MURFREESBORO, TENN. – The FIU football team fell behind early in the first half and wasn't able to recover as it dropped a 40-6 decision at Middle Tennessee on Saturday afternoon in a Conference USA matchup.
The Panthers allowed 17 unanswered points in the opening quarter and saw the margin stretch to 31-6 at halftime as Middle Tennessee scored a pair of offensive touchdowns and one on the defensive side in the opening 30 minutes, as it built its early advantage.
Middle Tennessee quarterback Nick Vattiato led the Blue Raiders' offense in the victory by completing 18-of-25 pass attempts for 275 yards and four touchdowns – three of which came in the first half and each scoring toss went to a different receiver.
A total of 10 Middle Tennessee players caught a pass for the Blue Raiders in the win as they finished with 427 yards of total offense, including 288 through the air.
FIU freshman quarterback
Keyone Jenkins finished 22-of-35 for the game with 226 passing yards. He was sacked a total of four times in the loss.
Defensively, the Panthers were led by junior linebacker
Reggie Peterson, who racked up a game-high 13 tackles – which also marked a career-best effort.
After the teams exchanged punts on their opening possessions, Middle Tennessee opened the game's scoring with a 24-yard scoring pass from Vattiato to Elijah Metcalf, which went for 24 yards and made the score 7-0 just over five minutes into regulation.
Middle Tennessee (3-7, 2-4 CUSA) extended the lead to 10-0 on its following drive as Zeke Rankin connected on a 29-yard field goal with 3:40 left in the opening quarter. The drive was keyed by a successful fourth down and seven conversion from the FIU 33 and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Panthers for a late hit.
A costly FIU turnover led to the game's next points when MT's Jordan Sterling sacked FIU's Jenkins and forced a fumble on the hit at the FIU 23, which was scooped and returned 23 yards for a touchdown by Richard Kinley II, increasing the Panthers' deficit to 17-0 with 3:09 left in the first.
FIU (4-6, 1-6 CUSA) broke through on the scoring column on a 42-yard field goal by junior
Chase Gabriel at the 12:24 mark of the second – it capped a 15-play, 52-yard drive and made the score 17-3.
Vattiato tossed his second touchdown pass to make the score 24-3 at 8:23 of the second when he found Holden Willis for a 23-yard scoring strike – the Blue Raiders started the possession at the FIU 40, following a 24-yard FIU punt.
Middle Tennessee added another score before the break as Vattiato hit DJ England Chisolm for a 72-yard catch and run for a score to with 59 ticks left in the first half to make the score 31-3.
FIU managed to add a field goal in the final moments of the second half to trim the margin to 31-6 at the break. Jenkins set up a 27-yard field goal by Gabriel on the final play of the half following a 32-yard completion to
Rocky Beers.
The second half saw FIU keep possession for the opening 7:54 of the third quarter and push the ball down to the MT 11-yard line before a failed fourth down conversion ended the threat for the Panthers.
Following a pair of Middle Tennessee punts and one by FIU over the next three drive attempts, the Blue Raiders put the first points of the second half on the board via a safety at 12:38 of the third when Jenkins recovered a fumble in FIU's end zone to make the score 33-6.
Vattiato tossed his fourth TD pass of the contest on a 20-yard hookup with Jeremy Tate Jr., with 10:22 left in regulation to stretch the margin to 40-6.
UP NEXT
FIU will play its second consecutive road contest when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for a showdown with Southeastern Conference member Arkansas on Saturday, Nov. 18 in a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
The game will be aired to a national audience on ESPNU.
The contest will mark the Panthers' first against an SEC opponent since taking on Florida in Gainesville in 2009.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Today's game marked FIU's first on a Saturday since Sept. 23 – a span of 49 days.
- Freshman quarterback Keyone Jenkins started for the Panthers for the ninth consecutive game.
- Middle Tennessee returned a fumble 23 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter – it marked the first time an FIU opponent has returned a fumble for a touchdown since the 2011 season – when North Texas' Andrew Power brought one back 29 yards on Sept. 1, 2011.
- Junior place kicker Chase Gabriel was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goal attempts in the first half – making both a 42 and 27-yard attempt.
- FIU possessed the ball for a total of 7:54 on its opening drive of the second half before coming away without points after a failed fourth down attempt that stalled the drive at the Middle Tennessee 11-yard line.
- FIU junior wide receiver Kris Mitchell finished with 25 receiving yards – he is now 155 shy of becoming the third player in FIU history to record at least 1,000 receiving yards in a single season (T.Y. Hilton, 2008 & 2011 and Tyrese Chambers, 2021).
- Junior linebacker Reggie Peterson finished with a career-high 13 tackles for the Panthers. His third double-digit tackle effort this season and second in the last three games.
TICKETS
For more information on FIU Football season and individual tickets, including student ticketing, call 305-FIU-GAME or visit the
FIU Athletics Online Ticket Office
SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following
@FIU.Football on Instagram and
@FIUFootball on Twitter and
Facebook.
General athletic news can also be found at
@FIUSports on Facebook and
@FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.
