FIU Football Falls Flat Early, Drops Season Opener To Indiana

The Panthers entered Bloomington with optimism, but couldn’t keep up with Indiana’s ground game as they fell by a score of 31-7 in a short, one-sided contest.

FIU’s offense struggles early on in the game, with three straight punts before their first score of the game. As a result, the Hoosiers had solid yardage on most of their drives and cashed in on three of their four drives in the first half.

Once again, the Panthers gave up 21 unanswered points and had to claw their way back into the game – something that happened multiple times in 2023 against teams like UTEP and Jacksonville State.

Keyone Jenkins and the offense were conservative with their play-calling, with check-downs aplenty and first downs hard to come by. He ultimately ended up with 129 yards off of 20 completions, one touchdown, and an interception.

Their one scoring drive was a 12-play combination of the pass and run, capped off by a catch by Rocky Beers in the end zone. FIU wrapped up with 182 yards, 13 first downs, four allowed sacks, and two fumbles.

That would ultimately be the only scoring drive of the game for FIU as well, as the second half only consisted of punts and turnovers on downs.

Unfortunately, it was announced in the second half that Beers suffered a hamstring injury and did not return.

This is the first Week 1 game that head coach Mike MacIntyre has lost in his tenure with the Panthers. They’ll head back home to host the Central Michigan Chippewas at Pitbull Stadium on Saturday, September 7th at 6PM.