The 2-3 FIU Panthers continue their campaign this weekend against the reigning CUSA champion Liberty Flames.

Flames quarterback Kaidon Salter finished the 2023 season with 2,876 passing yards, 32 touchdowns against six interceptions, earning CUSA Most Valuable Player honors. It was on the ground that Salter made his biggest impact, rushing for 1,186 yards and 12 touchdowns. Understandably, expectations for his subsequent season were through the roof.

In 2024, it’s been a strange start to the season for the junior quarterback. He makes most of his impact through the air, rushing for 949 yards and seven touchdowns in four games, but he doesn’t run the ball as often as he did last year and is limited to 123 rushing yards. Part of that is thanks to the running back combo of Quinton Cooley and Billy Lucas, who both ran for over 100 yards against FIU last year.

“He’s got a cannon,” FIU head coach Mike MacIntyre said during his press conference Thursday. “He can throw it 55 to 60 yards.” He can throw from distance to the sideline on deep outs with ease. The other thing is that he’s really hard to take down. He’ll get pressured, he’ll get out of the way and just slam it out. Again and again. He was fired several times this year, but he was able to avoid a lot of it.”

Salter has led the Flames to have the second-best offense in Conference USA (33.5 points per game) and the league’s best total offense at 458.8 yards per game. Last season against FIU, Salter completed 11 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, he ran for 77 yards on nine attempts in a 38-6 win over the Panthers.

FIU has struggled to stop the run this season, so this could be a game where the Flames’ quarterback can have a bigger impact in the ground game. FIU has had some success stopping the pass, allowing 222 yards per game through the air, which ranks fifth in the CUSA in that category this season.

Tuesday’s game will be the first between the Flames and FIU in Lynchburg since 2020. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and will be streamed on CBS Sports Network.

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