RSS
Facebook
FIU was statistically superior to Rutgers in every category in the Panthers’ season-opener, with the exception of one department – the final score.
The Scarlet Knights, who were bullied by the Panthers defense throughout Saturday night, squeaked out a 19-14 win at FIU Stadium in front of an all-time record crowd of 19,872 on a warm, muggy evening.
FIU committed five turnovers, had two punts blocked, and committed 14 penalties for 126 yards.
Rutgers capitalized, scoring each time following an FIU turnover or blocked punt.
“We put ourselves in bad situations,” FIU coach Mario Cristobal said. “It’s a shame, because our defensive effort tonight was phenomenal. We played hard. We played the scheme the right way. We won physically. Offensively, we won a lot of battles as well, but we kept hamstringing ourselves with penalties.”
The mistakes overshadowed a ferocious effort by the FIU defense, which played its first game under new defensive coordinator Geoff Collins.
At halftime, Rutgers had just 93 total yards and the Scarlet Knights tallied just 172 yards for the game. Rutgers running back Joe Martinek, who ran for 121 yards against FIU in last year’s game, could only rush for 28 yards on Saturday.
“Coach Collins has said it best, ‘You put the ball down and we are going to stop them’,” said linebacker Toronto Smith, who along with Jonathan Cyprien led the Panthers with nine tackles.
FIU led 14-13 early in the fourth quarter.
The Panthers went three-and-out on their first possession of the final period and had to punt.
On fourth down, Rutgers’ special teams blocked FIU punter Josh Brisk’s kick and took over at the FIU 24.
The Scarlet Knights needed just one play when receiver Mohamed Sanu, operating out of the Wildcat, ran around the left side for a 24-yard touchdown to give Rutgers a lead it would not relinquish.
After trailing 3-0 early in the first quarter, FIU took a 7-3 lead near the end of the first quarter when Wesley Carroll, playing in his first game as Panther after transferring from Mississippi State, connected with Wayne Times on a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Rutgers regained the lead in the second quarter with the help of an FIU interception and a blocked punt.
The Scarlet Knights led 13-7 at the half before the Panthers.
‘It was a tough game,” FIU center Brad Serini said. “We had a lot of effort in the game on both sides of the ball, but we had those little mess-ups that we have to clean up and get better.”
A Rutgers fumble opened the door for FIU to go back on top coming out of the locker room in the third quarter.
The Scarlet Knights bobbled the snap at their 32 and there was FIU defensive back Jose Cheeseborough to scoop up the ball.
Three plays later, Carroll connected with new FIU running back Jeremiah Harden for a 17-yard touchdown.
Harden led FIU with 88 yards rushing in his Panthers debut.
— Courtesy of FIUSports.com
Our most impactful research:
The game was good; unfortunately, FIU had too many fumbles….i think that was the factor that would have given us the Win… 🙁
GO FIU!!!
Very proud of our guys…..can't wait to start tailgating for the WKU game!
The Panther football team continues to show progress, and consistently demonstrates to NCAA football fans everywhere that they are "here" to stay. To go toe to toe the entire game with a team of Rutgers caliber proves that. Some fine tuning (BALL HANDLING!) should be all that's necessary to vault the Blue & Gold into regular contenders. As a member of FIU's Class of '76, I am increasingly proud of my Alma Mater's ongoing efforts to achieve excellence.