For the first time this season all of the games in Conference USA Football will be league games.  One Friday night matchup and six Saturday showdowns spread through the day make up the week eight ledger.

2019 Week Eight Preview (pdf)
 
An East Division Friday night showdown between Marshall and Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton will get things started (5:30 pm CT on CBS Sports Network).  This game features a matchup of last season’s C-USA co-Freshmen of the Year in Thundering Herd QB Isaiah Green and Owls QB Chris Robison as well as the league’s current leader in tackles (Marshall junior LB Tavante Beckett – 60) and interceptions (FAU senior DB Meiko Dotson – 4).
 
The second-most played rivalry in Conference USA takes place again on Saturday afternoon when Southern Miss visits Louisiana Tech in the 51^st meeting between the schools (2:30 pm CT on NFL Network).  Both teams are tied for first in the West Division with 2-0 league marks as Bulldogs senior QB J’Mar Smith (259.0 ypg) and Golden Eagles junior QB Jack Abraham (323.0 ypg), two of the top three C-USA leaders in passing per game, square off.
 
Middle Tennessee makes the trip to North Texas in a matchup of squads looking to get back on track after division losses on the road last Saturday (3 pm CT on Stadium).  Junior S Reed Blankenship and the Blue Raiders secondary will look to slow down Mean Green WR Jaelon Darden, the league’s leader in receiving touchdowns.
 
WKU will look to move to 4-0 in C-USA play when Charlotte comes to Bowling Green (3 pm CT on ESPN+).  49ers senior RB Benny LeMay leads C-USA with 622 rushing yards and has five TDs, while Hilltoppers junior RB Gaej Walker is third with 558 yards and four scores.
 
UAB will put its 15-game winning streak at Legion Field on the line when Old Dominion comes to town (3 pm CT). This will be the first-ever meeting between the Blazers and Monarchs.
 
Rice returns to action following a bye week to take on UTSA (5 pm CT on ESPN3).  Owls’ junior RB Aston Walter has posted back-to-back 100-yard rushing games along with six total touchdowns, while Roadrunners freshman RB Sincere McCormick has scored a TD in four of his last five games and ran for 473 yards on the season.
 
UTEP was idle last week and this Saturday night it will make the trek to Miami to take on FIU (6 pm CT on ESPN+).  Miners senior RB Treyvon Hughes has scored five rushing touchdowns in the first five games of the season, while Panthers senior RB Anthony Jones scored four times last week in a win against Charlotte and has eight total TDs on the season.
 
 
WEEK EIGHT C-USA FOOTBALL PREVIEWS
 
MARSHALL (3-3, 1-1 in C-USA) at FLORIDA ATLANTIC (4-2, 2-0 in C-USA)
Friday, October 18
6:30 p.m. ET
Boca Raton, Florida (FAU Stadium)
Television: CBS Sports Network
Announcers: Jason Horowitz (PxP), Danny Kanell (AN)
All-Time Series: Marshall leads 5-1
Last Meeting: at Marshall 31, Florida Atlantic 7 (Oct. 20, 2019)
 
FAST FACTS
**Florida Atlantic’s only win in the series came in the last meeting in Boca Raton, as the Owls RB Devin Singletary rushed for 203 yards and Jalen Young intercepted three passes in a 30-25 win.
**Last year in Huntington, Marshall intercepted four FAU passes and Tyler King ran for 125 yards and a TD in a 30-7 win.
**This game features a matchup of last season’s C-USA co-Freshmen of the Year in Thundering Herd QB Isaiah Green and Owls QB Chris Robison.  Green has 1,416 yards of total offense with six touchdowns in the first six games in 2019, while Robison is averaging 259.5 yards per game through the air with a league-high 13 touchdown passes. 
**Sophomore DL Darius Hodge was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week after he tied a school record with 4.5 sacks to go with his seven tackles in Marshall’s 31-17 home win over Old Dominion.  The 26 yards lost on those sacks tied for third-most in school history. The Thundering Herd racked up a season-high eight sacks as a team, tied for second-most in school annals.  Hodge’s 4.5 sacks tied a school record set by Cecil Fletcher in 1986 and he  also tied two others for the third-most sacks in Conference USA history.
**Marshall junior LB Tavante Beckett set a career-high with 14 tackles vs. Old Dominion and leads C-USA with 60 stops on the season (tied for 17th nationally).
**Marshall rushed for 236 yards in last week’s win over Old Dominion– 105 more yards than the Monarchs defense had allowed in any game this season.  The three-headed sophomore rushing attack of RB Brenden Knox (104 yards), QB Isaiah Green (59 yards) and RB Shelden Evans (50 yards) provided the majority of the ground attack. 
**Sophomore RB Brenden Knox is now fourth in C-USA in rushing with 499 yards following his second 100-yard game of the season against ODU.  He also scored his team-leading fifth TD of the season.
**After being the only team in the FBS to open with back-to-back games against Top 20 teams (Ohio State and UCF), Florida Atlantic has won four straight games and at 4-2 is off to its best six-game start since the 2004 season.
**Head coach Lane Kiffin posted his 20^th win at Florida Atlantic last week against Middle Tennessee in his 32nd game in Boca Raton (.625 winning percentage). 
**Last week against Middle Tennessee, the FAU defense played a huge role in the 28-23 win. The Owls forced three turnovers, including two interceptions by senior DB Meiko Dotson.  That is the second straight game that Dotson has intercepted two passes.  His league-high season INT total of four is tied for third among all FBS players.  Also, following the first touchdown of the game, junior LB Akilies Leroy blocked an extra point attempt, recovered the ball and return it the length of the field for a scoop and score two-point conversion.
**Junior LB Akilies Leroy’s blocked extra-point return was the second in program history, with the other coming on Nov. 8, 2008, when Darian Thomas pulled off the feat against North Texas.  Leroy also tied for the team lead with eight tackles vs. Middle Tennessee.
**Redshirt freshman RB Malcom Davidson drew his first start at running back last weekend vs. Middle Tennessee and carried the ball 21 times for a career-high 149 yards, an average of 7.1 yards per carry, while finding the end zone once.  He became the first Owl to rush for 100 yards in a game since Devin Singletary on Nov. 10, 2018 vs. WKU.
**Senior LB Rashad Smith recorded his first interception of 2019 last Saturday.  He has four turnovers gained on the 2019 season (one INT, three fumbles recovered).  Smith now has 10 turnovers in his last 18 games played over the past two seasons.
**Florida Atlantic leads C-USA and are tied for 11^th nationally with eight interceptions.  The Owls also lead the league and place sixth among all FBS teams with a +8 turnover margin (13 gained, five lost).
 
MORE
Marshall Football: http://www.herdzone.com/sports/m-footbl/mars-m-footbl-body.html
Florida Atlantic Football: http://www.fausports.com/sports/m-footbl/fau-m-footbl-body.html
 
 
SOUTHERN MISS (4-2, 2-0 in C-USA) at LOUISIANA TECH (5-1, 2-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 19
2:30 p.m. CT
Ruston, Louisiana (Joe Aillet Stadium)
Broadcast: NFL Network
Announcers: Rhett Lewis (PxP), Ben Leber (AN), Molly Sullivan (SL)
All-Time Series: Southern Miss leads 35-15
Last Meeting: at Southern Miss 21, Louisiana Tech 20 (Nov. 17, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**This is the second most-played series in Conference USA, as the teams will be meeting for the 51st time.  Southern Miss has won four straight years, including a one-point victory last year and a double-overtime triumph in 2017.
**In last year’s game in Hattiesburg, Steven Anderson rushed for two touchdowns for Southern Miss and the Golden Eagles defense held LA Tech to just two field goals in their final three trips in the red zone in a 21-20 victory.
**Louisiana Tech is off to a 5-1 start for the first time since 2012 and can become bowl-eligible for the sixth straight season with a victory over Southern Miss. 
**Junior QB Jack Abraham was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks on Monday following the 45-27 win over North Texas.  He threw for over 400 yards for the third time in his career, and the second time this season, as he completed 29-of-36 passes for 421 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.  Abraham also added a rushing score while helping the Golden Eagles generate 563 yards of total offense.  His pass plays included completions of 72, 59 and 59 yards and at one point, he completed six consecutive passes for double-digit yards.  Abraham has thrown for 1,936 yards this season and has completed 71.7 percent of his passes (eighth in the FBS).
**Senior RB/WR De’Michael Harris has registered a rushing and a receiving touchdown in each of the last two weeks.  He opened the North Texas game with a 59-yard scoring reception, and later in the opening quarter added a 60-yard rushing touchdown.  Harris is the first Golden Eagle to rush for over 100 yards in a game this season with 103 on 14 carries, while he also caught five passes for 79 yards.  He now has three rushing and three receiving scores on the year.
*Junior WR Quez Watkins recorded eight catches for 198 yards vs. North Texas, narrowly missing his second 200-yard receiving game this season (209 vs. Troy).  He had catches of 72 and 59 yards in posting his seventh career 100-yard game.  Despite missing the first two games of the season, Watkins leads C-USA in scrimmage plays of 30+ yards (7), 40+ yards (6), 50+ yards (4) and 60+ yards (3). 
**As a team, Southern Miss is tied with Oklahoma State for the most plays of 50 yards or longer from scrimmage in the FBS with 11.
*Southern Miss leads C-USA and ranks 15th nationally in third down conversions at 48.0 percent (37-of-77).
**Louisiana Tech junior RB Justin Henderson continues to make quite an impact in his first season in a Bulldogs uniform.  The junior transfer ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns and caught another score in LA Tech’s 69-21 win over Massachusetts last Saturday. Henderson now has eight TD’s over the last three games and a league-high eight rushing scores on the season (tied for eighth nationally).  With 478 rushing yards on just 58 carries, he is averaging a league-best 8.4 yards per carry.  That average ranks ninth nationally.
**Junior WR Cee Jay Powell led the Bulldogs in receptions for the fifth time in six games, catching four balls for a game-high 70 yards vs. UMass.  One of those receptions was a 55-yarder, the longest of his career and the longest reception this season by any Bulldog.  He has a team-best 29 receptions this season.  He also scored his first career touchdown last week.
**Senior QB J’Mar Smith became the fourth QB in program history to eclipse 8,000 for his career (now 8,103) and the seventh to throw 40 touchdowns (now 42).
**LA Tech junior CB Amik Robertson came up with a pick six on just the fourth play of the game vs. UMass, taking it 42 yards to the house.  Both of Robertson’s interceptions this season have been taken back for touchdowns and he also scored a TD by returning an onside kick. Robertson also added four tackles in the UMass game, including his 10th TFL this season. Robertson’s 11 passes defended this season lead C-USA and are tied for fourth-most among national leaders.
**Senior K Bailey Hale connected on both of his field goal attempts vs. UMass last week - extending his streak to 10 straight makes on the season (10-for-12 on the year).  Hale racked up 15 points on the evening, adding nine made PATs. It was the second time this season he has amassed 15+ points in a single game.  Hale leads C-USA in scoring with 54 points (an average of 9.0 per game) and is the only league kicker with 10 made field goals so far this season.  His 1.67 field goals made per game average is tied for 18th most among national leaders.
 
MORE
Southern Miss Football: http://www.southernmiss.com/sports/m-footbl/smis-m-footbl-body.html
Louisiana Tech Football: http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-footbl/latc-m-footbl-body.html
 
 
CHARLOTTE (2-4, 0-2 in C-USA) at WKU (4-2, 3-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 19
3 p.m. CT
Bowling Green, Kentucky (Houchens Stadium)
Broadcast: ESPN+
Announcers: Graham Doty (PxP), Brandon Doughty (AN)
All-Time Series: Series Tied 1-1
Last Meeting: at Charlotte 40, WKU 14 (Oct. 13, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**Charlotte earned its first win in the series at home last year, 40-14.  The 49ers scored 34 unanswered points from the second to fourth quarters and RB Benny LeMay ran for 121 yards and two TDs.
**Senior RB Benny LeMay rushed for a season-high 144 yards and added 90 receiving yards to compile a career-best 234 yards of total offense at FIU last Saturday.  It was LeMay’s fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season and pushed his single season average to a league-best 103.7 yards per game.  He now has eight 100-yard rushing games against FBS opponents, tying Kalif Phillips’ career mark at Charlotte. LeMay had the team’s longest rush (48) and reception (43) and scored both a rushing and receiving TD against the Panthers.
**Responsible for 86 points through six games, sophomore QB Chris Reynolds ranks second in C-USA and 30^th in the FBS. He's also third in the league in passing efficiency (151.5).  Reynolds has thrown for 952 yards, this season, 48 shy of his second straight 1,000-yard passing campaign.  He is trying to become the third signal-caller in Charlotte history to reach that mark.
**Charlotte has rushed for over 200 yards in four of six games, including 217 last week at FIU.  The Niners lead Conference USA in rushing offense (218.7 yards per game - 26^th in the FBS).
**Sophomore DE Markees Watts' sack last Saturday at FIU was the 19^th of the season for Charlotte, matching the total for 2018, just six games into the year.  Charlotte ranks second in C-USA and 18^th in the FBS with the 19 sacks (3.17 per game).
**The Hilltoppers have scored exactly 20 points in each of their three league victories, including two on the road.  More impressively, WKU has allowed just 30 total points (10.0 per game) en route to the first place standing in the East Division.  The Toppers are allowing an average of 225.0 total yards per game vs. C-USA opponents.
**The WKU defense turned in another stellar performance in defeating Army, 17-8, last Saturday night to improve to 4-2 overall.  The Hilltoppers held the Black Knights rushing attack to 137 yards, nearly half of their season average of 273.0 yards on the ground coming in to the contest.  The unit allowed just 3-of-11 on third down conversions. WKU is now second in C-USA and 17th nationally in total defense, allowing 287.0 yards per game. During their current three-game winning streak, the Toppers have allowed a combined total of 20 points (6.7 per game) and are second in the league and 20th nationally with an 18.5 scoring average on the season.
**WKU junior DE DeAngelo Malone recorded a team-high seven tackles - including one for loss - and one quarterback hurry in WKU’s victory vs. Army.  Malone leads the nation with 14.0 tackles for loss and stands atop Conference USA with 7.0 sacks on the season.  His 8.8 tackles per game leads all FBS defensive lineman.
**Junior RB Gaej Walker rushed 25 times for 132 yards last week vs. Army for his fourth 100-yard performance of the season, tying him for the most among C-USA running backs.  Walker leads C-USA with 122 rushing attempts on the year and ranks third with 93 yards rushing per game.
 
MORE
Charlotte Football: http://www.charlotte49ers.com/index.aspx?path=football
WKU Football: http://wkusports.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
MIDDLE TENNESSEE (2-4, 1-1 in C-USA) at NORTH TEXAS (2-4, 1-1 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 19
3 p.m. CT
Denton, Texas (Apogee Stadium)
Television: Stadium
Announcers: Chris Hassel (PxP), A.J. Hawk (AN)
All-Time Series:  North Texas leads 8-7
Last Meeting: at Middle Tennessee 30, at North Texas 13 (Oct. 1, 2016)
 
FAST FACTS
**Middle Tennessee has won seven of the last nine meetings in the series.
**North Texas has a 16-5 record under head coach Seth Littrell at Apogee Stadium.
**Sophomore QB Asher O’Hara was 4-for-4 for 117 yards on passing attempts of 20-yards or longer in the first quarter at Florida Atlantic last week.  For the game, he had eight completions of 20 yards or longer to six different players.  O’Hara finished the day with 335 passing yards, second-most in his career.  He also had a team-high 57 rushing yards and a score on the ground.  O’Hara has run for 368 yards this season.
**Junior WR Jarrin Pierce turned in a career-high for receiving yards with 82 at Florida Atlantic on just three catches.  Pierce has had three or more receptions in four of his first six games as a Blue Raider.
**Senior WR Ty Lee had a season-high eight receptions last week at FAU.  The FBS leader with at least one reception in all 46 games as a Blue Raider, Lee moved into a tie for second place at MT with 238 career catches.  He needs 12 more grabs to tie the record.
**Junior S Reed Blankenship had another stellar day against Florida Atlantic, turning in season highs for total tackles with 13 and solo tackles with 11.  The 11 solo stops are a new career high.  Blankenship is sixth in C-USA with 52 total tackles on the season.
**North Texas junior WR Jaelon Darden caught five passes for 87 yards at Southern Miss on Saturday night and three were for touchdowns, establishing a new career high.  He now has a league-high six touchdown receptions on the season (14th nationally). Darden also tops C-USA in receptions per game at 5.8.
**Redshirt freshman WR Jyaire Shorter has hauled in four touchdown catches in as many games.  Last week, he caught a 45-yard TD, the longest catch of his collegiate career.  Shorter is averaging 18.6 yards per reception, with 11 grabs for 205 yards.
**Three of senior QB Mason Fine’s 11 completions went for touchdowns last week before he left in the third quarter with a left shoulder injury.  That allowed him to take over the C-USA lead with 14 TD passes for the season.
**Junior DE Dion Novil has at least one tackle for loss in each game this season and places third in the conference with a total 8.0.  He has 29 total tackles on the year.
 
MORE
Middle Tennessee Football: http://www.goblueraiders.com/index.aspx?path=football
North Texas Football: https://meangreensports.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
OLD DOMINION (1-5, 0-2 in C-USA) at UAB (5-1, 2-1 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 19
3 p.m. CT
Birmingham, Alabama (Legion Field)
Broadcast: ESPN+
Announcers: Curt Bloom (PxP), Chad Pilcher (AN)
All-Time Series: First Meeting
 
FAST FACTS
**UAB will honor Children’s Harbor (https://www.childrensharbor.com/) by wearing the names of 100 patients on the back of their grey and lime alternate jerseys again this Saturday when it hosts Old Dominion for Homecoming.  The tradition has garnered national attention each year since 2017, and the Homecoming games have been memorable.  Two years ago, UAB blocked a last second field goal to defeat Louisiana Tech 23-22.  Last year, UAB outscored North Texas 19-0 in the second half for a come-from-behind 29-21 victory. 
**Conference brethren in sports other than football from 1976 to 1991 in the Sun Belt Conference and since 2013 in Conference USA, this will be the first time that the schools have met on the gridiron.
**UAB has won 15 consecutive games at Legion Field, the sixth-longest active streak in the FBS.  The Blazers have not lost a home game since the program was reinstated for the 2017 season.
**Junior QB Messiah deWeaver came off the bench last week at Marshall and completed 8-of-14 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown.  His scoring strike was a 44-yarder to redshirt freshman WR Aaron Moore.
**The Old Dominion defense ranks third in C-USA and 35^th nationally in total defense.  The Monarchs are surrendering 331.3 yards per game.
**Junior LB Lawrence Garner had 10 tackles in the first half at Marshall, securing his third-straight double-digit tackle game.  He finished the day with 12 stops, matching his season high for the second straight week.  With 59 stops on the season, he is just one shy of the C-USA lead.
**Redshirt freshman KR Blake Watson returned three kickoffs for 166 yards last week.  His returns set up two of the Monarchs scores vs. Marshall.  Watson now ranks second in C-USA and ninth in the FBS with a kick return average of 29.3.
**Senior P Bailey Cate is coming off his best performance of the season against Marshall.  He punted eight times for a 43.2 yard average and had three punts of 50+ yards, including a season long 55-yarder.  Cate also had three punts downed inside the 20, including one at the one-yard line.
**UAB junior WR Austin Watkins Jr. is leading C-USA in receiving yards (534) and receiving yards per game (89.0).  He has 26 catches for 534 yards and five touchdowns this season.  Watkins, Jr. is coming off a career performance in which he had six catches for 167 yards and a touchdown at UTSA.
**Blazers senior WR Kendall Parham is second nationally in yards per reception at 24.22, while all six of his touchdown receptions have come from outside the red zone.  Five of the six have been 43 yards or longer.
**UAB ranks seventh nationally in total defense.  The Blazers lead Conference USA in virtually every defensive statistical category, and they are the nation’s leader in fumble recoveries with 10.  UAB has yet to allow more than 20 points in any game this season and ranks 12th nationally in scoring defense at 16.0 per game.
**UAB senior K Nick Vogel was a perfect 4-of-4 on field goal attempts at UTSA in a 33-14 victory and earned C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week honors.  His four made field goals established a new career high as he connected from 43, 31, 31, and 23 yards.  Vogel has made each of his last six field goal attempts and is 8-of-11 on the year. 
 
MORE
Old Dominion Football:  http://www.odusports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31100&SPID=127313&SPSID=750425&DB_OEM_ID=31100
UAB Football: http://uabsports.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
RICE (0-6, 0-2 in C-USA) at UTSA (2-4, 1-2 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 19
5 p.m. CT
San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome)
Broadcast: ESPN+
Announcers: Lincoln Rose (PxP), LaDarrin McLane (AN), Brooke Shoemaker (SL)
All-Time Series: UTSA leads 4-3
Last Meeting: UTSA 20, at Rice 3 (Oct. 6, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**UTSA has won four straight in the series after Rice had won the first three.
**Rice junior LB Blaze Alldredge has been added to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.  Alldredge leads the Owls with 53 tackles and 11.5 tackles for loss through six games. His 11.5 tackles for loss are currently second in the nation while his average of 1.92 per game ranks seventh.  His TFL total is the most by an Owl since 2017 and the most by a Rice linebacker since Rashad Reynolds totaled 15 in 1997.  Alldredge has at least on TFL in each of the last five games and has been credited with 10 or more tackles in each of the last two games.  In his last nine games dating back to last season, Alldredge has amassed 84 tackles, including 12.5 for loss.
**Junior RB Aston Walter has run for more than 100 yards in each of the Owls’ last two games, the first Rice player to run for 100 yards in back-to-back games since Jowan Davis in 2014.  He also has four rushing scores and six total TDs on the season.
**Junior WR Austin Trammell caught five passes for a career-high 113 yards in Rice’s last game, at UAB on Oct. 5.  It is his first 100-yard game of the season and the second of his career.  Trammell’s performance put him over 1,000 receiving yards in his career (now at 1,080).
**Walter and Trammell’s showing at UAB marked the first time that Rice has had a 100-yard rusher and receiver in the same game since Samuel Stewart (116 yards) and Temi Alaka (143 yards) against Prairie View A&M on Oct. 22, 2016.
**Sophomore QB Lowell Narcisse added a game-high 86 rushing yards and his third TD of the season in the UAB contest and now has gained 299 yards on the ground in the last three outings (99.7 avg.).  With at least six games left on the fall slate, he is 219 yards shy of UTSA’s single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback of 545, set by Dalton Sturm in 2017.
**Of the 40 tackles for loss and 11 sacks recorded by the Roadrunners so far this season, the defensive line has been responsible for 23 TFLs and eight sacks. Leading the way is senior DE Jarrod Carter-McLin, who owns 19 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks to go along with one interception and a forced fumble.
**UTSA senior S Carl Austin III posted 35 tackles, including 23 solo stops and three tackles for loss, while providing leadership for a unit that ranks third in C-USA and ranks 16th nationally in passing defense (177.2 ypg).
**The Roadrunners’ kickoff coverage unit has shined in the first half of the season. UTSA is yielding an average kickoff return of 16.5 yards through the first six games, a figure that leads Conference USA and ranks 15th among all FBS teams.
 
MORE
Rice Football: https://riceowls.com/index.aspx?path=football
UTSA Football: http://www.goutsa.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
UTEP (1-4, 0-1 in C-USA) at FIU (-3, 1-2 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 19
7 p.m. ET
Miami, Florida (Riccardo Silva Stadium)
Television: ESPN+
Announcers: A.J. Ricketts (PxP), Kenny Kelly (AN)
All-Time Series: FIU leads 2-1
Last Meeting: FIU 35, at UTEP 21 (Oct. 8, 2016)
 
FAST FACTS
**UTEP senior RB Treyvon Hughes has scored five rushing touchdowns in the first five games of the season.  He ran 10 times for 62 yards against UTSA in the Miners last game on Oct. 5 to give him a team-high 314 rushing yards on the season.
**Sophomore WR Tre’Shon Wolf is coming off his career-best game after he had nine receptions for 91 yards and a TD against UTSA.  Wolf’s nine catches tripled his previous career best of three receptions, achieved twice previously.  The nine catches were the most by a Miner since Hayden Plinke also had nine receptions at Rice on Nov. 6, 2015.
**Senior WS Michael Lewis has led the Miners in tackles each of the last two weeks.  He had 11 tackles against Southern Miss on Oct. 28 and tied for the team high with 10 vs. UTSA.  Lewis has a team-best 38 stops on the season.
**UTEP ranks third in C-USA in red zone offense.  In 16 trips inside the red zone this season the Miners have scored eight touchdowns and are 7-for-7 on field goal attempts (93.8% success rate).
**FIU will be seeking its fourth straight home victory and its third in as many weeks.
**FIU is the only C-USA team that has topped 30 points in each of its last four games.
**Senior RB Anthony Jones had 117 yards and four scores, three on the ground and one through the air in the Panthers win over Charlotte last week.  The four touchdowns in a single game are tied for the most by a FIU non-quarterback, tying T.Y. Hilton (2010) and Rashod Smith (2004) for the program record.  Jones also earned the first back-to-back 100-yard rushing games of his collegiate career. 
**The Panthers had two running backs over the century mark in rushing, as FIU ran for 350 yards against the 49ers, the fourth-most in a game by a Panther offense.  In addition to Jones, senior RB Napoleon Maxwell earned 114 yards and a touchdown.
**In just his second game in an FIU uniform since transferring from Arkansas, junior DL Alexy Jean-Baptiste had a career night against the Charlotte 49ers with six total tackles (four solo) and a forced fumble.  He also recorded 1.5 tackles for loss and half of a sack.
 
MORE
UTEP Football: http://www.utepathletics.com/index.aspx?path=football
FIU Football: http://www.fiusports.com/index.aspx?path=football