2005-’06 football schedule unleashed: Let the pouncing begin

FIU Football team photo

As the Golden Panthers prepare to enter Division I-A football, the 11-game season before them is laced with some very tough competition, including two Big 12 conference opponents and several Sun Belt Conference challengers. Not only will the FIU team be playing outside of its usual division, but it will also be playing 6-of-11 games on the road. The season runs from Sept. 3 to Nov. 26.

Three of those road games come at the beginning of the season. The first, against 2003 Big 12 champions Kansas State, takes place on opening night (Sept. 3) when FIU pits panther rage against wildcat fury. The schedule doesn’t get any easier on Sept. 10, when the Golden Panthers face Texas Tech, 2004 Holiday Bowl winners, starting at 7 p.m. A bye week follows, giving the hometown boys an opportunity to prepare themselves for another away game, this time against Arkansas State, as FIU begins its inaugural Sun Belt Conference schedule at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24.

FIU finally plays its first Division I-A home game on Oct. 1 in the Orange Blossom Classic against rival Florida A&M, a match that last year saw FIU rampage to a 40-23 victory in front of a crowd of 21,000 people at the Orange Bowl. FIU then faces back-to-back opponents who competed in 2004 bowl games: the Silicon Valley Classic’s Troy University on Oct. 8 in Troy, Alabama, and the Wyndham New Orleans Bowl’s North Texas, beginning at 6 p.m., at FIU Stadium in University Park on Oct. 15.

The Golden Panthers’ second and final bye week (Oct. 22) will allow the FIU gridiron athletes a chance to prepare for the second-half of their season at home against Middle Tennessee on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. The last two road games of the season will follow on Nov. 5 and Nov. 12 against Louisiana-Monroe (7:30 p.m.) and Louisiana-Lafayette (TBA), respectively.

Back home, the Golden Panthers conclude their schedule on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. against Division I-AA powerhouse Western Kentucky, who was ranked No. 3 last year. At 6 p.m. on Nov. 26, the team winds up its season with the Fourth Annual Don Shula Bowl, where FIU will attempt to fight off rival Florida Atlantic from FIU Stadium.

“It is really humbling to think that we are only entering our fourth season and are playing this demanding of a schedule,” admitted Athletic Director Rick Mello. “This is the type of schedule that will showcase where we want to take this program and be exciting to recruits who are entertaining coming to FIU.”

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