Tonight at 7:00 PM, the Dogs head back from the great white north to take on the Florida International Panthers at the Joe. Each week, I'll take a look at the opponent and offer some last second advice on how to win the game. Hopefully the coaches are reading!

1) Figure out which QB is starting for FIU

Okay, so maybe that's not actually the key to victory here, but bear with me. With conflicting reports out there about the status of senior QB James Morgan's ankle, Tech has to be prepared for two different quarterbacks tonight. Usually that might mean little things: preparing for certain routes over others or a little bit more of the playbook from the senior over the sophomore. But in this case, Tech will be preparing for almost two different games! Senior QB James Morgan is a pocket passer who has bonafide NFL potential. Last season, he completed 65% of his throws for an average of 8.4 yards per attempt. He threw 26 TDs and only 7 INTs. When Morgan went down against WKU with an ankle injury, sophomore QB Kaylan Wiggins took over the mantle. Last week against New Hampshire, he went 12/18 for 127 yards through the air, but he's not a true passing threat. Where Wiggins will burn you is on the ground. He torched the Wildcats for 187 yards rushing on 14 carries. So far this year, Wiggins is the 6th best rusher in CUSA, and he's only played 1.5 games! Tech needs to be prepared for both of these styles if they're going to win tonight.

2) Strength on Strength/Weakness on Weakness

Defensively, the Panthers are a very good team...or a very bad team, depending on what the opponent's offense tries to do. They're great against the pass, with a DB corps that rivals Tech's for best in CUSA. So far this season, they're 68th in the nation in terms of yards allowed through the air. On the other side of the coin, FIU's rush defense has been downright terrible again this season. They're allowing 5.3 yards per carry so far, on 112 carries. That's 119th in the nation, which is...not great. So the question for Skip Holtz is: How much do you fight your own team's strengths in order to prove a point? It's no secret that Tech is a team that wants--no, needs--to pass the ball. So far, Skip has doggedly stuck by the running game, even to the point of almost losing to Grambling State. He needs to find the right balance of hitting FIU where it hurts (on the ground) and getting the ball to Tech's best playmakers through the air. Finding that balance will be the key to beating FIU's defense.

3) No big plays on special teams

Tech has been pretty solid so far this year on kick and punt coverage. Sure, Bowling Green had some great field position to work with last week, but that was partially because Farlow was punting from his own endzone for most of the afternoon. This week, Tech will face one of the best return specialists they'll see all year in senior WR Maurice Alexander. Last season, Alexander returned 15 punts for an average of 14.6 yards per return. He added one score, as well. He was voted CUSA's first team punt returner in the preseason coaches poll in 2019. And although has yet to break a big one this season, FIU did have a punt returned for a touchdown late in their victory against UNH, so it's something they take pride in. Tech will have to bring it on special teams to bottle up Alexander's dynamic return potential.

Evan is also a contributor to go tech pls don't die, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to check out @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter for more!