FIU football hoping to keep record-setting receiver Eric Rivers through 2026 season

This one moment might have been Eric Rivers’ toughest assignment all season.

Rivers, who set an FIU Panthers single-game record with 295 reception yards in last week’s 34-13 win over New Mexico State, was tossed a bit of a tough question following the best game of his career.

Question: Will you transfer after this season as the two recent FIU wide receivers have done following breakout years?

Answer: “I love this school (FIU) a lot,” Rivers aid. “I’ll leave it up to God. Whatever God has for me, that’s what it will be. That’s all I got for you right now.”

That sounds ominous for FIU.

After all, FIU’s Tyrese Chambers caught 45 passes for 1,074 yards and nine touchdowns in 2021. By 2023, he had bolted to Maryland.

Similarly, Kris Mitchell set an FIU single-season record in 2023 with 1,118 yards. He also had 64 catches, six of them for touchdowns, before transferring to Notre Dame.

Rivers, who started his college career as a walk-on defensive back at the University of Memphis, has two more years of eligibility following the current campaign. He got his first action last season at FIU, making 32 catches for 370 yards and two touchdowns.

In last week’s win over the Aggies, Rivers was targeted 14 times, and he caught 11 of those throws. He also had 113 yards after the catch.

Three of Rivers’ catches went for touchdowns – in order from 52, 51 and 62 yards.

Rivers’ first TD gave FIU a 7-3 second-quarter lead, and it came on a busted coverage. The Aggies called a blitz for one defensive back while the other was supposed to rotate and check Rivers.

Instead, both the cornerback and safety blitzed, leaving Rivers alone.

“I was shocked,” said Rivers, a 5-11, 175-pound speedster. “That was one of the hardest catches of my life because I was so wide open.

“The hardest catches are the ones that seem the easiest.”

Rivers’ second TD was spectacular, and it gave FIU a 17-6 lead in the third quarter. On a deep throw that was nearly overthrown by quarterback Keyone Jenkins, Rivers reached out with his left hand, tipping the ball up before grabbing it with both hands at the 15-yard line and cruising in for the score.

“I don’t know how he made that catch,” FIU coach Mike MacIntyre said.

Rivers’ third TD gave FIU a 34-13 fourth-quarter lead. On another deep post, Rivers got at least five yards behind New Mexico State’s zone defense.

Donte Whitner, a former Pro Bowl defensive back who was the analyst for the game on CBS Sports Network, said he couldn’t understand why New Mexico State stayed with their same coverage pattern even after getting burned repeatedly by Rivers.

Not that the Panthers were complaining.

Rivers was asked when he knew that he was in for a big night.

“I really had no idea,” Rivers said. “I was just playing the game. Whatever came to me, came to me, and it ended up being the night that it was.

“It was the best game of my life. I can say that.”

Rivers said he got emotional on the field when it was announced that his 295 yards in receptions broke the school record of 201, which had been held by Chambers and Mitchell.

“It felt surreal, once in a lifetime,” Rivers said. “I didn’t know what to feel. I almost wanted to burst out in tears.

“I’ve been hard on myself my whole life. I try to be perfect … even though I know nobody can be perfect. I continue to strive for perfection. That way, success is inevitable.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ The Panthers (3-6, 2-3) are off until Nov. 16, when they will visit Conference USA co-leader Jacksonville State (5-3, 4-0), which is coming off a huge 31-21 over Liberty.

FIU has to win all three of its remaining games to become bowl eligible, and the Panthers aren’t giving up.

“Our guys keep fighting,” MacIntyre said. “All the teams we have left can beat us, but we can beat them, too.”