FIU Panthers vs. North Texas Mean Green: How To Watch and Preview

Date/Time: Saturday, September 9th, 6:30 PM ET

TV: ESPN+ (AJ Ricketts - Play-By-Play, Jonathan Cyprien - Analyst)

Radio: Miami's WQBA 1140 AM - Corey Brooks (play-by-play) and Natalie Kalibat Witten (Analyst)

Location: FIU Football Stadium (Miami, Florida)

Betting Line: North Texas is a 12.5-point favorite according to Draft Kings

All-Time Series Record: Tied at 5-5 (North Texas won last matchup 52-14)

FIU Panthers

Week One saw wide receiver Kris Mitchell earn Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week. He is the first FIU football player to receive the award since 2019 when Jose Borregales won Conference USA special teams player of the week.

Mitchell won the award after a 201-yard, two-TD performance - which tied him with Tyrese Chambers and T.Y. Hilton for most receiving yards in a single game.

Head coach Mike MacIntyre said this week that Keyone Jenkins will once again start at quarterback against UNT. Jenkins threw for 292 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions against the Maine Black Bears this past weekend. The competition level now goes up immensely for Jenkins who will face 2022 Conference USA runner-up. 

After suffering an undisclosed injury last week, tight end Josiah Miamen will be back this week for the Panthers. Marathon high school product Jackson McDonald got the start last week for the Panthers at that position.

Another Panther who got roughed up in the Maine win was wide receiver Dean Patterson, who had 86 receiving yards and a 144 all-purpose yards. 

"We got nervous there," said MacIntyre about Patterson. "He got hit pretty hard on the punt return, but then he came back. They looked at him everything was fine. He came back and made some big plays fir us and that showed a lot of courage. A lot of grit and Dean is an excellent player. He's big, strong and athletic. He's made a lot of good plays for us and he's still really young, So we're excited about his future."

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North Texas Mean Green

Former Washington State offensive coordinator Eric Morris is in his first season as head coach at North Texas. After a 58-21 loss to Cal, Morris voiced his displeasure with his team's performance.

"It was bad on tape,” Morris said (quote taken from the Denton Record-Chronicle). “There are a lot of people that I don’t know if they’ve bought into what we’re doing. We took turns making mistakes against a team that was bigger, stronger and more physical than us.”

The biggest change that the Mean Green made to their offense is a new starting quarterback at the helm with Stone Earle. Earle threw for 174 yards and three touchdowns, but tossed two interceptions in the opener.

Earle's main target is receiver Ja'Mori Maclin, who ended Week One with four receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown. He will rely on Maclin and receiver Roderic Burns, who finished with four receptions for 27 yards last outing.

"They can fly," said MacIntyre. "That's the first thing you notice on film, is their speed. "It's very important that we know where those guys are."