Box Score MIAMI (Nov. 3, 2012) – The FIU football team pulled out a 28-20 victory on the road against the South Alabama Jaguars Saturday afternoon at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. The win was the first victory for the Panthers against the Jaguars, who FIU played for the first time in school history.

The Panthers were led by running back Kedrick Rhodes who rushed for 149 yards on 27 carries. On the defensive side of the ball, Jordan Hunt led FIU with 11 total tackles and a game-clinching interception with less than 10 seconds to play in the game. Jake Medlock was effective under center, throwing for 153 yards and two scores while rushing for 34 yards and a score to account for three total touchdowns.

After a fumble by Medlock led to a South Alabama touchdown on the opening drive, the Panthers responded on their next possession with a 26-yard pass from Medlock to Willis Wright to knot the game up at 7-7. Greg Hickman and Giovanni Francois then helped force a three-and-out on the next Jaguars possession with a nifty third-down stop.

FIU scored again through the air at the 51-second mark in the first, this time Medlock hit Jacob Younger for a 26-yard score to take a 14-7 lead. The scores were both the third of the season for Wright and Younger.

At the start of the second half, Johnathan Cyprien halted a USA drive with an interception at the Jags' 19-yard line. The interception was the sixth of his career, moving him into sole possession of fourth place on the FIU career interceptions list. However, FIU couldn't capitalize on the turnover, going three-and-out to force a Josh Brisk punt.  

Medlock flashed his wheels and made it a 21-7 FIU lead when he scampered 19 yards to paydirt on a designed quarterback run at the 7:45 mark in the second quarter.
After controlling the ball for much of the second quarter, the Panthers took a 28-7 lead with 1:07 remaining in the stanza. Rhodes capped off a 10-play, 74-yard drive, with a two-yard touchdown jog off tackle for his third score of the season. The touchdown sent FIU into the locker room with a 21-point advantage.

At the half Rhodes led all players with 132 yards on the ground and FIU had a 303 to 149 advantage in total yards.

The Jags' came out of the locker room hot when Ross Metheny hit Corey Besteda for a 75-yard touchdown, the longest play in South Alabama history. Shortly after an FIU three-and-out near its own goal line, South Alabama connected on a 39-yard field goal to open the third quarter on a 10-0 run and cut the FIU lead to 28-17.

The Panthers caught a huge break late in the third quarter when a down by contact call was overturned to a Sam Miller fumble recovery to give FIU life in South Alabama territory. The Panthers would wind up going three-and-out, giving way to a 37-yard Brisk punt, resulting in a touch back.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers defense held steadfast on a goalline stand only allowing a USA field goal to cut into the FIU lead at 28-20.

With 5:17 left in the game, Jordan Hunt broke up a pass on a big third-and-four play at the Panthers 6. South Alabama then went on to miss the ensuing field goal attempt,
keeping the FIU lead at eight points.

Hunt factored in on the final play of the game, picking off a Metheny pass with seconds left in the game to secure FIU's second victory of the season.

The Panthers will return to the gridiron on Friday, Nov. 16, when they travel to face intra-state rival Florida Atlantic at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 8:00 p.m. ET.

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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 48,000 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