Box Score Miami, Fla. (Oct. 13, 2012) – FIU dropped a 34-30 Sun Belt Conference decision to Middle Tennessee (4-2, 2-1 Sun Belt) Saturday night at Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium. The Blue Raiders would come out on top after a frenzied ending in the game's final minutes which saw four lead changes.

The deciding drives began with FIU scoring with one minute remaining on a Willis Wright 30-yard touchdown catch from Jake Medlock to regain the lead 30-27 after the Jack Griffin extra point. That drive went nine plays, 80-yards in 1:20 and included a crucial fourth down 16-yard reception by Wayne Times.

FIU was dealt a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after Wright's touchdown catch which would place the ensuing kickoff at the FIU 20-yard line.  Reggie Whatley took advantage of the short field and returned the kick 43 yards to the Panthers' 40-yard line.

On first down, Middle Tennessee quarterback Logan Kilgore completed a 28-yard pass to Christian Collis to the FIU 12-yard line. Bennie Cunningham gained five yards on the next play. Whatley then put the Blue Raiders ahead, 34-30, on a seven-yard rush for the eventual final score.

However, the Panthers would not go down easily. After Richard Leonard returned the kickoff 28 yards to the FIU 28-yard line, the Panthers would go five plays and 71 yards all the way to the Middle Tennessee goal line. Unfortunately for the home team, an official's review after the final whistle upheld the call on the field which had Wright ending at the
one-yard-line after a 30-yard completion.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Middle Tennessee's Cunningham scored his second touchdown of the game, a 24-yard rush with 6:51 remaining to give the Blue Raiders their first lead, 27-23, since taking the early 3-0 lead in the first quarter.  Cunningham finished the game with a career-high 36 carries for 230 yards, along with four catches for 55 yards to lead the Blue Raiders.

FIU opened the game marching all the way down to the Middle Tennessee 13-yard line on a 16-play drive, but a fumble off a pitch would turn the ball over to the Blue Raiders. The visitors would proceed to drive 67 yards on 14 plays eating up 5:13 resulting in a 33-yard Carlos Lopez field goal.

The Panthers regained the lead on the next drive, 6-3, when quarterback Medlock hit senior receiver Glenn Coleman on a 25-yard pass into the back of the endzone. Griffin would miss the extra point, his first career missed point after breaking a streak of 97-consecutive extra points made since 2010.

FIU would grab early control of the game tacking on two more rushing scores in the second quarter to take a 20-3 lead.

The first of the two scores came on a dazzling 26-yard reverse from freshman De'Andre Jasper at 13:01. It was Jasper's first-career touchdown. Senior running back Darian
Mallary scored the second on a four-yard run at 1:39. Mallary has now scored a rushing touchdown in each game he has appeared this season and has eight rushing touchdowns through seven games in 2012.

Middle Tennessee surged back in the game with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kilgore to Anthony Amos with only eight seconds remaining before halftime to narrow the lead to 20-10. Then to start the third quarter, Cunningham capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard score to trim the lead further, 20-17.

FIU would add some cushion on the next drive, off a season-long, 45-yard-field goal from Griffin at 10:10 to go up 23-17. The FIU drive would start on its own 23, and two plays in, Medlock found Wright underneath, who raced with the ball 49 yards to the Middle Tennessee 28-yard line to help set up the field goal.

Middle Tennessee came back with a field goal of their own on its first drive of the fourth quarter, a 31-yard Lopez make at 14:18, to bring the score within three again, 23-20.
FIU was led by Medlock, who threw for a career-high 380 yards, completing 24-of-38 passes with two touchdowns. Coleman and Wright also finished with career highs in
receiving.  Coleman had five catches for 115 yards, while Wright finished with three catches for 109 yards.

FIU next faces Troy (3-3, 2-2 Sun Belt) at Veterans Stadium in Troy, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 20. Kickoff against the Trojans is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST and will be televised
locally on CSS.

About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelors, masters and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls nearly 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu