FIU Football Loses OT Heartbreaker To Liberty

In all fairness to FIU, they played in a game where few people gave them a chance, and they almost came out with a win. After all, playing the undefeated Liberty Flames at Williams Stadium is no easy task.

In a game that could have turned into a blowout in the second half, the Panthers battled back and went blow-for-blow with Liberty, forcing overtime but coming up short by a score of 31-24.

FIU’s defense, coming off a spectacular performance against Louisiana Tech, now had to face one of the highest-rated quarterbacks in G5 – Kaidon Salter. For the most part, they did good.

When Salter stayed in the pocket, they brought pressure on him and got to him a few times. But when he decided to scramble, the defense needed more success. As the game went on, it didn’t get better as well.

But all things considered, the defense did their job and gave FIU a fighting chance to win this game. Linebacker Travion Barnes continues his tear this season, with 16 tackles, two assists, and a fumble recovery in the contest.

FIU’s offense looked fine. They started slow, with their first touchdown coming in the second quarter. Lexington Joseph rushed to the end zone, fumbled the ball, and Dean Patterson was right there to recover in the end zone.

However, they found their groove in the fourth quarter. Down 24-10, they kept fighting and ultimately clawed their way to a tie game.

Two play calls don’t sit well with me.

The first was electing to go for it on fourth down at the start of the fourth quarter instead of kicking for the field goal. Had they done that, the score could have been 17-13. Instead, they failed to convert and Liberty marched the ball down the field and scored themselves.

The second was right after they scored their final touchdown of regulation to bring the game within one point. FIU nailed the extra point, but there was an offsides penalty on Liberty, which the Panthers declined.

If they accepted, they could have gone for a two-point conversion with the ball on the one-yard line. With all the momentum in the game, had they converted that, they would have led by a point with less than two minutes to go. Had they not, they would have lost, but considering the circumstances…

It’s all in the past. Regardless, overtime was a disaster for FIU. After a Liberty touchdown to open the extra frame, Keyone Jenkins was strip-sacked and the ball was recovered by the Flames, ending the game.

Jenkins finished with 245 yards and a rushing touchdown, arguably putting up better numbers than Salter. Eric Rivers and Dean Patterson both put up over 90 receiving yards. Kejon Owens led all running backs with 52 yards.

FIU now drops to a record of 2-4. They’ll stay on the road, heading out west to Texas to take on the UTEP Miners on Wednesday, October 16th at 9pm.