Box Score Miami, Fla. (Oct. 4, 2012) – FIU would grab a pair of early leads in the game, but were unable to overcome three Arkansas State touchdowns overlapping the second and third quarters in a 34-20 Sun Belt Conference loss at Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium on Thursday.

After FIU (1-5, 0-2 Sun Belt) forced the Red Wolves into a missed 43-yard field goal attempt on their opening drive and a punt on their second, the Panthers got on the board first with a 28-yard Jack Griffin field goal for the lone points of the opening stanza.

The FIU defense saw a pair of new starters with defensive tackle Fadol Brown and linebacker Patrick Jean logging their first games with the first team. The Panthers would hold Arkansas State (3-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) to three punts and the missed field goal before ASU's J.D. McKissic raced 74 yards on a play-action slant early in the second quarter.

FIU regained the lead mid-way through the second, 10-7, off a seven-play drive that went 62 yards. The drive was bolstered by a converted fake from punter Josh Brisk, who raced 33 yards on the play. Three plays later, quarterback E.J. Hilliard hit Jacob Younger on a 19-yard touchdown strike on a play that was upheld after a replay review.
Younger snagged the ball as he kept one foot in bounds as he was falling out of bounds on the side of the endzone.  The play was featured on ESPN as the "Allstate Good Hands Play of the Night".

The Panthers appeared to take that early lead into the half, but an untimely interception at their own 36-yard-line saw ASU take advantage of a short field following Sterling Young's 29-yard return. The Red Wolves' David Oku scored on a one-yard run off a three-play, seven-yard drive with 29 seconds remaining to go into the locker room ahead 14-10.

Following the break, ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin raced in on a 10-yard touchdown run at 8:45 to put his squad up 21-10. Oku would score his second rushing touchdown on a two-yard run at 6:11. The Red Wolves' second touchdown of the third quarter came on a three-play, five-yard drive following an FIU interception that gave ASU the ball at the
FIU 26-yard-line.

Griffin would knock in his second field goal of the game, from 31-yards out, to narrow the ASU lead, 27-13. The field goal allowed Griffin to pass former FIU All-American T.Y. Hilton in career scoring, as the senior kicker finished with the game with 225 points to Hilton's 224.

Oku completed the ASU scoring at the start of the fourth quarter with his third rushing touchdown at 14:37 to go ahead 34-13. Oku's four-yard scoring run was set-up by Rocky Hayes' game-high 73-yard rush on the play prior to give ASU the ball at the FIU four-yard line.

Darian Mallary concluded game scoring as he finished off a 17-yard, 70-yard FIU drive with a five-yard touchdown run with 6:32 remaining.

The Panthers remain in Miami for their next game, Homecoming, against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium. Kickoff with the Blue Raiders is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on the FIU Sports Radio Network and streamed live through FIUSports.com.

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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