Liberty will take to the road for the first time in over a month, 38 days to be exact, for a Saturday matchup at Florida International in Miami, Florida at Pitbull Stadium in a meeting of two teams aiming for bowl eligibility. This Saturday’s game will be homecoming and Sunblazers night for FIU.

Game Overview

  • Matchup: Liberty Flames (4-5, 3-2 CUSA) vs FIU Panthers (4-5, 2-3 CUSA)
  • Date & Time: Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Pitbull Stadium, Miami, Florida. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
  • Series History: Liberty leads, 3-0

Preview of the Panthers

After three straight 4-8 seasons, the Panthers opted to move on from Mike MacIntyre and brought in Willie Simmons to lead the program at head coach. Prior to spending the 2024 season at Duke as running backs coach, Simmons was the head coach at the FCS level for Prairie View A&M and Florida A&M where he compiled a 66-24 record across 8 seasons including a 12-1 2023 season at FAMU.

Simmons and FIU are currently 4-5 on the season and 2-3 in conference play. Their wins are against Bethune Cookman, FAU, Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee while dropping games to Penn State, Delaware, UConn, Kennesaw State, and Missouri State. This weekend’s game against Liberty will be big for both teams in trying to achieve bowl eligibility. FIU hasn’t been to a bowl game since before COVID while the Flames are aiming to keep a six-year bowl streak alive.

Keyone Jenkins is in his third season as starting quarterback for FIU. The preseason CUSA Offensive Player of the Year has completed 142 of 225 passes for 1,402 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions this season while also rushing 46 times for 81 yards and 4 scores. Jenkins did not play in this past week’s 56-30 win at Middle Tennessee. He was listed as questionable and did not play despite making the trip to Tennessee and also being in uniform. Simmons opted to play veteran backup quarterback Joe Pesansky and it paid off. In his first start at FIU, Pesansky racked up five touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) to put his name into the FIU record book as the first ever Panther to account for five touchdowns in a single game. He was 17 of 28 passing for 257 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions. Pesansky is in his first year at FIU after transferring from Holy Cross where he played for four years, including making the start in all 12 games last season when he threw for 2,399 yards and 19 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see who Simmons opts to play at quarterback this week. He said this week that he made the decision to go with Pesansky on Saturday morning just a few hours prior to taking on MTSU.

“Right now Joe is taking the majority of the first team reps,” Simmons said this week. “(Jenkins) is taking some reps where the risk of bodies being around him is minimal. We will play it right up until game time, but both guys are preparing as if they will play. We will make a decision as we get closer as to who we feel gives us the best chance.”

FIU is one of the top rushing offenses in the conference, currently ranks second in Conference USA with 178.7 yards on the ground each game, only trailing Jacksonville State. This has allowed the Panthers to lead the conference in time of possession and have the 4th best total offense, averaging 393.2 yards per game despite its passing offense being 8th in the league at 214.6 yards through the air each contest. This could change with Pesansky behind center as Jenkins is more of a dual-threat quarterback option while Pesansky is the more traditional pocket quarterback.

Kejon Owens has been the leader on offense for FIU most of the season. The running back has 955 rushing yards and 9 scores on the year. He’s one of only two running backs in CUSA that is averaging more than 100 yards on the ground each game, joining Jax State’s Cam Cook. Owens is currently third in school history for rushing yards in a season and is closing in on the all-time record of 1,159.

Alex Perry is the unquestioned leader of the receiver room. He has 34 catches for 479 yards and a CUSA leading 5 touchdowns. Kyle McNeal has 21 catches for 203 yards while Maguire Anders has 20 receptions for 229 yards.

On defense, FIU ranks 9th in the conference in allowing 29.9 points per game. They are 11th in total defense, giving up 409.2 yards of offense and 11th in pass defense, with teams throwing for 263.9 yards per game. The Panthers aren’t bad against the run, giving up 148.6 yards on the ground each game, good for 5th in the league.

Johnny Chaney leads the team with 79 tackles to go along with 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. Josiah Taylor has 51 tackles, second on the team. Mister Clark has 47 tackles, 5 TFLs, 2 interceptions, and 11 pass breakups.

Coach Simmons on the Flames

“We return home this week for homecoming against a tough Liberty team whose record isn’t indicative of the type of team they are. We know we have our hands full. Top defense in the conference. One of the top dual offenses in the conference, being able to run and pass the ball efficiently. We will have our hands full, but happy to be back at home. It should be a great ballgame.”

“Liberty is going to try to challenge you. They are going to challenge your eyes. They are a heavy run option team. Defensive backs, they rely on you having dirty eyes because they can get behind you.”

“Liberty is going to play man coverage, that’s who they are. They are going to challenge you and they are going to force your receivers to make plays. Our guys have to be up for that challenge and we have to continue to make big plays in the passing game to compliment our running game which has been, for the most part, the strength of our offense all season.”

“They are a team that is going to challenge you on the perimeter, try to make big plays by keeping the defensive backs at depth, and they are going to force you to make plays. They’ve got a pretty good defensive line. If  you look at that depth chart, there’s a lot of starts on that defense, even if they weren’t there last year, there are a lot of starts. It comes down to the same thing – which team can do the little things, protect the ball, convert third downs, score touchdowns in the red zone, and on defense, find a way to create some turnovers, get them off the field on third downs, not give up explosives. That’s going to be the recipe for victory for us. We’ve done it at times this year, and at times we haven’t. We have to make sure we are hitting on all cylinders come 5 o’clock on Saturday.”

Coach Chadwell on the Panthers

“I think you have to prepare for two (quarterbacks). I believe they will play both of them in some form or fashion. I don’t know exactly what they will do. One of them, obviously, has started the last couple of years, has got ability, can run. The big kid they got, he can really throw the ball well. He’s given them some juice. We’re both in the same position. We’re both fighting to get back to .500. We’re both fighting to get closer to bowl game eligibility. It’s a huge game. Our defense is going to have to do a good job of having a plan for both when who’s in. They will do some different things. We will have to do a good job of understanding who’s in there, what they’re trying to do with who’s in there. Our defense will have to do a good job of determining that. Whoever it is, we’ve got to make them beat us from the pocket. We can’t let them get out and create extra stuff. We have to make them beat us from the pocket.”

Prediction

Spread: Liberty -2.5

My forecast: FIU 30, Liberty 24

My record this season: 6-3 straight-up, 6-3 against the spread