FIU’s 2023 football schedule features a tough final month, includes trip to SEC school

The FIU Panthers’ 2023 football schedule – announced on Tuesday – includes three Wednesday night games and two on Thursday.

Those five weeknight games will be played consecutively, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 25.

The Panthers’ final four games are brutally tough, including 9-2 Jacksonville State and the SEC’s Arkansas. Three of FIU’s final four opponents won bowl games last season, and that includes Western Kentucky, which beat the Panthers 73-0 in 2022.

Here’s a game-by-game look at FIU’s schedule:

Saturday Aug. 26 at Louisiana Tech: FIU’s season opener is also its Conference USA starter. The Bulldogs went 3-9 last season, including a 42-34 double-overtime loss at FIU.

Saturday Sept. 2 vs. Maine: The Black Bears finished last season 2-9, losing their final five games.

Saturday Sept. 9 vs. North Texas: The Mean Green finished last season 7-7, losing in the Conference USA championship game, 48-27, to Texas-San Antonio. North Texas, which is now in the American Athletic Conference, then lost its bowl game, 35-32, to Boise State. The Mean Green beat FIU 52-14 last year.

Saturday Sept. 16 at Connecticut: The Huskies beat FIU 33-12 last season, finishing 6-7 with a 28-14 bowl-game loss to Marshall.

Thursday Sept. 28 vs. Liberty (C-USA game): The Flames beat FIU 36-34 the last time the teams met, which was in the 2020 season opener. Last season, Liberty went 8-5, beating Arkansas and BYU. The Flames also defeated Southern Miss in four overtimes. However, the Flames lost their bowl game, 21-19, to Toledo. It was one of Liberty’s four losses by three points or less (37-36 to Wake Forest; 36-33 to Connecticut; 23-22 to Virginia Tech).

Thursday Oct. 5 at New Mexico State (C-USA game): The Aggies lost 21-7 to FIU but rallied to finish with a 7-6 record. The Aggies won six of their final seven games, including a 49-14 victory over Liberty and a 24-19 takedown of Bowling Green in a bowl game. It was the Aggies’ first winning season since 2017.

Wednesday Oct. 11 vs. Texas-El Paso (C-USA game): The Miners beat FIU 40-6 but finished their season with a 5-7 record. The Miners have had just two winning seasons since 2006.

Wednesday Oct. 18 at Sam Houston State (C-USA game): The Bearkats finished last season 5-4.

Wednesday Oct. 25 vs. Jacksonville State (C-USA game): The Gamecocks won their final three games to finish with a 9-2 record. They beat FIU 19-10 the last time they played, in 2020.

Saturday Nov. 11 at Middle Tennessee (C-USA game): The Blue Raiders finished last season with four straight wins, going 8-5, including a 25-23 bowl win over San Diego State. That final push by Middle Tennessee included a 33-28 win over FIU.

Saturday Nov. 18 at Arkansas: This is the Panthers’ only 2023 game against a school from a Power Five conference. Arkansas finished last season 7-6, including a 55-53 bowl win over Kansas.

Saturday Nov. 25 vs. Western Kentucky (C-USA game): The Hilltoppers finished 9-5, beating South Alabama 44-23 in its bowl game. The Hilltoppers, 18-10 over the past two years, had 677 yards of offense against South Alabama.