¡Hola, Panther people! Lourdes Ibarguen-Tate here, from a kitchen table in Sweetwater, about five minutes from campus. This is where my abuela taught me football with dominoes and sugar packets. The dominoes were the players. The sugar packets were the defense. And let me tell you, this year the sugar packets are winning.
Before we talk about Tuesday, I owe you the truth about last Tuesday. Abuela taught me that too.
Part 1: So Close in Jacksonville
FIU lost 27-24 at Jacksonville State last Tuesday night. We're 3-3 and 1-1 in Conference USA. Ay, it hurt. But it was a fight, and we fought.
Jacksonville State jumped out to a 17-7 lead, with two first-quarter touchdown passes by Caden Creel and a 47-yard field goal. Then JJ Kohl did something I'll be telling my grandchildren about. On third-and-15, AP says, he escaped pressure and found Maguire Anderson for a 50-yard touchdown. Then he hit Anderson again from 30 yards out to tie it 17-17 before halftime. Josiah Taylor made his first career interception late in the second quarter. ¡Qué bueno!
In the third quarter, Devonte Lyons scored from 8 yards out to tie it at 24. But the Gamecocks drove 82 yards in 13 plays, and Garrison Rippa kicked a 26-yard field goal with 44 seconds left. Our last try didn't fall. AP says Jacksonville State is 19-3 at home since moving to FBS, so that's a tough house to visit.
Kohl went 24 of 38 for 278 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. Anderson caught eight passes for 133 yards and both scores. Lyons ran 15 times for 73 yards. And we went 8 of 15 on third down. Abuela always says the third cafecito is the one that gets you through the afternoon, and our offense believes her. FIU outgained Jacksonville State 404 to 387, had the ball for 33:44 and committed zero turnovers, per ESPN's box score.
Now the honest part, from me to you. We were flagged 12 times for 100 yards. That's too many. Abuela would make us sit at the end of the table for that. We'll clean it up.
Part 2: The Blue Raiders Come to Pitbull Stadium
Tuesday, 7 p.m. Eastern, CBS Sports Network, Middle Tennessee at FIU. Weeknight football in Miami, so come loud.
First, cariño for our guests. Middle Tennessee is a gritty team. Roman Gagliano has 11 touchdown passes and just two interceptions, and last week he led a 93-yard drive to beat Delaware 33-30. AP ranks the Blue Raiders 22nd in FBS in turnover margin, at plus-4. Cam'ron Lacy has 35 catches. Korey Smith has 56 tackles. That's a team that doesn't quit, and I respect it. I'd offer them a croqueta.
Then I'd take the plate back. Here's the AP preview.
Middle Tennessee's offense ranks 122nd in FBS, at 321.5 yards a game. Its rushing offense ranks 114th, and its scoring offense ranks 103rd. And who does it meet on Tuesday? FIU's defense, ranked ninth in FBS in yards allowed, at 266.7 a game, and ninth in scoring defense, at 14.7 points a game. Our pass defense ranks 12th. Our run defense ranks 23rd. DeeJay Holmes Jr. has five sacks. DeAndre Boykins has 37 tackles. We held Long Island and New Mexico State to 3 points apiece, and Buffalo to 20. That's not a defense, mi gente. That's a brick wall with a cafecito in its hand.
And Middle Tennessee's defense? Its run defense ranks 127th, allowing 199.2 yards a game. Its red zone defense ranks 114th, allowing scores on 91.7% of trips. Lyons should be licking his lips. Our offense ranks 29th in third-down conversions, at 46.4%, and 10th in time of possession. Middle Tennessee ranks 119th. We'll hold the ball like abuela holds the TV remote. Nobody else touches it.
Also, the Blue Raiders lost 55-0 at Kansas earlier this month, and 23-13 at Jacksonville State. I say that kindly, because we know that stadium.
I'll be honest about our side. Our scoring offense ranks 122nd. Our three losses came by 10, 6 and 3 points, two of them on the road against Florida neighbors, South Florida and Florida Atlantic. Kohl has seven interceptions on the year, so ball security matters. But this team has a defense, and defense travels, and on Tuesday it doesn't even have to travel.
And history? CollegeFootballData.com says Middle Tennessee leads the series 14-7. But FIU won the last two, 35-24 at home in 2024 and 56-30 in Murfreesboro last year. Fifty-six. I still have the dominoes from that one lined up on the shelf.
Tales From Two Towns
Miami. Wikipedia says Miami is the only major city in the United States founded by a woman, Julia Tuttle, who owned the land it was built on. They call it the Magic City because it grew so fast that winter visitors said it was like magic. We have the third-largest skyline in the country and the Calle Ocho Festival, the largest Latin music festival in the country, running since 1978. Cuban immigrants in the 1960s brought the Cuban sandwich, croquetas and Cuban espresso, and you can still get them at window cafés all over town, including landmarks like Versailles in Little Havana. And my Sweetwater is 12 miles west of downtown, a city of 19,363, informally known as "Little Managua" for its longtime Nicaraguan community. Mi barrio.
And FIU is a Miami story. The university was founded in 1965 and opened to students in 1972. Our football team began play in 2002, with a 27-3 win over Saint Peter's in its very first game. Our stadium opened in 1995 with 7,500 seats and now holds 20,000. In 2007, while the stadium was being rebuilt, FIU played at the Orange Bowl, and Wikipedia says FIU's 38-19 win over North Texas was the last college football game ever played there. When the new stadium opened in 2008, FIU's first win there came on Oct. 11 against, yes, Middle Tennessee, 31-21. And in 2010, FIU won the Sun Belt and the Little Caesars Bowl. Fans held signs that said "¡Sí se puede!"
Murfreesboro. Murfreesboro is a pleasant city of 152,769 southeast of Nashville, per Wikipedia. It was the capital of Tennessee from 1818 to 1826. Then, after eight years, the capital moved to Nashville. So Murfreesboro is a town that had the big job and handed it back. I understand. I've seen their red zone defense. Today Wikipedia calls it the largest suburb of Nashville. And it's the geographic center of Tennessee, marked by a stone monument. The middle of Middle Tennessee. Abuela says that's the part of the pastelito where all the filling ends up, and she means it with love.
Lourdes's Domino Plan for Tuesday
1. Feed Lyons. A 127th-ranked run defense is a buffet. 2. Keep the sugar packets stacked. A ninth-ranked defense against a 122nd-ranked offense is abuela's go-to kind of matchup. 3. Fewer flags. Twelve penalties is a whole box of dominoes on the floor. 4. Finish in the red zone. Their defense lets 91.7% of trips score. Make it touchdowns.
Come to the stadium in blue and gold, bring your colada, and stay loud. ¡Vamos, Panthers!
My call: Florida International Panthers 28, Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 16.