Paws Up Preview - FIU Football @ Missouri State

DATE – Wednesday, October 29th

TIME – 8:00 PM EST

OPPONENT – Missouri State Bears (Conference USA)

VENUE – Robert W. Plaster Stadium (Springfield, MO)

HOW TO WATCH – CBS Sports Network

ODDS – MO State -3.5

The highs and lows of a college football season are massive, and FIU Football is going through this once again. They couldn’t keep the hype train moving on Vice Night, falling to Kennesaw State in a game that COULD have gone their way, but didn’t.

Now, they have to head on the road and take on another red-hot team, the Missouri State Bears. One of the two new additions to Conference USA, the Bears have already earned hard-fought wins in their CUSA slate. Then again, so did Western Kentucky earlier this season until they ran into a blue and gold wall.

“For us, it’s about consistency,” said head coach Willie Simmons. “It’s about continuing to chase perfection, which leads to excellence, and it’s not looking at the outcome of winning a game. And I think that’s something that we as a football team have to continue to grow in. We will be a team that chases excellence. Excellence is our standard here, not success. We were successful in two ball games against rival teams, and then we were unsuccessful in the next game.”

At least the consistent parts of FIU didn’t back down against Kennesaw State – the top team in Conference USA. Now, the Panthers will look to take down Missouri State in the final Weekday CUSA game of the season. If they can do it once in Bowling Green, certainly they can do it again… right?

Feeling The 1980s Blues

Yeah, it was a frustrating loss to Kennesaw State. But the reason it was frustrating was that FIU kept up with the Owls for three quarters before disaster struck. That’s at least an improvement from the blowout losses to Delaware and UConn.

The Kennesaw faithful might call this a blowout win, but I don’t see it that way. If it were a blowout, they would have silenced the Panthers in almost every aspect of the game. But that didn’t happen as there were a few things FIU did exceptionally well, even better than the Owls.

Anthony Carrie tricks the defense and runs left to the house for a tuddy @PawsUpPodcast #FIU | #Panthers | #PawsUp
Kennesaw State 14 FIU 7 pic.twitter.com/5XFOLwzJOV

— Ricardo Urrusuno (@RickScores) October 21, 2025

Their running game did not back down from a challenge. Against one of the best rush defenses in CUSA, they still dropped 222 yards and two scores. Keyone Jenkins and the FIU offense did not throw an interception or lose a fumble. Their defense, which got off to a bad start, had an excellent third quarter until minutes to go when Ashton Levells was injured on a touchdown.

FIU really beat themselves more than KSU at times. With an exceptional amount of penalties and Noah Grant missing a chip-shot field goal (which led to the Owls scoring and pulling away), the Panthers beat themselves up at times. At least, the Owls were seemingly the most difficult opponent left on the schedule.

Entering Homer’s Territory

The Missouri State Bears are having a pretty good season in their first year in FBS. Former members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (Home of both North Dakota State and South Dakota State), they’re accustomed to playing big-time competition. After giving up 73 points to USC in the season opener, they’ve won four of their next six to get here.

That includes two straight wins against Middle Tennessee and New Mexico State. They gave WKU everything they could handle, losing in overtime. Still, they’re a team that knows how to win close games.

Dare I say they’re similar to Kennesaw State in that they don’t have many flashy star players? Instead, they have plenty of solid, reliable playmakers when they need them to do so. Jacob Clark has played the part with 1,478 yards and 11 touchdowns, though he has also thrown eight interceptions.

Welcome Back, Jacob Clark! 🐻#OutHitOutHustle | #ProveIt | #WeekdayCUSA pic.twitter.com/XqyjORc3U9

— Missouri State Football (@MoStateFootball) October 23, 2025

A big weakness for the Bears is their inability to run the ball effectively. They only average just over 106 rushing yards per game. This is despite a hefty transfer portal pickup in Shomari Lawrence from FIU. He’s their only reliable runner thus far with 446 yards and two scores.

Through the air is a different story. They don’t have a bona fide WR1, but instead THREE different receivers who have recorded over 300 yards and two touchdowns each. Dash Luke leads the charge, but you can’t go wrong with anyone in their receiver core.

On defense, MO state is solid all around. Take away the USC loss, and they haven’t given up more than 30 points in a game all season. They only give up just over 141 rushing yards a game, the second-least in CUSA.

Who Wins – FIU or Missouri State?

If anything, FIU has proven so far this season that it knows how to bounce back following a tough loss. Even better, they finally know how to win on the road against conference opponents. Even better than that, they did it against one of the best teams in CUSA. Now, they need to do it again in a less stressful (but still difficult) environment.

If the FIU defense can force interceptions on a guy like Maverick McIvor, imagine what they can do against Clark. I feel good about FIU’s defense in this matchup, which should set up the Panthers’ offense nicely.

Still, it’s tough to take down a team with momentum. It’ll be a dogfight, but FIU can do just enough to get the job done here.

FIU – 27

MISSOURI STATE – 24

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