Lafayette, La. -  The FIU defense sacked UL's quarterback Blaine Gauiter seven times and came up with three interceptions, and Darriet Perry scored three rushing touchdowns, as the Panthers rolled over the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns 38-17, Saturday night in Lafayette, La.

With seven sacks, led by Jarvis Wilson's trifecta, the FIU defense set a new single-season record for sacks with 29. On offense, Perry ran for 77 yards to go along with his three scores, and Darian Mallary added another 84 yards on the ground.

Wesley Carroll completed 16-of-19 passes for 162 yards and a score. 

After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers got on the board first on a six-yard pass from Carroll to Jonathan Faucher. The TD throw capped off a 16-play, 99-yard play that began in the first quarter. The touchdown was Faucher's third of the season.

The Cajuns got three points back on the ensuing drive with a 25-yard field goal at the 7:20 mark of the second quarter.

The following drive for FIU stalled and the Panthers were forced to punt. However, Louisiana got through and blocked the punt to take over at the FIU one-yard line. Faced with the worst-possible field position, the FIU defense stepped up and held the Cajuns on all four attempts, forcing a turnover on downs to preserve Panthers' lead.

The score remained at 7-3 going into the halftime break.

The Panthers received to begin the second half and went to work right away, scoring on a five-yard run by Perry. The score was Perry's eighth of the season and 13^th of his career. The scoring run was set up by a 49-yard reception by T.Y. Hilton that put the junior wideout over the 5,000 all-purpose yard mark for his career.

Louisiana's ensuing drive ended abruptly when Chuck Grace made a sideline interception at the UL 30-yard line. The Panthers were unable to reach the endzone, but sophomore kicker Jack Griffin made sure FIU didn't come up empty-handed as he sent a 25-yard field goal attempt through the uprights to push FIU's lead to 17-3 with 9:47 to go in the third.

The Cajuns came back with a touchdown on their next drive to cut the Panthers' lead to seven at 17-10. The score came on a 50-yard reception by Louisiana tight end Ladarius Green.

After an FIU punt, the Panthers came up with another interception, this time from Junior Mertile, who returned the pick 26-yards for a touchdown to put FIU up 24-10. Mertile was playing in his first game as a defensive player after playing wide receiver his first two years at FIU and the first nine games of 2010. 

On the following drive, Louisiana responded with a touchdown on a 55-yard run by Blain Gautier to pull Louisiana back within seven at 24-17 with 3:05 to go in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter with the game still undecided, FIU added another two scores, both courtesy of Perry to pull ahead 38-17. The Panthers' final touchdown of the game was set up by a big Toronto Smith interception. With a big lead in hand, FIU sealed the game with three consecutive sacks, two by Jarvis Wilson and one by Tourek Williams.

The victory evens FIU's record at 5-5, and keeps the Panthers atop the Sun Belt standings with a conference record of 5-1. Next week FIU will host the Arkansas State Red Wolves at 3:30 p.m.

FIU vs. Louisiana – Cajun Field – Lafayette, La. – November 20, 2010

Captains: Senior safety No.11 Ash Parker, senior linebacker No.13 Toronto Smith & senior center No.76 Brad Serini.

Coin Toss: Louisiana won the toss and chose to receive. FIU chose to defend the south endzone.

- FIU didn't allow any first-quarter points for the fifth time this season.

- This marked just the second time this season FIU has been held scoreless in the first quarter.

- UL's blocked punt in the second quarter was the third against the Panthers this season. The previous two came in the season-opener against Rutgers (9/11).

- FIU's seven first-half points are tied for a season-low (vs. Rutgers – 9/11).

- The three points allowed by FIU in the first half are tied for a season-low (at North Texas – 10/16).

- T.Y. Hilton's 49-yard reception in the third quarter put him over the 5,000 all-purpose yard mark. Hilton finished the game with 5,006 career all-purpose yards. He is FIU's all-time leader in that category.

- Darriet Perry's third quarter touchdown was his eight of the season and 13^th of his career. He finished the game with three scores, giving him 10 on the year and 15 for his career. The 10 rushing TDs are the second-best single-season total in FIU history (12 – Rashod Smith, 2004)

- FIU finished the game with seven sacks, giving the Panthers 29 for the season, which is a new single-season record. The previous high was 24.0 set in 2005, '06 & '07.

- Junior Mertile, who intercepted a pass for a touchdown in the third quarter, played defense for the first time in his career. Previously, Mertile had played in 23 games as a wide receiver. 

- FIU now has a single-season record 20 rushing touchdowns.