When the Florida International Golden Panthers travel to play the Florida Atlantic Owls on Friday night, the matchup will be a battle for the bottom of the Sun Belt conference.
The two teams have struggled all year, with both school's suffering six-game losing streaks. The Golden Panthers are tied for last place in the conference, but are coming off of a close 28-20 win against South Alabama on Nov. 3.
Florida International played well in their opening loss against Duke, but have struggled since winning against Akron 41-38 in overtime on Sept. 8. The team has won only one of the last eight games and suffered through a seven game losing streak before defeating South Alabama.
The Golden Panthers have been solid on offense this season, but the defense has been one of the worst in the nation. The team gains over 144 yards rushing on the ground per game, but are giving up 33 points to opponents.
Sophomore quarterback Jake Medlock has been stellar for Florida International, throwing for 1,863 yards and 11 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He is one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the conference and is completing nearly 60 percent of his passes.
Medlock threw for over 300 yards in the opening loss against Duke and had his best game against Troy on Oct. 20, throwing for 316 yards and three touchdowns. Junior running back Kedrick Rhodes has also been valuable to the team, rushing for 558 yards and three touchdowns, while gaining 4.2 yards per carry.
Florida Atlantic also enters the game with confidence after playing well of late, winning two of the last three games. Last Saturday against Western Kentucky, the Owls gained over 350 yards as they upset Western Kentucky on the road 37-28.
Senior Graham Wilbert was impressive in the win, throwing for 257 yards and two touchdowns. This season Wilbert has thrown for 2,032 yards and 14 touchdowns with only three interceptions.
The Owls opened the season with a 7-3 win against Wagner, but then went on to lose the next six games, including a 37-34 loss in double overtime to South Alabama.
Junior running back Jonathan Wallace leads the team in rushing, gaining 561 yards on 147 carries with four touchdowns. He has also been a threat out of the backfield, catching 17 passes for 56 yards.
The Owls are gaining over 200 yards passing per game, but rank only 104th in the nation in rushing yards, averaging 121 per game. The team has played better defense of late, but are ranked in the bottom part of the conference in points allowed and yards given up.
This year the defense has allowed more than 30 points five different times, including in a 56-20 loss to then-No. 7 ranked Georgia on Sept. 15.
The Golden Panthers are looking for their second conference win of the season, which would tie them with Florida Atlantic in the Sun Belt standings.
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