Box Score

Photo by Geoff Anderson Julius Eppinger holds up his prize--a 12-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter Saturday afternoon at Kansas State. Eppinger equalled his career mark of seven receptions on the day and theTD catch was his first since the 2002 season.

FIU’s bid for an upset over a Division I-A team outside the Sun Belt Conference slipped away, Saturday, as the Golden Panthers fell in Manhattan, Kan, 35-21to host Kansas State.

The game slipped away when FIU had trouble controlling its footing on KSU Stadium’s artificial playing surface, which cut short several would-be long gains.

And it slipped away at the start of the third quarter when K-State runners slipped numerous attempted tackles, scored two touchdowns on three plays and turnrd a 13-7 Wildcat halftime lead into a 28-7 hole from which the Golden Panthers couldn’t recover.

In between, it was the FIU defense that more than held its own against a Big 12 Conference opponent, forcing four turnovers that led to all 21 points scored.

The offense, however, last year’s strength, sputtered, holding the ball for only 26:36, which gave K-State needed momentum.

Thomas Clayton, who last year finished with a season total of 71 running yards, led the Wildcats with 177 rushing yards, 80 of those coming on his third-quarter touchdown gallop. He scored his second TD of the afternoon on a two-yard plunge shortly thereafter that occurred following the 67-yard punt return by Jermaine Moreira.

Julius Eppinger tied his career mark at FIU with seven receptions, good for 53 yards and a 12-yard diving TD pass with 42 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Chandler Williams and Cory McKinney each had four catches. For McKinney, he has now had at least one reception in all 34 games FIU has ever played.

Quarterback Josh Padrick finished the day completing 17 of 34 passes and one touchdown but an interception midway through the third quarter snapped a school-record streak of 91 attempts without an interception when intended receiver Williams slipped on a long heave toward the endzone.

Freshman running back Julian Reams rushed the ball 15 times for 40 yards in his collegiate debut but overall, the Golden Panthers were held to just 82 net yards rushing.

KSU quarterback Allen Webb, making only his sixth career start, hit on 19 of 31 passes for 161 yards and two scores.

Down 28-7 following the disastrous third-quarter opening, the Golden Panthers made a gallant effort, closing to within 28-21 late in the stanza.

First, after Johnathan Sturrup recovered a fumble at the KSU 15, Padrick hit Eppinger for 12 yards before Adam Gorman scored from three yards out. Later in the same quarter, Antwan Barnes blocked a punt that was scooped up by Nick Turnbull and returned 17 yards, to put FIU down by only seven.

"We didn’t do a great job of tackling out there today and defensively, that’s one of the first things you have to do.There's always two or three plays per game that change the flow and outcome and obviously, there were those two or three plays, today," said FIU head coach Don Strock. "When you have opportunities, you have to take advantage. They gave us some opportunities, but we didn't take advantage of them and that's why we lost the game.

"Our guys played hard the whole game. They always do and I've never had a problem with that," Strock said. "In this game particularly, it shows that we're not that far away from playing schools in the Big 12. From a I-AA school a couple of years ago to where we are today, you can see there's been progress."

The game was played before the largest crowd ever to witness an FIU football game, 43, 611, which topped the previous high of 21,010 when the Golden Panthers defeated Florida A&M last November in the Orange Bowl.

"We have never played in front of a big crowd like this one," said Padrick. "It was totally different than playing in our stadium. The Big 12 has a lot going for them and it was great to play here, today."

The Golden Panthers return to practice Monday morning in preparation for their second Big 12 opponent in two weeks when they travel to Lubbock, Tex., next Saturday and a meeting at Texas Tech in the Red Raiders season opener.