Jamil Ferrer | Dec 8, 2025
As the college football season comes to a near end, fans have one more thing to get hyped about—bowl games.
A bowl game in specific that involves the south’s very own FIU Panthers is the First Responder Bowl. The bowl began in 2011 and was formerly named the Heart of Dallas Bowl, which was moved to Gerald J. Ford Stadium, primarily used by SMU.
UTSA appeared in the bowl in 2020 and planned to compete this year as their athletics department confirmed the matchup, while FIU accepted the invitation —showing the history and standard of competition wanting to be upheld by the bowl creators.
Now let’s get to the matchups.
This year’s Responder Bowl involves a face off between the 7-5 FIU Panthers and the 6-6 UTSA Roadrunners.
FIU and UTSA met four times before UTSA left the C-USA conference back in 2023. The series ended in an even 2-2 as both teams won two games against each other.
This year, however, both teams held their own in the conferences they were in, making this game one that can go either way.
The face off involves a veteran UTSA program versus Willie Simmons’ first strong year at FIU.
Head Coach Willie Simmons led the Panthers program to their first bowl eligibility since 2019– which is a notable accomplishment, especially considering it being his first year.
The Panthers primarily leaned on their run game as FIU new all time single season rushing record holder Kejon Owens led the way in the category, while also balancing their passing game with QB’s Keyone Jenkins and Joe Pesansky taking turns in yardage through the air.
UTSA, led by Head Coach Jeff Traylor, is a strong, stable program that is primarily focused on the defensive end of football. Traylor believes in being physical in the pockets, being opportunistic on defense, and efficient on offense with pass protection and certain playmakers to finish plays.
What’ll decide who walks away with the win would be key factors—one in particular being if UTSA can contain Kejon Owens and FIU’s run heavy offense.
Another being, ball protection and turnovers— whichever team protects the QB and wins the turnover battle should control game flow. Leading to momentum shifts toward both offense and defense.
Expect FIU to try to control the clock with a physical run game and play-action to keep UTSA off-balance.
As for UTSA, they may play off of the run game and force FIU into 4th down decisions, resulting in them getting the ball right back and trying to convert.
We may not know what the ending result will be, but there’s one thing for sure—and that’s that this matchup should be a great test for Willie Simmons and the Panthers team.
