--- Coming off on a huge positive upswing after that whooping we put on Western Kentucky last week, it was time to try and keep that momentum going as our toughest test of the season lay ahead of us. Troy was coming to town this week, bringing along their 5-1 record and 1-1 Sun Belt Conference record. We came into the game at 4-2 on the year, but most importantly, 2-0 and tied with Florida Atlantic for first place in the Sun Belt. In addition to a game that could possibly propel our program to new heights, we had two recruits in attendance for this game, DE Anthony Smith, the #11 DE in the entire country, who had announced that he was soft committing to Auburn earlier this week, and TE Aaron Clark, who announced that he was soft committing to our team. Special for this game, we decided to break out the alternate uniforms and don the black jerseys. It was a bright and sunny day, so weather would have no effect on the outcome. Troy won the coin toss and elected to kick.
Our defense immediately announced their intentions to win today, as Darrian Mallary was able to find the corner and pick up an immediate 1st down with a 13 yard rush on the first offensive play of the game. Two plays later, and Jeremiah Harden hauled in a 20 yard pass to get our offense out to midfield. A couple more big runs by Mallary, and we were quickly inside the Troy 20 red zone. Unfortunately, shoddy blocking on first and goal a couple plays later ruined our drive, as we would not get closer than the Troy 6 yard line and had to settle for a 23 yard field goal. Troy was able to quickly get their offense up to speed, moving the ball out to my 40 yard line before our defense forced an incomplete pass on 3rd and 7. Apparently that was not good enough for Troy, as they completed a 21 yard pass on 4th down, and would score the go-ahead touchdown two plays later. We would answer 8 plays later, as Jake Medlock was able to drop a pass in over the coverage to Jacob Younger in the back corner of the end zone for a 27 yard touchdown pass.
Troy’s offense would go three and out, followed by a shanked punt that gave us the ball back on Troy’s 46 yard line. Leave it to Medlock to screw things up, completely overthrowing the receiver on 1st down, and DIRECTLY into the hands of one of the Troy cornerbacks, who returned the interception 24 yards down to our 37 yard line. Despite a 24 yard pass on 1st down, our defense finally stopped them on our 8 yard line, forcing them to settle for a 25 yard field goal to tie the game up. Our offense started driving the ball down the field on our next drive, getting as far as the Troy 3 yard line before time ran out and the first quarter came to an end.
The start of the second quarter saw us begin on the Troy 4 yard line after a rush for a loss of 1 yard on the previous play. We would only need one play in the second quarter to find the end zone, as Medlock was able to needle a 4 yard pass through the coverage to Junior Mertile for a touchdown. Things would quickly fall apart for Troy, who got a single first down before our defense intercepted a pass, giving us the ball back on the Troy 30 yard line. A couple Mallary rushes later found us at the Troy 6 yard line, but our offense unfortunately failed again, and we would end the drive with another 23 yard field goal. This time the Troy offense would keep the ball, needing only 6 plays to cover 80 yards and close the game back to within 3 points. A couple big rushes and a huge pass that went 45 yards after a pair of broken tackles, and we found the end zone again as Mallary punched the ball in from one yard out to extend our lead back to 10 with 4 minutes left in the half.
Troy only needed two minutes to respond, as they quickly drove down the field, helped thanks in part to a 15 yard facemask penalty on our defense, but their offense fizzled out at our four yard line, where they would end with 21 yard field goal to pull back within 7. Needing to score before halftime, since Troy would get the ball back to start the third quarter, our offense got a huge boost by the Troy defense thanks to a defensive pass interference penalty that quickly advanced us out to midfield with 1:30 left to play. A couple passes and a few failed rushes later, and Medlock, one 3rd and goal, was able to connect with Harden in the end zone for a 5 yard touchdown pass. Again, we had to credit the Troy defense for their help, as the Troy defender had gotten a hand on the pass, but instead of swatting it down, he tried to go for the interception. He missed, the ball bounced off his arms, and right into the waiting hands of Harden to give us the touchdown right before halftime. Troy would settle for that first half result, as they simply ran out the remaining 20 seconds and headed for the locker room.
Start of the third quarter, Troy was more than ready to get that touchdown back, as they needed only 8 plays to move the ball 79 yards to pull the game back within 7 points. Troy’s defense once again gave us help as their middle linebacker was flagged for a facemask penalty, giving us 15 free yards after a rush that had only gained us 3. Unfortunately, the defense apparently did not like that, as three plays later, Mallary fumbled the ball, to which the defender returned it back to our 40 yard line. Or so we all thought. Coach Cristobal challenged the play, and in the end it was overturned, as it was determined the ground had caused the fumble, and the fumble had occurred after the runner was already down, so our offense caught a huge break and retained possession. Unfortunately, we would only get two more plays before an incomplete pass on 3rd down would bring our drive to an end. But, we walked away with points in the end as Jack Griffin was able to just barely sneak a 51 yard field goal over the crossbar to build our lead back to 10.
Troy would try to respond, managing to advance the ball out to midfield before a sack would set their drive back, and they would fail to recover, punting the ball away in the end. Starting at our own 20 after the touchback, we started going exclusively on the ground, forcing Troy to have to stop our run game if they wanted the ball back. A couple plays into the drive, Mallary was able to break through the defense for a 22 yard gain, getting us down to the Troy 43 yard line, as time ran out and the third quarter ended.
The start of the fourth quarter saw more of the same as we forced Troy to have to stop our ground game to get possession back. We were able to get as close as the Troy 13 yard line, chewing 3:30 off the fourth quarter clock before the Trojans finally shut our offense down. Griffin came on the field and kicked a 30 yard field goal to give us a 13 point lead with 5:38 left to play. Troy’s offense however never got a chance to respond, as Terrance Taylor intercepted a pass on 2nd and 5, giving us the ball right back on the Troy 29 yard line. We were able to rush the ball down to the Troy 10 yard line, chewing another 2:30 off the clock before we were forced to settle for another field goal. Griffin was able to connect on the 27 yard attempt, giving us a 16 point lead with 2:01 left to play in the game.
Troy was ultimately able to drive down the field and score a touchdown on their ensuing drive, thanks in part to a 15 yard pass interference penalty and an offside penalty by our defense that gave them 20 free yards, but a 10 yard loss on a sack kept their offense on the field a few plays longer, using up more time before they were able to find the end zone with a 9 yard touchdown pass with only 37 seconds left in the game. They were able to convert the 2-point conversion, closing the gap to 8 points. Unfortunately for them, our hands team recovered the onside kick, and there would be no miracle comeback today. Two plays later, and our biggest victory of the year was in the books.
With the win, we improve to 5-2 on the year, an astounding 3-0 in Sun Belt Conference play, and thanks to Florida Atlantic’s loss to North Texas this week, we take over sole possession of 1st place. Troy falls to 5-2 on the year, 1-2 in Sun Belt action. Up next for the Golden Panthers, we go back on the road for a two game stretch, opening with Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks come into the game with a 2-4 record, 1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. Looking at their season so far, Louisiana-Monroe opened the year with a 34-26 loss at Florida State and a 45-13 loss at Baylor. They found the winning column in their next game as they beat UNLV 24-9 and got a 24-17 win at Western Kentucky. They followed up those wins with a 21-16 loss to Arkansas State and lost this week to Utah State, 31-21.
Final Score
43,
35
Stat(s) of the Game:
- FIU Offense – Passing is God against Troy. They cannot stop the pass. Medlock did pretty good today despite two interceptions. And the receivers were actually hauling in balls for a change instead of constantly dropping them. Also had a hell of a drive that started in the third quarter and went into the fourth quarter, that ended up taking over 6 minutes off the clock and kept Troy’s offense from being able to do anything.
- FIU Defense – Once again, actually did decent. Despite giving up 35 points and 436 yards of offense, they were able to slow down and hold Troy back enough throughout the game that we were able to gain a lead most of the contest, forcing Troy to have to play from behind rather than the other way around
- FIU Kicker Jack Griffin – A perfect 5 for 5 in field goals for the day, his longest a 51 yarder.
- Both Teams – Both FIU and Troy went a perfect 100% in the red zone for the contest. Troy gained points all four times in our red zone, we gained points all seven trips into their red zone.
Scoring Summary
Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
10 |
10 |
7 |
8 |
35 |
|
10 |
24 |
3 |
6 |
43 |
Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
First Quarter |
5:49 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Griffin, 23 yard field goal |
3-0 |
3:35 |
|
Touchdown |
J. Johnson, 2 yard pass from C. Robinson (J. Evans kick) |
7-3 |
2:24 |
|
Touchdown |
J. Younger, 27 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick) |
10-3 |
0:54 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Evans, 24 yard field goal |
TIED 10-10 |
|
Second Quarter |
8:57 |
|
Touchdown |
J. Mertile, 4 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick) |
17-10 |
6:53 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Griffin, 23 yard field goal |
20-10 |
5:23 |
|
Touchdown |
E. Thomas, 36 yard pass from C. Robinson (J. Evans kick) |
20-17 |
3:56 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Mallary, 1 yard run (J. Griffin kick) |
27-17 |
2:09 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Evans, 20 yard field goal |
27-20 |
0:24 |
|
Touchdown |
J. Harden, 5 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick) |
34-20 |
|
Third Quarter |
6:59 |
|
Touchdown |
E. Thomas, 33 yard pass from S. Southward (J. Evans kick) |
34-27 |
4:49 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Griffin, 51 yard field goal |
37-27 |
|
Fourth Quarter |
5:41 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Griffin, 29 yard field goal |
40-27 |
2:04 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Griffin, 27 yard field goal |
43-27 |
0:37 |
|
Touchdown |
E. Thomas, 8 yard pass from C. Robinson (2-point conversion) |
43-35 |
Game Stats
Troy |
Stat |
Florida International |
35 |
Score |
43 |
22 |
First Downs |
21 |
436 |
Total Offense |
519 |
20 - 70 - 0 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
32 - 87 - 1 |
29 - 44 - 4 |
Comp - Att - TD |
32 - 51 - 3 |
366 |
Passing Yards |
432 |
2 |
Times Sacked |
1 |
8 - 13 (61%) |
3rd Down Conversion |
4 - 9 (44%) |
1 - 1 (100%) |
4th Down Conversion |
0 - 0 (0%) |
1 - 1 (100%) |
2-Point Conv |
0 - 0 (0%) |
4 - 2 - 2 (100%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
7 - 3 - 4 (100%) |
2 |
Turnovers |
1 |
0 |
Fumbles Losts |
0 |
2 |
Intercepted |
1 |
0 |
Punt Return Yards |
8 |
88 |
Kick Return Yards |
92 |
524 |
Total Yards |
619 |
2 – 44.5 |
Punts - Average |
0 - 0.0 |
1 - 15 |
Penalties |
6 - 46 |
13:26 |
Time of Possession |
25:38 |
Florida International Contract Goals Update
Fail Impact |
Goal |
Progress |
Pass Impact |
|
500+ rushing yards in each season |
2/3 Passed |
|
|
Win 8 games in one season |
5 |
|
|
2000+ total offensive yards in each season |
2/3 Passed |
|
|
7+ passing TD in one season |
|
|
|
10+ points per game in each season |
36 PPG |
|
|
2400+ total offensive yards in one season |
|
|
|
Win 4 games in one season |
|
|
|
2000+ total offensive yards in one season |
|
|
|
Bonus Goal |
|
Beat a higher ranked team |
|
|
Job Security Status
65%
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