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	Photo by Geoff Anderson Golden Panthers celebrate the first overtime win in school history with a come-from-behind 22-16 victory at Youngstown State, Saturday.

Junior quarterback David Tabor came off the bench to complete 15-of-22 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns in rallying FIU (1-0) to a 22-16 overtime road win over Youngstown State, Saturday.

The win marked the first road victory in the brief 24-game history of the program, was FIU's first overtime win and the first against a full-scholarship I-AA opponent.

With the score tied, 16-16, at the end of regulation, Tabor found tight end James Williams with the winning 1-yard touchdown pass on a first-and-goal in the first overtime. The point-after attempt was missed, however, giving YSU life until defensive end Daunte Foster stripped the ball from Penguins' quarterback Tom Zetts on a third-and-three play at the 18. The Golden Panthers Lance Preston fell on the loose ball to secure the victory.

Youngstown State (1-1) held the upper hand for most of the first three quarters. Not only did the Penguins display a balanced offense that produced 120 yards rushing and 123 passing yards but they also stymied the FIU offense, limiting starting quarterback Josh Padrick to 17-of-36 passing for 164 yards, mostly between the twenties.

FIU had the first opportunity to score in the ball game, but Adam Moss missed a 33-yard field goal attempt that set up Youngstown State's first score on a 47-yard field goal by Nick Terracina.

The Penguins then took advantage of another FIU miscue to go up 10-0 midway through the second quarter. After Greg Moss got FIU out of the hole with a 32 yard kick off return, the Golden Panthers fumbled twice on the ensuing drive--one time to their advantage and the other to the benefit of YSU.

First, Rashod Smith fumbled a handoff that bounded forward some 14 yards before teammate Cory McKinney recovered the ball at the YSU, 41. On the very next play, Padrick found McKinney behind the Penguins defense, but the ball couldn't be handled in the end zone and went incomplete.

The drive ended one play later when Smith, again, fumbled the ball, which was recovered by YSU's Jeremiah Wright at the 41. Nine plays later, it was Zetts finding fullback Demetrius Ison for a seven-yard touchdown toss.

Youngstown State added three more points before the half, as the normally ground-conscious Penguins went to the air behind Zetts, who completed three-of-four passes for 40 yards on the drive, setting up a 32-yard Terracina field goal with one second to play.

The Golden Panthers finally got on the scoreboard with 9:24 to play in the third quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Moss. Padrick kept the drive moving hitting Harold Leath with a 23-yard pass on one third-and-10 play and then found Chandler Williams with a 15-yard completion before the drive stalled at the YSU 17.

But YSU answered with its own field goal, the third of the game for Terracina, from 21 yards away, mostly on the back of sophomore Monquantae Gibson, making his Penguin debut, with nine consecutive carries accounting for 53 of the drive's 64 yards. Gibson was the leading ground gainer in the game with 122 yards, one less than the entire FIU backfield.

With 9:48 remaining in the game and FIU down 16-3, head coach Don Strock called upon Tabor who responded by directing a 92-yard drive, completing seven-of-12 passes, including a 12-yard touchdown hookup to Samuel Smith, who ended the game with a school-record 10 receptions, one more than he had all of last season. But Moss' extra-point attempt was missed and the Golden Panthers were still down by seven, 16-9, with 6:31 to play in regulation.

The FIU defense forced the Youngstown State offense into three-and-out and after a punt followed by an FIU personal-foul penalty, Tabor started another Golden Panthers' drive, this time at his own 31.

The redshirt junior began the drive by hitting McKinney on a four-yard completion then found Leath for another 30 yards to the YSU 35. After a four-yard run by Adam Gorman, Tabor hit Smith for a 23-yard strike down to the seven and a first-and-goal. On a second-and-nine play, Tabor found Leath in the corner of the end zone for his second touchdown pass of the quarter and Chris Patullo tied the game with his point-after conversion with 2:33 to go.

The two teams traded possessions for the remainder of regulation with the Golden Panthers running out the clock with three-straight running plays to Gorman.

There were several defensive stars for FIU, most noticeable was strong safety John Haritan who established a new school record with 21 total tackles (eight solo).

The Golden Panthers go into a bye week before returning to FIU Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 25 to take on Western Kentucky. Following that game, there will be a free concert featuring Method Man, Redman and the All-American Rejects, plus the first 3,000 in attendance will receive a free reversible FIU bucket hat compliments of Papa John's Pizza.

For tickets and information, call toll free at 866-FIU-GAME or order on-line at www.FIUsports.com.