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MIAMI (Oct. 12, 2013) – FIU Football dropped a tough contest to Conference USA opponent UAB on Saturday, 27-24 on Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium. UAB kicker Ty Long made a 28-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining to put the Blazers ahead.
Redshirt junior quarterback Jake Medlock had a season-high 302 passing yards to go along with two touchdowns. Ya'Keem Griner led the way on the receiving end, catching five passes for 65 yards and one touchdown. Lamarq Caldwell accumulated 52 receiving yards and a touchdown as well.
FIU took an early 7-0 lead with 7:19 left in the first quarter when Medlock hit Griner for 15 yards. The touchdown pass capped off a 12-play, 88-yard drive that took up 5:01. The Panthers strung together two consecutive plays of 20 yards on a Silas Spearman 20-yard scamper and a 20-yard reception by Griner that led to the eventual score.
The Blazers rattled off 21 unanswered points, as they responded with a scoring drive of their own when Darrin Reaves produced a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter. The score tied the contest at 7-7. A seven-yard touchdown pass from Austin Brown to Kennar Backman with 13:14 on the clock and Reaves's second touchdown run (one yard) with 6:00 left in the quarter, gave the Blazers a 21-7 advantage.
The Panthers scored 10 points in the final 2:28 as Austin Taylor hit a 27-yard field goal and Spearman scored on a 1-yard run to make the score 21-17. Spearman's score came with time winding down as FIU entered halftime down by four points. Leading to Spearman's score was a 40-yard reception by Rockey Vann down to the UAB 1 with four seconds remaining.
The Blazers added a field goal in the third quarter when Ty Long hit a 48-yard field goal with 1:10 on the game clock. The field goal extended UAB's lead to 24-17.
FIU strung together a huge game-tying drive of nine plays for 75 yards late in the fourth quarter. With a third and five from the UAB 45, Medlock hit Caldwell with a 15-yard shovel pass down to the 30. The redshirt junior quarterback then scampered down to the 15 on a 13-yard rush. The Medlock-Caldwell connection fittingly ended the drive with a score, this being a 13-yard catch and run. The extra point knotted the game up at 24 with 2:41 to go in regulation.
The field goal by Long came on a 10-play, 70-yard drive for the Blazers that took up 2:31 of clock time.
FIU is idle next week before hosting Louisiana Tech at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU is a proud new member of Conference USA. The University is home to more than 400 student-athletes across 18 intercollegiate athletic programs. The Panthers play events in seven venues on both the Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay campuses, including Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium, U.S. Century Bank Arena and Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center. FIUSports.com is the official website of FIU Athletics, providing fans with all the latest news and game day ticket information.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s 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. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/
