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 MIAMI - The FIU football team couldn't keep its first half momentum rolling in its 42-33 loss to Troy on Saturday night. Troy quarterback Levi Brown completed 28-of-37 passes for 391 yards en route to 565 total yards of offense while FIU put up 303 yards of total offense.

Greg Ellingson led FIU receivers with 58 yards on four catches while Daunte Owens led the rushing game with 21 yards on 13 carries.

Three Golden Panthers recovered the first fumbles of their careers on Saturday night. Senior linebacker Tyler Clawson recovered Troy's fumble on its own 24-yard line, which set up FIU's go-ahead field goal in the second quarter. Linebacker Aaron Davis' fumble recovery set up FIU's second field goal of the game, and sophomore defensive end James Jones completed the trio in the fourth quarter.

"You'd like to stop them a little better - a lot better - when you recover fumbles in the red zone you need to make those touchdowns," coach Mario Cristobal said. "You can't, against a team as high-powered as they are offensively, to go and kick a couple field goals when you have a chance to make those seven-point deals. There were plenty of opportunities there. We created some opportunities. They gave us some opportunities but we gave them more than we got from them and ultimately that was the difference in the football game."

The Trojans struck first with a 75-yard drive capped off by Chris Bowens' 13-yard touchdown reception with 10:31 remaining in the first quarter.

FIU started a drive with 2:26 to go in the first quarter, and decided to go for it on fourth and four. Quarterback Paul McCall found Ellingson for a 9-yard reception, and on the next play, he connected with Ellingson near the sideline for a 20-yard gain, bringing up first and goal at the 6-yard line.

Owens rushed it in for a touchdown and the PAT was good to knot the score at 7 in the first six seconds of the second quarter.

The Golden Panthers immediately pressured the Trojans on the kick return, smothering Maurice Greer at the 14-yard line. Following a Troy first down, senior linebacker Scott Bryant caused Dantavious Parker to fumble and Clawson recovered the ball on the 24-yard line.

Dustin Rivest connected on a season-long 41-field goal attempt with 13:05 remaining in the second quarter to push FIU ahead, 10-7. The kick was two yards shy of his career best.

Troy responded with an 80-yard drive fueled by Jerrel Jernigan, who cranked out a 20-yard rush and a 40-yard touchdown reception to regain the lead, 14-10, with 10:52 remaining in the half. The Trojans continued their aerial attack on their next drive as Brown completed 6-of-7 passes for 65 yards, including a 7-yard pass to DuJuan Harris for a touchdown, 21-10, with 5:55 to go in the second quarter.

FIU's next drive stalled at its own 40 yard line. Troy was not frazzled by redshirt freshman Emmanuel Souarin's big hit on Cornelius Williams that refused the Trojans of any yardage on the punt return. Troy pushed the ball up the field with two quick passes before Maurice Greer broke out for a 46-yard rushing touchdown with 2:17 remaining.

FIU freshman Wayne Times returned the kickoff for 44 yards with just over two minutes to go in the half. FIU went to work, gaining 13 yards on the first play of the drive.

On third and 10, Troy was flagged for roughing the passer, moving the Golden Panthers just outside of the red zone. Sophomore running back Kendall Berry found some open space near the sideline and was dragged into the end zone by Troy defenders. The touchdown was the first of his career and closed the gap to 28-17 with 1:10 to go in half.

After Rivest's 70-yard kickoff into the end zone for a touchback, defensive end Armond Willis sacked Brown and recorded his first career forced fumble. Davis was there to recover the ball at the 13-yard line.

A facemask penalty made it first and goal at the 5-yard line, but FIU couldn't find its way into the end zone. Rivest converted a 22-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining, allowing FIU to head into the half down 28-20.

The Trojans came out firing on all cylinders after the break, scoring two touchdowns within a 37 second- span to take a 42-20 lead.

The Golden Panthers scored just before the 6-minute mark when freshman running back Darrian Mallary rushed five yards for his second touchdown of the season, 42-27. Troy ran out the clock and turned the ball over on downs with four seconds remaining on its own 2-yard line, which set up FIU's final touchdown of the game. McCall connected with Jason Frierson as the score rested 42-33.

"Our guys, in terms of effort we were relentless," Cristobal said. "We kept coming and coming and coming and if there's more clock there we keep coming but there isn't and they won the football game and they deserved to."

More than 10,100 were in attendance for the blackout game in which the Golden Panthers debuted their new black jerseys. FIU heads to Arkansas State next Saturday at 7 p.m.

Of Note:

Senior fullback John Ellis, junior middle linebacker Toronto Smith and senior placekicker Dustin Rivest served as captains for tonight's game. 

With a reception in the first quarter against Troy, sophomore T.Y. Hilton has now caught a pass in 17 consecutive games after not having a reception in his collegiate debut. 

Senior running back Daunte Owens scored his third touchdown of the season and fourth of his career on a four-yard run at the 14:54 mark of the second quarter, as he now owns the most rushing touchdowns on the season for the Panthers. 

Senior Dustin Rivest connected on a 41-yard field goal at the 13:05 mark of the second quarter for his longest field goal of the season. The 41-yard three-point score was two yards shy of a career-best, as Rivest converted from 43 yards out a year ago. 

Freshman Wayne Times returned a kick-off 44 yards with just over two minutes left in the first half to mark the longest kick return of his young career. 

Sophomore Kendall Berry scored the first touchdown of his career with 1:10 remaining in the first half on a 10-yard pass from senior quarterback Paul McCall. 

Senior defensive end Armond Willis notched his first career forced fumble in the second quarter, while sophomore Aaron Davis recovered the same fumble for the first fumble recovery of his career. 

Sophomore defensive end James Jones recovered the first fumble of his career in the fourth quarter.