MIAMI (Oct. 1, 2011) -- FIU quarterback Wesley Carroll threw for a season-high 348 passing yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn't enough as the Panthers fell to the Blue Devils, 31-27, in front of a record-setting, homecoming crowd of 22,682.

With the Panthers clinging to a 27-24 lead late in the fourth quarter, the ball was knocked out of Carroll's hand as he dropped back to pass. Duke recovered at the FIU nine-yard line, setting up the Blue Devils with 1st-and-goal. One play later the Blue Devils took a 31-27 they wouldn't relinquish.

T.Y. Hilton looked to be back to his usual form as he caught five passes for 102 yards and a score. Wayne Times led all Panther receivers with a career-best seven catches for 54 yards and one touchdown.

On the ground Darriet Perry ran for 102 yards on 17 carries, and Kedrick Rhodes pitched in with 61 yards.

Defensively the Panthers were led by Winston Fraser, who recorded 12 tackles, including eight unassisted stops.            

After FIU was forced to punt on its opening drive, Duke responded with a field goal on the ensuing possession to take a 3-0 lead with 9:29 to play in the first quarter.

On the next offensive play, the Panthers took a 7-0 lead when Carroll found Hilton down the seam for a 63-yard touchdown pass. The score, which came at the 9:10 mark, was Hilton's first since week two of the season, and his fourth of the year.

The Blue Devils responded with a passing touchdown of their own; a 26-yard strike from Sean Renfree to Conner Vernon that put Duke up, 10-7, with 6:46 to go in the first.

FIU came back at the Duke with an 85-yard drive that culminated in a Carroll to Jonathan Faucher 15-yard pass. The score was Faucher's first of the season, and it capped off a 10-play drive that put FIU back on top, 14-10, with 3:13 to play in the first quarter.

Duke took the lead right back with 53 seconds left in the first when Renfree connected on a 22-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Helfet to take a 17-14 advantage.

FIU appeared to have taken a lead with five minutes to go in the first half when Carroll found Times who made an outstanding grab over a Duke defender in the endzone. However, a holding penalty nullified the score and FIU settled for a 36-yard Jack Griffin field goal that tied the score at 17 with 4:01 to play in the first half.

In a stark contrast to the first quarter, which saw 31 combined points, the field goal by FIU was the only scoring of the second quarter as the teams headed into halftime tied at 17.

The third quarter saw much of the same the second did as the only points scored came on a 33-yard field goal by Griffin with just 12 seconds left in the quarter to put FIU ahead, 20-17.

In the fourth quarter, the Panther offense went to work and put up seven more points as Carroll found Times for a 34-yard score. The play was set up by a reverse pass where Jacob Younger found freshman Dominique Rhymes for a 44-yard completion. Two plays later, Carroll hit Times near the home sideline and the junior receiver made several defenders miss to find the endzone and put the Panthers up, 27-17, with 13:30 to go in the game.

Duke cut the Panthers' lead to three with a six-yard touchdown run by Juwan Thompson that made the score 27-24 with 11:56 to left on the clock.

With just under seven minutes to go in the game, a Duke sack forced a fumble that the Blue Devils recovered at the FIU nine-yard line. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Thompson scored to put the Blue Devils up, 31-27, with 6:52 left to play.

On FIU's next drive, the Panthers drove down inside the Blue Devils' 15-yard line, but came away with nothing as Carroll's pass on 4th-and-10 sailed incomplete. Duke took over with under three minutes to play. A first down on 3rd-and-long allowed Duke to run out the clock as the Panthers were out of timeouts.

The loss drops FIU's record to 3-2 on the season, while the Blue Devils improve to 3-2. It also marked the first homecoming loss since the 2007 season. The crowd of 22,682 was the largest crowd in FIU history, breaking the old record of 21,010 set on Nov. 27, 2004 versu Florida A&M in the Orange Bowl.  

Up next for FIU is a trip to Akron as they take on the Zips on Saturday, October 8 at 2 p.m. (ET).