FIU football hoping to break recent skid against winless Sam Houston State on the road

The baby-blue Lamborghini didn’t work for FIU’s football team.

But now FIU has a golden opportunity to break its three-game losing streak as the Panthers face winless Conference USA rival Sam Houston (0-6, 0-3) on Wednesday night in Huntsville, Texas.

Dating to last season, the Bearkats have lost eight straight games, although there are indications that they’re ready for a breakout.

FIU (3-4, 0-4) is coming off a 27-14 home loss to Texas-El Paso, which made a mockery out of the Panthers’ “Vice Night” promotion.

As part of the Miami Vice theme, there was the aforementioned Lamborghini parked along the sidelines. And, when FIU quarterback Keyone Jenkins was intercepted by UTEP’s Torey Richardson, the mockery began.

Richardson, trailed by several of his teammates, ran toward the pricey Italian race car. Once they got there, they posed for the TV cameras, enjoying the moment at FIU’s expense.

“(UTEP) had fun with it,” FIU coach Mike MacIntyre said in matter-of-fact fashion. “We shouldn’t have thrown an interception.”

Keyone Jenkins, who threw that pick, has failed to finish two straight games after getting injured late. However, he will start again on Wednesday.

Jenkins suffered a concussion at New Mexico State and a right-knee bone contusion and right-ankle sprain against UTEP.

“I’m a tough cookie,” Jenkins said when asked about the pounding he’s taking.

Jenkins’ attitude goes for the entire team. Despite FIU’s losing record, there’s no denying the fight that still exists within the team. That was best exemplified by the goal-line stand put up by FIU’s defense in the fourth quarter of last week’s game.

UTEP, which led by 10 points with five-plus minutes remaining, had a first-and-goal at FIU’s 3-yard line. But FIU stopped two runs and one pass to force UTEP to kick a field goal when a touchdown would’ve put the game away.

“We keep battling,” MacIntyre said.

MacIntyre is hoping for a similar effort to beat Sam Houston State, which has been playing football since 1912 but is in its first year as an FBS program.

In May of 2021, the Bearkats won the FCS national championship, defeating South Dakota State, 23-21, to cap a 9-0 season.

This season, the Bearkats’ have obviously struggled with the transition to FBS, but Sam Houston gave 6-0 Liberty its closest game all season, losing 21-16.

Sam Houston also took 5-2 Jacksonville State to overtime before losing 35-28. Sam Houston lost to 4-2 Power-Five program BYU, 14-0, and the Bearcats gave 6-0 Air Force its second-closest game, losing 13-3.

The Bearkats’ quarterback is Keegan Shoemaker, who is completing 61.5 percent of his passes for six touchdowns and five interceptions in five games.

Noah Smith leads the Bearkats in receiving yards (308) and TD catches (three).

Sam Houston’s leading rusher is North Texas transfer John Gentry, who has just 141 yards and a 2.9 average.

THIS AND THAT

▪ MacIntyre, who filmed an FIU promo on the beach last week while wearing Miami Vice-type clothing, said it was an easy assignment. During his playing days at Vanderbilt, team meetings on Friday nights were held after Miami Vice aired on TV. The entire team was hooked on the show.

▪ When Jenkins went down in both of those games, MacIntyre sent in Haden Carlson. The thinking is that FIU wants to preserve quarterback Grayson James’ ability to redshirt this season. James started the season opener before getting benched in favor of Jenkins.

“We also want to give Haden a shot,” MacIntyre said of his reasons for playing Carlson.

▪ Panthers safety CJ Christian is in concussion protocol and is day-to-day.

▪ FIU wide receiver Kris Mitchell has a reception of at least 30 yards for seven straight games.

▪ MacIntyre called Jenkins’ interception against UTEP a “miscommunication” as Mitchell broke off the route.