Box Score
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (Oct. 5, 2013) – The FIU football team earned head coach Ron Turner his first victory with the Panthers, thanks to a blocked kick by senior defensive tackle Isame Faciane as time expired against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman tailback Silas Spearman had a big day on the ground for the Panthers, accumulating 136 yards, the most for an FIU true freshman in a game since 2010. Spearman also accounted for two of FIU's three touchdowns in the contest. He had a 32-yard rush in the second quarter, which is the longest rush for a Panther this season.
Sophomore quarterback
E.J. Hilliard replaced an injured
Jake Medlock late in the second quarter and threw for 93 yards, including a key 16-yard touchdown strike in the closing moments of the first half to put FIU ahead. Tight end play was strong for the Panthers, as freshman
Jonnu Smith and redshirt sophomore
Ya'Keem Griner combined for six catches and 98 yards.
Southern Miss jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard touchdown. The Golden Eagles held that lead after one quarter, but FIU seemingly found its way in the second quarter.
At the end of the first quarter, FIU gained momentum as Derrick Jones Jr. picked off Southern Miss quarterback Allan Bridgford. Jones returned it to the Golden Eagle 36-yard line to set up a nice drive start for the FIU offense. The interception for Jones was the first of his career.
From there, the FIU offense got to work. Following a four-yard run by Spearman, Medlock completed a 24-yard slant pass to
Rockey Vann down to the USM 16-yard line. A 13-yard run by Spearman set up a three-yard touchdown run for the true freshman on the ensuing play to tie the game up at seven.
Southern Miss would answer on its next drive with a 39-yard catch and run touchdown. The Golden Eagles led 14-7 with 11:39 to go in the half.
Later in the half after a three-and-out stop for the Panther defense, FIU strung together a four play, 44-yard dive in less than two minutes to knot the game up at 14. The big play of the drive came on the first play when Medlock connected with Griner for a 37-yard pass play. Spearman then used three straight rushes of three, three and one yard, the last being good for his second touchdown of the day.
With the game tied up at 14, the Golden Eagles took a 16-14 lead on a safety due to a botched FIU snap into the back of the endzone, however; when the USM offense got the ball back, Hickman forced his seventh career fumble as he sacked Bridgord at the USM 25. Faciane recovered the fumble to set things up for FIU at the end of the half. From there, Hilliard, who replaced an injured Medlock, hit
T.J. Lowder on a 16-yard streak pattern to give FIU a 21-16 lead to close the half.
In the third quarter, Southern Miss regained the lead on a six-yard touchdown pass. The fairly quiet second half had its final scoring play come on a 27-yard field goal by
Austin Taylor at the 6:53 mark in the fourth quarter to give FIU a 24-23 advantage.
The Golden Eagles had their last chance on a drive starting at their own 28 with a minute to go. Pass plays of 12 and 15 yards, followed by a 15-yard pass interference call set up a field goal attempt from 44 yards out with six seconds to go. Faciane got a hand on the attempt as time expired to seal the victory for FIU.
FIU hosts UAB in its Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. on Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUFootball) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUFootball) for all the latest Football news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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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 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. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
