MIAMI (Oct. 10, 2015) -- FIU scored as quickly as an ice cube melts in the midday Miami heat when the Panthers played UTEP on Saturday at high noon at FIU Stadium. FIU scored six touchdowns before halftime to rout the Miners 52-12.
Less than three minutes into Saturday's game, running back
Alex Gardner rushed for a 2-yard touchdown and the Panthers were off on their personal track meet. Gardner accounted for 56 of FIU's 75 yards on the opening drive.
FIU raced to a 21-0 lead before the first quarter ended.
Thomas Owens caught his sixth touchdown pass of the season when he hauled in a 43-yarder from
Alex McGough. Tight end
Jonnu Smith took a short pass near the left sideline and pushed his way to a 14-yard score.
Owens's score left him two receiving touchdowns short of the FIU single-season record of eight receiving touchdowns by Smith. Earlier in the first quarter Smith extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 30.
McGough was 13-of-17 for a career-high 270 yards and two touchdowns. Gardner led FIU in receiving for the second consecutive week with five catches for 96 yards.
FIU added two more touchdowns before UTEP cracked the scoreboard. On the first play of the second quarter
Jeremiah McKinnon intercepted Ryan Mertz's pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-0. It was McKinnon's second interception of the season. The pick six was the second of McKinnon's career after the senior returned an interception for a touchdown at North Texas in the season finale last year.
Anthon Samuel scored his first touchdown of the season for the fifth FIU touchdown of the day. Samuel powered through the middle of the Miners defense on an 18-yard touchdown run to up the Panthers advantage to 35-0. Samuel finished with six carries for 47 yards.
UTEP got a 20-yard field goal from Jay Mattox to avoid the shutout midway through the second quarter.
FIU broke the program record for most points scored in a half after
Anthony Jones weaved his way through the UTEP defense on a 26-yard touchdown run to extend the FIU lead to 42-3 with 5:41 left in the first half. Previously, FIU scored 41 points in the first half against Jacksonville in 2003 to establish the program record.
The Panthers scored their seventh and final touchdown in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback
Trey Anderson and receiver
Shug Oyegunle connected on a 79-yard catch-and-run touchdown to cap the scoring at 52-12.
FIU next travels to Nashville on Saturday to take on Middle Tennessee at 12 p.m. from Floyd Stadium. The Panthers defeated the Blue Raiders 38-28 in Miami last season. FIU is 1-4 all-time at Middle Tennessee and 4-6 in the all-time series against the Blue Raiders.
#####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 $8.9 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/.Â
