FIU Football Edges North Texas in High Scoring Thriller

MIAMI, FL – After collecting their first win of the season last week, the Panthers looked to double it up against the North Texas Mean Green in what became a high-scoring, back-and-forth contest that went down to the wire.

In his second start at quarterback, Keyone Jenkins and the FIU offense clicked on all cylinders, and the defense did just enough to help the Panthers secure a miraculous 46-39 win, and the best start to a season since 2018.

“Last week we were so close to getting two or three of those TDs that we didn’t get and Keyone made some fabulous plays,” said head coach Mike MacIntyre. “Again, the thing about Keyone is he didn’t let anything bother him. He’ll learn from some things from the game tonight, but he knows how to play ball and he’ll keep improving and keep growing.”

A First Half Full of Madness

The North Texas offense got to work early with a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Stone Earle in a quick, four-minute sprint to the end zone.

To FIU’s credit, they responded with an even faster-paced offense. In just three plays, the Panthers found the end zone off a 28-yard blitz by running back Shomari Lawrence for the equalizer.

After a fumble by UNT on their next offensive possession, FIU looked to capitalize and appeared to do so until a fumble of their own in the red zone. As it would turn out, turnovers were a critical part of this game’s story.

Earle got to work for the Mean Green with a 25-yard rush of his own to get the offense rolling. Ultimately, FIU’s defense did stop the run-pass dynamic and forced a 47-yard field goal.

A 10-7 lead for UNT, but the game looked to be an offensive battle for the ages.

The exact opposite happened right after. After an FIU punt, the Mean Green looked to extend their lead, but on the second play of the drive, Earle threw his first interception of the night courtesy of a CJ Christian snag.

One play later for FIU, Jenkins airmailed a pass that was picked off by North Texas. Two plays, two interceptions.

UNT looked to end the madness. But on their ensuing play, Earle threw yet another pick, this time caught by Hezekiah Masses, who also went the distance with a 40-yard house call to give FIU the lead.

The Mean Green were forced to punt as FIU’s defense looked to have the download on Earle and UNT. Jenkins was on fire on his next drive with multiple passes all over 10 yards to four different receivers.

Their run game was halted at the end, however, and Chase Gabriel sank a 31-yard field goal to extend the Panthers lead to 17-10.

To end the first half, however, North Texas put up 10 unanswered points from a six-play, 75-yard sprint capped off with a 15-yard rush for a touchdown, then an ensuing field goal to enter halftime with a 20-17 lead.

The Madness Doesn’t Stop There

On what felt like a repeat of the first half, the Panthers came out swinging thanks in part to running back Keyone Owens, who recorded his first touchdown of the night on a 21-yard run.

This was the first touchdown that FIU has scored this season in the second half.

North Texas made a quarterback change to Chandler Rogers in the second half, and he led the Mean Green 71 yards down the field, mainly through the air, ending the drive with a passing touchdown of their own. to take the lead back.

Following an FIU punt, the Panthers’ defense did their job on a fourth down attempt and turned the ball over on downs. The offense let Owens take over with a 47-yard sprint to the end zone for his second touchdown of the night.

The Panther’s offense doubled down with another impressive drive that featured a balanced offense led by Owens on the ground and multiple receivers catching accurate passes from Jenkins.

One pass to Kris Mitchell deep in the end zone secured a double-digit lead for FIU – 38-27 late in the third quarter.

Into the fourth quarter, FIU had a chance to ice the game on defense. Facing a fourth and three, one more stop could have guaranteed the win, but a 59-yard pass by Rogers to Damon Ward kept the drive going, and a touchdown pass to Ward kept the game going, cutting the lead to 38-33.

Jenkins and the offense had to earn some first downs to ice the clock, but on the ensuing first play of their drive, his pass was picked off, and a 23-yard rushing touchdown gave UNT a one-point lead with ten minutes to go.

To FIU’s credit, the offense settled down and put together an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with the third touchdown of the night for Owens to give the lead right back to the Panthers.

The Panthers’ defense had to make one last stand. Despite a 24-yard kickoff return, the Mean Green had their backs against the wall on a fourth down, and this time, the secondary forced an incomplete pass to give the ball back to FIU.

FIU burned four minutes off the clock and punted it away to UNT with seconds to go. Interestingly, they never downed the ball and the clock kept ticking to zero, and the Panthers came out of the top by a score of 46-39.

A Mean Look at the Stats

In a game defined by the offense, (for the most part) both teams did not disappoint. Both teams racked up over 500 total yards, over 20 first downs, and very even time of possession. It still got sloppy, however, as both teams committed three turnovers each.

Jenkins had another impressive game by the numbers – 291 passing yards, 20 completions, and a passing touchdown. Even more impressive, FIU was 3-3 on fourth down attempts and 3-3 in the red zone.

“We practice that every week, but we just didn’t do so well last week,” said Jenkins. “This week, we executed very well thanks to the o-line for giving me time and blocking for the running backs for us to get those plays to work.”

The man of the hour has to be Owens, who rushed for 101 yards and three touchdowns off of 10 carries.

“Our goal is to win as many games as possible,” said Owens. “A bowl game is possible.”

Mitchell is continuing his WR1 campaign with 94 yards and a receiving touchdown.

Eight different receivers and tight ends caught passes from Jenkins today, including Jackson McDonald and Rocky Beers. On defense, linebacker Donovan Manuel had another solid game with nine total tackles.

FIU now posts a 2-1 record and is currently undefeated at home. They’ll travel to Hartford, Connecticut to take on the UConn Huskies on Saturday, September 16th at 3:30pm.