FIU Football Eliminated From Bowl Game Contention After Falling To Jax State

It came down to the wire, and FIU played well, but the time for moral victories is over. The Panthers were eliminated from bowl game contention, falling to Jacksonville State by a score of 34-32.

The one-score losses are adding up for FIU. Their losses to Monmouth, Liberty, and Sam Houston State are biting them in the rear now as while their offense and defense started strong, they couldn’t deliver

They incorporated a balanced offense with the emergence of Devonte Lyons, a freshman from St. Augustine who got his first snaps as a Panther. He impressed with 88 yards and a touchdown, though he didn’t see any usage in the third quarter.

FIU’s weaponry saw usage from unusual players like Lyons, C’Quan Jnopierre, and Shaborne Demps alongside their starts like Dean Patterson and Shomari Lawrence.

This is to say that the Panthers caught Jax State off guard offensively and almost won the game because of it. With 431 total yards and 31 minutes with possession, it was arguably the unit’s best performance of the season.

The defense started strong, limiting the damage from Tre Stewart, their top-notch running back. Still, they didn’t have many answers for Tyler Huff, who was lethal in both passing and running.

FIU’s secondary couldn’t fare well with usual screen passes and gave up two big plays. The first was a pass on the Gamecocks’ second play of a drive on their own 44. The other was a 56-yard run by Stewart on fourth down to give them the lead in the fourth quarter.

One moment in the game which doesn’t sit well with me was on FIU’s final offensive drive. On a third-down pass to Eric Rivers, a Jax State defender made helmet-to-helmet contact with Rivers and even appeared to lower his head, but there wasn’t a targeting penalty, even after an official review.

Regardless, it’s a tough loss for the Panthers who will continue a five-year bowl game drought. They’ll play their final road game of the season in North Georgia on Saturday, November 23rd at 3pm against the 1-9 Kennesaw State Owls.