Box Score DURHAM, N.C. (September 1, 2012) – Despite a stellar offensive day from several individual stars, the FIU Panthers kicked off their 2012 season with a 46-26 loss to the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C. on Saturday evening.
The score overshadows an excellent performance from the vaunted Panther offense, which racked up 513 total yards, against just 420 for the Blue Devils. Standouts included two passing touchdowns and an interception-free 348-yards in the air from sophomore quarterback Jake Medlock, while junior running back
Kedrick Rhodes also impressed with a gaudy 245 yards of total offense via 130 rushing and 115 receiving. Rhodes became the first Panther to eclipse the 100-yard receiving and rushing mark in a single game. Senior receiver
Wayne Times' nine receptions and first-ever 100-yard game (114) were both career highs for the senior from Miami Northwestern.
The Panthers opened their 2012 account just 46 seconds into the campaign, as the second play from scrimmage was a 67-yard pass from Medlock to Rhodes. The junior from Ocala, Fla. went from a safety valve to pay dirt on a broken play before the smoke from the pregame fireworks had completely cleared Wallace Wade Stadium.
The defense kept the momentum going early by forcing an opening three-and-out by Duke, but a fumble by
Richard Leonard during the punt return gave the Blue Devils a second chance at the FIU 46. Ten plays later, goal line specialist quarterback Brandon Connette's two-yard plunge evened the tally.
Following an impressive 14 play, 75-yard drive, the Panthers would go for it on 4th and 1 from inside the Duke 5-yard line. Rhodes' surge up the middle was given a conservative spot, and the Blue Devils took over on downs under the shadow of their own goal post.
Three plays later, junior cornerback
Sam Miller picked off a Sean Renfree pass intended for Jamison Crowder to give the Panthers great field position at the Duke 31. However
Jack Griffin's 45-yard field goal attempt was pulled wide left, leaving the sides deadlocked at seven.
Duke would close the first stanza with a Connor Vernon 46-yard catch, and open the second with Connette finding David Reeves for a tiebreaking TD. The Panthers would limit the damage by sniffing out a fake two-point conversion attempt to make it 13-7.
Following two drives by Duke ending in TD's, FIU's
Darian Mallary capped off an eight play, 80-yard buildup with a 10-yard scamper to the endzone with 5:05 remaining until
halftime. The drive included four rushes by Rhodes for a total of 46 yards, and was Mallary's first rushing TD since November 13, 2010 after missing much of 2011 with an
injury.
The Panthers threatened again before the end of the half, but a high snap forced Griffin's kick into the line, and a 75-yard return by Ross Cockrell gave the Blue Devils a 37-14 halftime lead.
However the Panthers showed no quit, and would mount a furious rally late. The first of two touchdowns in the last 1:19 of game time would come via a Rhodes 1-yard run, and after an onside kick recovery by
Johnathan Cyprien, five plays later Medlock found
Fred Porter for a 31-yard touchdown with just 26 ticks to play. It was the redshirt freshman
Porter's first career score and reception making the final score 46-26 in favor of the Blue Devils.
The Panthers return home to Miami and The Cage this Saturday at 6 p.m. vs. the Akron Zips.
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FIU once again has an exciting six-game home schedule in 2012, including non-conference games vs. BIG EAST Co-Champion Louisville, Akron, plus Sun Belt schools Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee, WKU and ULM.
The Panthers begin 2012 season with four-straight, non-conference games against Duke (Sept. 1), Akron (Sept. 8), UCF (Sept. 15) and Louisville (Sept. 22), which FIU went 3-1 against last year.
Season tickets are presently on-sale and start at just $42. Single-game tickets to FIU's six-game home schedule at Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium are also on-sale. Tickets to the FIU-Louisville game on Sept. 22 will only be available as part of a season ticket plan. For more information or to place your order, please visit FIUSports.com or call 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263).
The first 500 NEW season ticket buyers will receive a limited edition Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium replica. Fans must purchase a minimum of two (2) sideline season tickets to qualify for this promotion. There is a limit of one (1) stadium replica per account.
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
