Week 4 - Monmouth Hawks @ FIU Panthers: How To Watch, Preview, Time, Date, Storylines

FIU will look to get back to .500 in their homecoming game against an FCS opponent

FIU Athletics

MIAMI, FL - After a tough loss against Florida Atlantic in the Shula Bowl, Mike MacIntyre and his team will turn the page and take on their first and only FCS opponent of the season: the Monmouth Hawks. This will mark the Panthers' third straight game in South Florida and the program's homecoming game.

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Monmouth Hawks (1-2, 1-0 Coastal Athletic Association) @ FIU (1-2, 0-0 Conference USA)

Date: September 24

Time: 6:00 pm

Location: South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium, Miami, FL

TV: ESPN+ with Steve Goldstein (pxp) and Corey Brooks (analyst)

Radio: fiusports.com/watch with AJ Ricketts (pxp) with Billy Gill and Jackson McDonald (analyst's)

Betting Line: FIU -14 (FanDuel)

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RELATED: Conference USA Football Power Rankings - Week 4

Storylines

FIU and their struggles against FCS opponents

Since Mike MacIntyre has arrived, FIU is 2-0 against FCS opponents, but they haven't been easy wins. In MacIntyre's first ever game as head coach of the Panthers, he defeated Bryant by a final score of 38-37 in overtime. The following year, it was a 14-12 win over Maine.

Thankfully for MacIntyre and his team, theypicked up a win over an FBS opponent by a final score of 52-16, which could be considered encouraging

The last time FIU fell to an FCS opponent came in the shortened 2020 season. The Panthers lost to Jacksonville State by a final score of 19-10. The last time FIU lost to an FCS opponent in a full season was 2014 to Bethune-Cookman.

Final Curtin Call On Shula Bowl

The loss to FAU came down to turnovers for FIU The week prior, the Panthers forced six turnovers and in week three, they surrendered five turnovers which led to 17 points.

PFF Panthers

Every week, we'll note players who received a grade that ranked them within the top 100 players on Pro Football Focus (Ranked amongst their certain positions). These were the following players: Brian Blades III (#3), Kejon Owens (#86), Jaheim Buchanon (#99), Travis Burke (#89), Victor Evans III (#32) and CJ Christian (#27).

For Blades, it marks back-to-back weeks that he's graded within the top five of all cornerbacks in the country. This season he's posted two deflected passes, one interception and a touchdown.

Who are the Monmouth Hawks?

The Monmouth Hawks currently find themselves a game under .500 after clinching win number one of the season against the Maine Black Bears, an opponent FIU is all too familiar with.

The team's quarterback is senior Derek Robertson who through three games has thrown for 1,135 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. Robertson leads all FCS in passing yards and passing touchdowns. As a team, Monmouth has the second best passing offense in the FCS and have the seventh best scoring offense.

For FIU fans, Robertson's name should be a familiar one as he was the starting quarterback for Maine last season when the Panthers defeated the Black Bears. In that game, Robertson completed 21 of 43 passes for 213 yards.

"He made some nice plays on us last year," said MacIntyre. "Just like them, we're watching that film. We've watched that film, but in the offense that they have now, it's more wide open, so he's able to throw more and do more. You can tell he's played a lot of football. He understands coverages. He's doing an excellent job for them."

Sophomore wide receiver Josh Derry ranks second in receiving yards in the FCS this season. He has hauled in 16 receptions for 362 yards and four touchdowns. Following a performance against Maine where he hauled seven catches for 227 yards and two touchdowns, Derry was named CAA Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

On the defensive side of the ball, Monmouth isn't regarded as a top 50 defense in the FCS. Through three games, the Hawks allow 34.7 points per game and FIU averages 26.3 points per game thus far. The Hawks leading tackler this season is linebacker Sam Korpoi with 19.0 total tackles.