Box Score

Photo by Jessica Marshall FIU running back Ben West ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns as FIU beat Florida Atlantic, 52-6. West was voted by the media as FIU's Most Valuable Player in the game.

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To say FIU finally put it all together in its 52-6 Shula Bowl football victory over Florida Atlantic Saturday night at FIU Stadium is an understatement.

The 46-point margin of victory was the most in the history of the program while the Golden Panthers amassed 380 yards of total offense behind 140 rushing yards by running back Ben West. They had no turnovers, set a new school record with five interceptions and tied an NCAA I-A single-game mark with four touchdowns on interception returns.

Quarterback Josh Padrick completed 10-of-20 passes for 114 yards, all in the first half. Every one of the Golden Panthers 27 offensive plays from scrimmage in the second half were runs. The only negative stat on the night was an interception by Owls Troy Pindell, snapping a string of 172 straight pass attempts by Padrick without an interception.

West’s night marked just the second 100-yard rushing game this season for FIU. The sophomore’s 214 yards against Florida A&M last Oct. 1 was the other. West and freshman A’mod Ned, who finished with 78 net yards, became the first Golden Panthers tandem to rush for 200-or-more yards in a game in more than a year. You need to go back to Oct. 9, 2004, when Rashod Smith and Cory McKinney ran for 209 yards at Stephen F. Austin.

“The whole team worked hard in all phases of the game,” said FIU head coach Don Strock. “Special teams were very good, the defense, obviously, was excellent and offensively, we carried the ball very well.

“I was very pleased with the overall team effort. Tonight was definitely a team victory.”

Photo by Jephren Perez Keyonvis Bouie dives for the end zone after a 36-yard interception return.

The Golden Panthers took the opening kickoff and ran off 6:28 before settling for a 32-yard Adam Moss field goal—his 11th successful conversion in 12 tries. FIU led 10-0 after one quarter on a West 10-yard TD run and then 17-0, when West scored his second of three touchdowns on a 21-yard gallop.

FIU went ahead 24-0 on the Golden Panthers first interception of the evening. Keyonvis Bouie, making his first appearance after serving a two-game suspension, picked off a Sean Clayton pass and returned it 36 yards for a score.

The defense went back to work in the second half when Lionell Singleton intercepted a Clayton throw and returned it for a 51 yard touchdown. FIU then made it 38-0 on a 13-play drive, featuring 13 running plays that included a 46-yard Ned run and was capped off by a West 1-yard dive.

Two more defensive touchdowns closed out the scoring for FIU. First senior Nick Turnbull took his career-leading 16th interception 34 yards for a touchdown and then sophomore Marshall McDuffie grabbed a McKinson Souverain errant pass and raced 82 yards for a touchdown that was the longest interception return in school history.

FAU averted the shutout when Souverain found Thomas Parker for a 65-yard touchdown pass with just 2:01 to play in the game.

“The defense played well,” said Strock. “They put a lot of pressure on the quarterback, made him get out of the pocket or sacked him and put him in long running situations , which is not something you want. We had the opportunity to make some plays and we played hard the whole game.”

The win was the first ever over Florida Atlantic in the four-year history of the Shula Bowl. Prior to the game, FIU’s 27 senior players were honored at midfield.

“We didn’t play well tonight and we played against a team that was playing very well, was physical and dominated in every aspect of the game,” said FAU head coach Howard Schnellenberger. “It was a thing of beauty to watch from the other side, but it was a horror show from where I was standing.”

The Golden Panthers close out the 2005 campaign next Saturday night with a 7:00 p.m. Sun Belt Conference contest against Middle Tennessee. For tickets and information, call toll free, (866) FIU-GAME or (305) 348-4262 in Miami-Dade County.