accountable and we've just been fighting and working."

This season, the Panthers' rush offense got off to a slow start, but have shown some improvement recently. FIU is currently eighth in CUSA rushing offense, averaging 103.8 yards per game. Joseph has 270 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 66 carries this season after returning from an ACL injury.

Joseph attributes the recent improvements to an increased level of trust among the different offensive units.

"The running backs are trusting the offensive line and the offensive line is trusting the man next to them. Football is an ultimate team sport. One guy messes up, the whole play messes up, so it's more trust and we trust the system and the running game."

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks are a team that FIU has seen before. Specifically, Joseph first saw the Gamecocks in the 2020 season when they were an FCS program. FIU lost that contest, and then lost again in 2023 when Jax State joined CUSA. Saturday will mark the first time in program history that FIU will play at Jax State.

"They're a very talented team," said Joseph. "Great coaching and players. It's a great team to play against. You wanna play against the best. To be the best, you need to beat the best. Watching them last year they were a very good team. Talented all around from the offense, defense, rushing attack, run stopping, pass coverage, all of that. So it's gonna be a great game."

FIU will take on the Gamecocks on Saturday, November 16 at 2:00 PM ET. The game can be streamed on ESPN+. Full Game Preview

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Kevin Barral
KEVIN BARRAL

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