MIAMI (Nov. 15, 2014)  — Twenty-eight unanswered points helped the FIU football team (4-7, 3-4) battle back for a 38-28 come-from-behind victory over the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman quarterback Alex McGough threw for 231 yards (17-of-24) and three touchdowns, all of which went to sophomore Jonnu Smith. Smith finished the game with 140 yards (eight catches), while his three touchdown receptions is a career-high for the Ocala, Fla., native and the most for a single game in Panther football history. Redshirt junior Richard Leonard had a career day on special teams, as the speedy returner ran for 167 yards.

Middle Tennessee got the game's first score following a turnover that granted the Blue Raiders short field position. Austin Grammar found Ed'Marques Batties for 18 yards for the score. Leonard broke through a hole on the return and ran it 59 yards to the Blue Raider 27-yard line. Sophomore Austin Taylor connected on the 44-yard field goal to cut the Middle Tennessee lead to 7-3.

Middle Tennessee finished its next two drives with touchdowns and took a 21-3 lead before FIU responded with 14-straight points to end the half, bringing the deficit to just four points, 21-17.

Midway through the second, with the Blue Raiders facing a 3rd and 19 from their own 24-yard line, sophomore Wilkenson Myrtil batted a deep pass out of the air to force a punt. Leonard ran it back 30 yards to the 50-yard line. Redshirt junior Anthon Samuel had a big rush of 16 yards for the first play from scrimmage to carry FIU to the Blue Radiers' 34. McGough found Smith on a 10-yard route for the score. 

Middle Tennessee nearly scored on its following drive, but the FIU defense came up with its then-18th fumble of the season at the goal-line, as freshman Anthony Wint stripped Jordan Parker of the ball with 40 seconds left in the half. Samuel then rushed for a combined 40 yards on two-straight plays, highlighted by a 31-yard run that took the Panthers to the Blue Raiders' 40 with five ticks left in the half. Smith leaped over three defenders to bring in a 40-yard Hail Mary pass to end the half, marking two of the last three senior day games at FIU stadium that have included a Panther touchdown on a Hail Mary.

The Blue Raiders were approaching midfield on its first series of the third junior Jeremiah McKinnon forced a fumble that was recovered by junior Michael Wakefield at the 50-yard line. Facing a third and 22, McGough found freshman Napoleon Maxwell on the screen pass for 19 yards. The freshman took a hit, which forced the ball loose; however, Smith picked up the loose ball on one bounce and ran it for the 22-yard score, giving the Panthers its first lead of the game, 24-21, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third. By rule, it is ruled a touchdown reception for Smith.

FIU made it 28 unanswered points after junior Davison Colimon ran back a 79-yard pick-six. Middle Tennessee responded with its first score since the 12:53 in the second quarter to make it 31-28 with 6:17 to play in the third quarter. The Panthers quickly pushed their lead back to 10 points on a two-yard punch in by Samuel. The FIU defense again stepped up in the red zone with the Blue Raiders driving. On second and seven, McKinnon picked off Grammer at the Panthers' 5-yard line.

The Panthers' defense continued to be suffocating for Grammer and the Blue Raiders during the fourth quarter. Senior Demarkus Perkins intercepted Grammar on the Middle Tennessee 38 with four minutes to play in the game. 

FIU closes out its season next weekend, as the Panthers travel to North Texas. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 pm ET on Saturday.

For the latest information on Panthers football, follow us on Twitter, @FIUFootball, and check out Pete Pelegrin's in-depth coverage of FIU Athletics on his official blog, The Prowl, at www.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 FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.