Young Programs Not New to Success
The similarities between FIU and UTSA are many.
Both prefer their schools be referred to by their acronyms. And both reside in states rich with high school talent. Both are extremely young programs by college football standards.
So it’s fitting that the FIU Panthers (7-5, 5-3 Conference USA) and UTSA Roadrunners (6-6, 4-4 American), who played in the same league (CUSA) for a decade as fledgling Football Bowl Subdivision programs, are squaring off in the 16th Annual SERVPRO First Responder Bowl tonight at 7 p.m. at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.
Both schools have enjoyed early success, starting their programs this century, yet already reaching bowl games 13 times between them. A victory for FIU would give the Panthers eight wins, which would match the second-highest total in school history. A triumph by UTSA would be its third straight year with a bowl title.
The matchup figures to be another tight, high-scoring game for the First Responder Bowl, which has seen games decided by seven points or less four times in the last six years. The winning team has lit up the scoreboard for at least 30 points in each of the past five games, while the runner up has scored at least 20 in five of the past six.
FIU won its last four games of the season, which included a win over Conference USA Championship Game participant Jax State, to snap its bowl drought at five years. The Panthers’ schedule gave the team a strong test as FIU played games against seven bowl-bound teams. FIU scored 29.3 points per game and amassed 2,282 yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground.
Willie Simmons is in his first year as the head coach of the Panthers and has a winning record in all nine seasons as a head coach including previous stops at Prairie View A&M and Florida A&M. The Panthers are 2-3 in bowl games all time with their last appearance a 34-26 loss to Arkansas State in the 2019 Camellia Bowl.
UTSA began its season 0-2, including a 42-24 loss to College Football Playoff-bound Texas A&M, before rallying to win six of its next nine games. Its biggest win of the season was a 48-26 dismantling of Tulane, which won the American Conference and earned the No. 11 seed in the CFP. UTSA finished the season listed in the NCAA’s top 25 in scoring offense at 33.8 points per game and scored 48 or more points four times.
Head coach Jeff Traylor is 52-26 (.667) in his sixth year piloting the Roadrunners, and UTSA has been bowl eligible each season. In just its 15th year in the NCAA FBS, the team is appearing in its seventh all-time bowl game, including the 2020 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. The Roadrunners own a 2-4 record in previous tilts with back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024.
FIU and UTSA have faced off four times previously with each team winning twice. The Roadrunners won the last meeting, 30-10, in 2022.
In the bowl’s first-ever night game, stars will be aplenty for two teams who took little time establishing themselves as players on the national level.