Box Score
No. 14-ranked Florida Atlantic (9-2) erased
a 17-point deficit with a 21-point second
quarter en route to a 32-23 victory over FIU
Saturday afternoon in Miami. The decision
earned the Owls their second-straight Don
Shula Award, presented annually to the winner
of the area rivals.
Jarred Allen threw for 281 yards and a touchdown
and Quentin Swain's 3-yard fumble return in
the fourth quarter helped seal the victory.
Florida Atlantic actually rallied from behind
twice, including the early 17-0 hole, to win
its eighth straight game and keep its hopes
of earning an NCAA Division I-AA tournament
berth alive.
The Golden Panthers ended their second season
of intercollegiate football at 2-10, with
what the NCAA calculated as the No. 28-toughest
schedule among the 131 teams playing I-AA
football.
FIU was led by running back Adam
Gorman who rushed 26 times for 92 yards
and had both FIU touchdowns on a pair of 1-yard
plunges in the first quarter. Adam
Moss added three field goals for the Golden
Panthers, giving him seven over the last two
games of the season.
Down 17-0, FAU finally got on the board with
12:25 left in the half, when Daveon Barron
threw a halfback option pass 18 yards to Matt
Prudenti for a touchdown. Doug Parker scored
on a 1-yard run later in the quarter to pull
the Owls within 17-14, and then took a 21-17
lead into the intermission when he found tight
end Anthony Crissinger-Hill on a 1-yard scoring
pass.
FIU reclaimed the lead, 23-21, in the third
quarter on a pair of Moss field goals, but
Swain's fumble return of a botched reverse
put the Owls ahead 29-23 with 9:27 remaining.
Mike Myers' 18-yard field goal with 3:00 left
sealed the win.
“Overall, I am proud of the way our
team played,” said FIU head coach Don
Strock. “We had some opportunities to
make plays toward the end, but we didn’t
make them. It’s been the story of our
season.”
Josh
Padrick completed 22 of 35 passes for
237 yards for Florida International. The redshirt
freshman finished the season throwing for
a school-record 2,493 yards. His favorite
target Saturday was receiver Julius
Eppinger who had seven receptions good
for 74 yards.
“Hats off to FAU,” said Strock.
“If they go to the playoffs, than that’s
wonderful. They’ve done a nice job this
year, but we know now that we can compete
at their level.”
FAU head coach Howard Schnellenberger agreed.
“I want to say what a wonderful game
Don Strock’s Golden Panthers played
today. They were tougher and played us as
well as anyone had this year. They were much
better than I expected and I think they were
much better than our players expected.”
