--- Going into the first week of league play is definitely not the best thing after giving away the game like we did last week against Louisville. North Texas as our first opponent wasn’t making things any better. Despite the fact they were entering with an 0-3 record, just like Louisville had, and the facts that they ranked 118th in the nation in total offense, 102nd in rushing, and 117th in passing, we still had a very uneasy feeling about this game. It might have been partly due to the game being on their home field. Or maybe it was from those spicy burritos that they team captains decided on for the team pre-game meal rather than something simple. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.
The first drive for the Mean Green was far from mean. They lasted three plays before punting the ball away. While our offensive drive nearly stalled in three plays as well, Darrian Mallary was able to pick up the new set of downs for us on 3rd and 1, and then one play later gave us a huge boost as he was able to turn the outside corner and scamper down the field for a 36 yard gain down to the North Texas 23 yard line. Credit also goes to Jake Medlock for seeing the heavy pressure to the left side, and switching the play from its original run to the left, and making it a run to the undermanned right side. Unfortunately, that would be the highlight play of the drive, as we would get as close as the 5 yard line before having to settle for a field goal. In response, North Texas may have the 117th ranked passing offense in the nation, but they sure as hell didn’t show it in their second drive, burning our defense on passes of 9, 11, 25, and 24 yards, ending with a 2 yard touchdown pass to take the lead.
Our second offense drive, we were able to getting things moving consistently until we got down to the North Texas 32 yard line, where a holding penalty on 2nd down pushed us back outside the 40 and killed any and all momentum we had. Jack Griffin would try a 52 yard field goal, but never had a chance of making it, as it fell easily 5 yards short of the uprights. North Texas once again showed that their offensive rankings were nothing but bull, and quickly bitch slapped our defense down the field with passes, bringing a merciful end to the first quarter along the way. Another three and out, and our offense was once again coming back off the field. North Texas once again passed all over our offense, and would have had another touchdown if not for a sack for a loss of 8 yards that forced them to kick merely a field goal. Our next offensive drive, choosing to stick to the ground, since our passing game sucked more than a $2 hooker, we made it all the way down to the North Texas 48 yard line before trying a pass on 3rd and 8. Of course, it was promptly intercepted. What else is new. North Texas drove down to our 30 yard line before stalling out and settling for a 47 yard field goal.
Finally our offense finally got their asses in gear and did something, as Mallary was able to escape the pressure on a pitch play, managing to get outside the tackles and sprinted 54 yards down the field, breaking four tackles along the way before finally being caught from behind at the North Texas 26 yard line. An extremely lucky pass (there is no skill on this offense, only luck) on 3rd and 10 went for a 25 yard gain, getting us down to the 1 yard line. Of course, 1 yard was almost too much for this offense to even obtain, needing three plays to finally get the ball into the end zone from a single godforsaken yard out. North Texas would try to respond, but would get no farther than midfield before the clock ran out and we entered halftime.
Start of the second half, our offense came out ready to stop rolling over like a bunch of corpses, quickly getting a first down in two plays to get us out to our 45 yard line, before Mallary was again called on to take the ball on the ground. This time, he was able to break five tackles as he took it up the middle, juked out the safety, and was able to race the rest of the way to the end zone for a 55 yard touchdown run to pull us back within 3 points. Then things finally started to go our way, as Jonathan Cyprien was able to strip the ball loose on the next Mean Green drive and recover it for us, giving us the ball right back on the North Texas 38 yard line. Of course, that would be too easy for us. Leave it to good old Medlock to say F U to our offense, throwing another interception four plays later on the North Texas 6 yard line. Thankfully our defense actually did their job for a chance, and allowed only 4 yards before forcing a North Texas punt.
This time we were able to actually do something, as Medlock decided to throw to one of our own players for a change, and we were able to eventually make our way down to the North Texas 1 yard line once again. And thankfully Mallary was able to actually get that one yard on a single play this time, rather than needing three plays like the last time. Somehow, things continued to actually go our way, as the North Texas halfback proceeded to fumble the ball on 1st down of their next drive, giving us the ball back on their 17 yard line, and putting us in great shape to extend on our new 4 point lead. We were able to find the end zone again four plays later as Medlock was able to find Junior Mertile in the back of the end zone for a 4 yard touchdown pass to bring our lead up to 11 points. North Texas was able to get deep into our territory on their next drive, thanks in part to a 30 yard pass on 3rd down, but our defense eventually forced three straight incomplete passes from our 14 yard line, forcing the Mean Green to kick a 31 yard field goal.
Our offense would again find success on the ground on our next drive. Clearly the rushing game would be the only reason we would have a chance of winning today. Throughout a drive that saw the third quarter end and the fourth quarter begin, we went on a 12 play drive that consisted on 10 rushes, ending in Mallary punching it in from 2 yards out. A pair of sacks for a combined loss of 10 yards would erase any good a 14 yard pass would do, and North Texas was forced to punt in only three plays on their ensuing drive, giving us the ball back. Or so we thought, until our stupid punt returner fumbled the ball and gave North Texas just fantastic field position at our own damn 32 yard line. Nothing like a freaking 40 yard gain thanks to a fumbled punt. 
Somehow our defense would actually manage to force them to turn the ball over on downs, finally actually giving us the ball back with just over 6 minutes left and a 15 point lead. We would get as far as the 40 yard line before sending the punt team back onto the field.
The response from North Texas was easily guessable. Passing and more passing. Their drive last 7 plays and covered 76 yards, and all of that on a whole three completed passes. 4 incomplete passes, and completed passes of 26 yards, 28 yards, and 22 yards (for a TD) were all that their drive consisted of. Our defense seriously is worth jack against the pass. And of course, they converted the two-point conversion attempt to pull within 7 with 2:16 left to play. Of course, go figure, we proceed to go three and out and give the ball back with 1:44 left to play. Thankfully our defense decided to actually step up for a chance, as Emmanuel Souarin intercepted a North Texas pass at the 26 yard line and returned it back for a touchdown to give us a 14 point lead again with 1:33 left to play. North Texas was able to get out as far as their 37 yard line before they turned the ball over on downs as they gained a mere two yards in four plays after their last first down.
After North Texas decided to call their only remaining time out with 33 seconds left to play as I tried to run down the clock, I decided to say screw it and tried to put it in the end zone one last time. Unfortunately we would get only as close as the 2 yard line before throwing three straight incomplete passes. We would walk away from the drive with a victory nonetheless as Griffin would tack on a 19 yard field goal as time expired. With the win, we improve to 3-2 on the year, 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. North Texas falls to 0-4 for the season and 0-1 in the Sun Belt.
Up next for the Golden Panthers, we return home to take on Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers enter the game 0-6 on the season, 0-3 in Sun Belt Conference play. Western Kentucky opened their year with a 38-3 loss at #3 Alabama, then lost at Kentucky 34-7, followed by a 42-7 loss at Hawaii. They opened up conference play with a 31-13 loss to Middle Tennessee State, a 24-17 loss to Louisiana-Monroe, before getting shut out 37-0 at Florida Atlantic.
Final Score
48,
31
Stat(s) of the Game:
FIU Offense – Medlock sucks, the running game was god this game.
FIU Defense – No comment.
FIU Kicking – Made some field goals but his kicking range sucks.
Scoring Summary
| Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
| |
3 |
7 |
21 |
17 |
48 |
| |
7 |
13 |
3 |
8 |
31 |
| Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
| First Quarter |
| 5:23 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Griffin, 21 yard field goal |
3-0 |
| 3:07 |
|
Touchdown |
W. Taylor, 2 yard pass from R. Dodge (Z. Olen kick) |
7-3 |
|
| Second Quarter |
| 7:57 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Byrd, 4 yard run (Z. Olen kick) |
14-3 |
| 5:48 |
|
Field Goal |
Z.Olen, 18 yard field goal |
17-3 |
| 2:43 |
|
Field Goal |
Z. Olen, 47 yard field goal |
20-3 |
| 0:55 |
|
Touchdown |
J. Harden, 1 yard run (J. Griffin kick) |
20-3 |
|
| Third Quarter |
| 8:01 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Mallary, 55 yard run (J. Griffin kick) |
20-17 |
| 5:24 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Mallary, 1 yard run (J. Griffin kick) |
24-20 |
| 4:01 |
|
Touchdown |
J. Mertile, 4 yard pass from J. Medlock (J. Griffin kick) |
31-20 |
| 2:20 |
|
Field Goal |
Z. Olen, 31 yard field goal |
31-23 |
|
| Fourth Quarter |
| 7:44 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Mallary, 2 yard run (J. Griffin kick) |
38-23 |
| 2:16 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Carey, 22 yard pass from R. Dodge (2-point conversion) |
38-31 |
| 1:33 |
|
Touchdown |
E. Souarin, returned interception 25 yards (J. Griffin kick) |
45-31 |
| 0:00 |
|
Field Goal |
J. Griffin, 19 yard field goal |
48-31 |
| Florida International |
Stat |
North Texas |
| 48 |
Score |
31 |
| 19 |
First Downs |
20 |
| 519 |
Total Offense |
471 |
| 39-258-4 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
33-139-1 |
| 16-35-1 |
Comp - Att - TD |
22-50-2 |
| 261 |
Passing Yards |
332 |
| 0 |
Times Sacked |
3 |
| 7-15 (46%) |
3rd Down Conv |
11-21 (52%) |
| 1-1 (100%) |
4th Down Conv |
2-4 (50%) |
| 0-0 (0%) |
2-Point Conv |
1-1 (100%) |
| 8-4-2 (75%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
4-2-2 (100%) |
| 3 |
Turnovers |
3 |
| 1 |
Fumbles Losts |
2 |
| 2 |
Intercepted |
1 |
| 7 |
Punt Return Yards |
19 |
| 108 |
Kick Return Yards |
76 |
| 634 |
Total Yards |
566 |
| 3 - 46.7 |
Punts - Average |
3 - 44.3 |
| 2 - 15 |
Penalties |
2 - 10 |
| 20:56 |
Time of Possession |
15:04 |
| Fail Impact |
Goal |
Progress |
Pass Impact |
 |
500+ rushing yards in each season |
2/3 Passed |
 |
|
Win 8 games in one season |
3 |
|
|
2000+ total offensive yards in each season |
2/3 Passed |
|
| |
7+ passing TD in one season |
 |
|
|
10+ points per game in each season |
33 PPG |
|
| |
2400+ total offensive yards in one season |
|
|
 |
Win 4 games in one season |
|
 |
 |
2000+ total offensive yards in one season |
|
|
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