G5 Football Daily

Week 5 - Louisiana Tech Bulldogs @ FIU Panthers: How To Watch, Preview, Time, Date, Storylines

FIU will look to go 1-0 in conference play for the first time since 2018

Kevin Barral

FIU Athletics
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MIAMI, FL - FIU is off to their worst start in the Mike MacIntyre era, but they will have the chance to get off to a nice start in conference play against a Louisiana Tech team that has struggled offensively.

RELATED: Conference USA Football Power Rankings - Week 5

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (1-2, 0-0 Conference USA) @ FIU Panthers (1-3, 0-0 Conference USA)

Date: Saturday, September 26

Time: 6:00 PM

Location: South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium - Miami, Florida

TV: ESPN+

Radio: fiusports.com/watch

Betting Line: Louisiana Tech -2.5 (-110 on FanDuel)

RELATED: TAKEAWAYS: FIU Drops Homecoming Game To FCS Monmouth

Storylines

Can FIU get off to a strong start in conference play?

For the last couple of years, FIU has been unable to find much success in conference play. The last time the program finished with a record of .500 or above in conference play was in 2018 when they went 6-2.

In the Mike MacIntyre era, FIU has gone 3-13 in conference play, only winning one game last season against Sam Houston in double-overtime.

"It's a very competitive conference," said the FIU head coach. "We've added a new team with Kennesaw State coming in. We'll go there and play them later in the year outside of Atlanta. Of course, Liberty is still undefeated and the only team that's beat them so far the last two years is Oregon in the bowl game. They're playing well, excellent players. LA Tech has always had tons of speed at receiver, really good defensive lineman and a great history of offense there. We're excited about going to conference play, excited about our first conference game being home which is good."

Quarterback Controversy in Ruston?

Through the first three weeks of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs' season, Jack Turner started under center. In that third game, head coach Sonny Cumbie made a change midway through the game, going with redshirt freshman Blake Baker at quarterback. He later was hurt and they went with Evan Bullock, another redshirt freshman.

Cumbie noted following the game that he wanted to give his offense a spark. Baker would end the night completing six of ten passes for 107 yards and one interception. Bullock would complete four passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. Turner completed seven passes for 41 yards.

"They were running a lot of the same with all the quarterbacks," said MacIntyre. "They were doing a lot of his coaching system. He teaches that system and they do a good job of reading it and seeing the secondary and then the full progression across the way he does it. Of course, he knows the different strengths of each quarterback. We haven't seen them except for Turner. We've seen enough film on Turner to know exactly how they want to use him."

Although LA Tech has the third-best passing offense in Conference USA, Turner has thrown for 392 yards, completing 30 of 58 passes for two touchdowns and two interceptions.

"He definitely likes to throw it up to the receivers," said safety CJ Christian. "You can tell he trusts his receivers. He likes to figure 50/50 balls. I like our defensive backs in 50/50 situations."

Life Without Smoke Harris

The Bulldogs underwent a lot of changes this past offseason, but the biggest one of them all was how to deal with the loss of speedy wide receiver Smoke Harris, now playing pro in Canada, who caught 83 receptions for 796 yards and four touchdowns.

"Smoke Harris was an excellent player, not only on offense, but everywhere," said MacIntyre. "He played on the special teams, but they got Jimmy Holiday. He played for Western Kentucky last year and now transferred over to Louisiana Tech. He's kind of doing some of the same things they did offensively with Smoke last year."

Through the first three games of the Bulldogs season, Holiday has four receptions for 40 yards. He also has 25 rushing yards on six attempts.

Where Both Teams are Similar

The big similarity between both teams has been the struggle to get the run game going. With returner Marquis Crosby back alongside Texas State transfer Donerio Davenport, LA Tech was supposed to take a step forward, However, the Bulldogs rank second-to-last amongst the conference in rush offense.

FIU ranks fifth in the conference as Kejon Owens, Keyone Jenkins and Lexington Joseph have all broken 100 yards rushing on the season, but nobody has rushed for 100 yards in a single game yet.

Top Defense in Conference USA

Despite the 1-2 overall. record, the Bulldogs have the best defense in Conference USA, allowing only five touchdowns through three games and less than 1,000 yards of total offense. Although LA Tech has only played three games compared to the rest of the conference, it's still worth noting that they played a power conference opponent along with a Tulsa team that is currently 2-2 on the season.

Leading the way for that defense is linebacker Zach Zimos who has 29 total tackles (five solo/24 assisted) and 2.5 tackles for loss. Right behind him is defensive back Blake Thompson who has 23 total tackles (11 solo/12 assisted) with 2.5 tackles for loss and two deflections.

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Kevin Barral
KEVIN BARRAL

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