Panthers Blanked By Penn State, But There Are Positives

If you just saw the final score, you might think there was nothing positive about today’s game between the FIU Panthers and Penn State Nittany Lions. But don’t let the 34-0 score fool you, the Panthers came to play and may have impressed people along the way.

Before this game, I just wanted to see two things: Positive takeaways for a few positions and a clean injury report. The latter appears to have happened, so let’s go over what went right for FIU in Happy Valley and move on to next week.

The Defense Came Ready To Play

Was this game always a blowout? No, in fact, the Panthers limited Penn State to a 10-0 lead at halftime. Keep in mind that 41.5 points favored the Nittany Lions. For FIU to come out and shut them down in one of the toughest environments in college football is definitely something to be proud of.

Drew Allar looked a little off against Nevada, and that continued today. He couldn’t get into a rhythm, and his running game could only carry him so far. The Panthers’ defense got even better on fourth down, stopping them twice on four attempts.

Quaylen Hill applying pressure 💥@HQuaylen https://t.co/pi0mH3FOvD pic.twitter.com/cg6yZkKL40

— FIU Football (@FIUFootball) September 6, 2025

Before the game, it was confirmed that Percy Courtney Jr. would be out with an injury sustained against Bethune-Cookman. In came Josiah Taylor, and he didn’t disappoint. He recorded eight total tackles – half of which were by himself.

Yeah, the score was 34-0, but I’m only pinning 20 points on FIU’s defense. Penn State’s final two touchdowns were single-plays off of turnovers – a fourth-down stop and a strip sack late in the game. Overall, this was a defensive performance that the Panthers shouldn’t hang their heads over.

Running-wise, Not Too Bad

The FIU offense was obviously stagnant throughout most of the game. This wasn’t the worst game for Keyone Jenkins, but it wasn’t inspiring either.

When their offense was clicking, it was thanks to the running game, led by Kejon Owens. He carried the team on his back at times, finishing up with 178 yards on 15 attempts. They crossed the 50-yard line multiple times, giving Penn State’s defense real tests.

Congrats to our guy @kejon_owens on the milestone today 🤞🔥 pic.twitter.com/rfIrOmvL0E

— FIU Football (@FIUFootball) September 7, 2025

So why didn’t FIU score points?

Well, they got greedy on fourth down multiple times, including in their first drive of the game as well as one of their last. They tried their luck instead of kicking a field goal, and it never paid off. An ill-advised interception by Jenkins killed off another drive that had potential.

Regardless, it has some work to do. There are growing concerns among the FIU faithful about their passing offense. While I didn’t expect them to light up Penn State’s secondary, I didn’t think they’d struggle this much, let alone get shut out.

Welcome To FAU Hate Week

It’s time to turn the page and move on. There’s only so much you can say about a loss like this. Penn State is competing for a national championship after all.

If Bethune-Cookman was underneath us and Penn State was over us, Florida Atlantic will be the first major test of where FIU is in the world of G5 football. They’ll face the Owls on Saturday, September 13th at 6pm at Pitbull Stadium.

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