Box Score
Playing their most dominating offensive game in the two year history of the football program, the Florida International University Golden Panthers ran away with a 55-12 victory over Jacksonville, Thursday night in Miami.
FIU (2-7) won for the second straight week, this time by racked up 642 total net yards, which included 391 yards on the ground. Running backs Adam Gorman (138 yards) and Diamos Demerritt (121) became the first Golden Panther duo to rush for 100-plus yards in the same game.
Quarterback Josh Padrick completed 10 of 14 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Golden Panthers to a 41-0 halftime advantage.
Jacksonville (4-5) was led by its senior running back Emmett Hunter who rushed for 108 yards on 26 carries to become the Dolphins' all-time leading career ground gainer with 2,148 yards. JU quarterback Mike Sturgill hit on 13 of 19 pass attempts for 156 yards and a touchdown.
Playing most of the night in a driving rain, the Golden Panthers grabbed a quick 7-0 lead on their second possession when Padrick found wide receiver Cory McKinney with a 55-yard TD toss. Jacksonville came right back, however, driving down to the FIU two-yard line on a first-and-goal. But the FIU defense held, and on a fourth-and-goal from the seven, a pass by back-up quarterback Kevin Haggerty on a fake field goal attempt went incomplete, and the drive stalled.
FIU took advantage of the miscue, going 93 yards on eight plays. Demerritt got the Golden Panthers out of the hole on a 51-yard gallop into Jacksonville territory. FIU got down to the Dolphins' three-yard line and, on a fourth-down play, Padrick scored on a quarterback draw.
On the ensuing kickoff, JU's Charles Harper fumbled and FIU recovered at the 22. Two plays later, Padrick hit Harold Leath with a 16-yard scoring pass and the Golden Panthers led 21-0 at the end of the quarter.
FIU scored three more times in the second quarter. A Demerritt 11-yard run made it 28-0. Later, a Gorman four-yard run made it 34-0, and then Padrick hooked up with Leath again, this time for 32 yards, and a 41-0 halftime lead.
The Golden Panthers would score on their first two possessions of the second half, despite the fact that head coach Don Strock cleared the bench. Back-up quarterback David Tabor led an eight-play, 42-yard drive, which culminated with a two-yard TD run by O.J. Price.
Pinning the Dolphins deep in their own territory, after a short punt, FIU's next possession started at the JU 35-yard line. Six plays later, Tabor found tight end Samuel Smith with a six-yard scoring pass, giving the Golden Panthers their largest lead ever in a game, 55-0.
Jacksonville dodged the shutout when Hunter scored from two-yards out late in the third quarter. Sturgill then directed a 70-yard drive, which consumed 5:27 of the fourth quarter, completing a pass to Jimmy Willman from four yards out for the final margin of victory.
"We played well. The offensive line really played well," said Strock. "We wanted to establish the run tonight, just like we did last week."
Despite the lopsided score, Jacksonville head coach Steve Gilbert saw improvement on both teams. "[FIU] has improved tremendously and so have we," he said. "We were four points away from playing in our league's championship game. The sky is the limit for FIU, though.
"They have a lot of talent. They're big and strong, and you can see another year in the weight room has improved them up front. To think they are only in their second year is mind-boggling."
One down side to the victory was FIU's propensity to fumble, stalling three drives in Jacksonville territory. The Golden Panthers put the ball on the ground six times, in total. "We talked about the weather conditions before the game and we wanted to take advantage of their turnovers and not put the ball on the ground ourselves. We fumbled the ball too many times. They played in the same conditions and I don't think we got many from them."
FIU now goes on the road for the next two weeks in a stretch that features I-A Louisiana-Lafayette, and two top I-AA programs in Gardner-Webb and the season finale at home against No. 17 Florida Atlantic on Nov. 22.
"Over the last two weeks, we proved we could play with Holy Cross and Jacksonville," said Strock. "Now let's see if we can play with Louisiana-Lafayette, Gardner-Webb and FAU."
