--- After three tough non-conference losses to open the season, it was finally time to begin conference play. The big part of today's game, was that someone, somebody was going to walk away with a win. We entered the game sitting at 0-3 for the year, North Texas came in at 0-4, so someone was going to finally get over the hump. The rain was pouring down in buckets today, so the weather could end up having an effect on the outcome. North Texas won the coin toss and elected to kick, getting things underway.
Our first offensive drive of the game got off to a great start, as a penalty on the kickoff team gave us the ball at our own 37 yard line to start the game. Storm Johnson needed little time to get started off on the right foot, picking up 7 yards on first down, along with 1 yard on second down. However, an incomplete pass on third down would bring our drive suddenly to an end, and bring out the punt team. The Mean Green appeared ready to jump on the momentum early, as Brandin Byrd broke a 9 yard run on first down, but losses of 1 and 2 yards on consecutive carries left North Texas in a fourth and 6 hole and brought about their first punt of the game. A short punt by North Texas gave our second offense drive yet more great field position to start from, as we began on our own 42 yard line. Rushes for 2 and 3 yards by Johnson got us started, but on third and 5, Jake Medlock threw an interception directly into the hands of safety Kerry Swarn, who returned the interception and returned it 7 yards out to the North Texas 45 yard line. The Mean Green got some free help from our defense, as they were flagged for an offside penalty on first down. A 4 yard rush by Byrd set up third and 1, until quarterback Derek Thompson got tackled for a loss of 3 yards, forcing North Texas to punt once more.
Unlike our previous two drives, this time North Texas' punt team pinned us deep, as we started from our own 9 yard line. Johnson was only able to manage 1 yard on first down, before a pair of incomplete passes quickly brought our drive to an end. A 40 yard punt returned for 9 yards gave North Texas incredible field position, beginning their drive on our own 39 yard line. Thompson wasted little time, connecting with Charlie Jackson for a 28 yard pass on first down, giving the Mean Green a new set of downs on our 11 yard line. A 3 yard rush by Thompson on first down, followed by an incomplete pass, set up third and 7, where Thompson only needed one play, an 8 yard touchdown pass to Jackson to give the Mean Green a 7-0 lead with 4 minutes left to play in the first quarter.
A 20 yard kickoff return by Johnson set our offense up on our own 22 yard line, with Medlock wasting little time to get us moving, hitting Dominique Rhymes across the middle for an 18 yard gain. After a 1 yard gain by Darrian Mallary, Medlock again went to the air, finding Willis Wright along the right hash marks for a 22 yard gain, giving us first down on the North Texas 40 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Medlock again found Wright in the middle of the field, this time for a gain of 14 yards. After another incomplete pass on first down, Medlock kept it going through the air, connecting with Wayne Times along the right sideline for a 21 yard pass, giving us first and goal at the Mean Green 5 yard line. After a 2 yard rush by Mallary was brought to an end pretty quickly, we went back to the air on second and goal, with Medlock finally Mallary open in the right flats for a 3 yard touchdown pass, making it a 7-7 tie with 1:07 left to play in the first quarter. North Texas tried to find a response, as Thompson and Byrd combined for 5 yards on the ground, but a thrown away pass on third down forced another North Texas punt, giving us back possession on our 22 yard line. Mallary gained 1 yard on the ground on the first play of our drive, which was enough for the final 19 seconds to tick off, bring the first quarter to an end, knotted up at 7 a piece.
Start of the second quarter, Medlock was able to find Mallary along the left sideline for an 8 yard gain, setting up third and 1, when our offense was given a helping hand, thanks to a pass interference penalty by the Mean Green defense, making it first and 10 at the 50 yard line. After a pair of incomplete passes, a sack for a loss of 7 yards would bring our drive quickly screeching to a halt, and bring out our punt team yet again. After a 39 yard punt, North Texas found themselves at their own 22 yard line, and quickly began to move the ball, thanks in part to our defense, giving them 5 free yards from an offside penalty. Byrd then broke off rushes of 6, 3 , and 6 yards to make it first and 10 at the North Texas 42 yard line. They would start going backwards however, as Byrd got tackled for losses of 3 and 2 yards on consecutive carries, followed by an incomplete pass, making it fourth and 15 on the 37 yard line. The North Texas punt team came on, but our defense decided they hadn’t done enough yet, instead getting flagged for roughing the punter, giving the North Texas new life at our 48 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Thompson managed to scramble from the pressure and pick up 6 yards to make it third and 4, but an incomplete pass would force the punt team out a second time. A 39 yard punt, and some help to North Texas from our defense, left our offense to fend for itself on our own 3 yard line.
We were able to get a little breathing room, as Medlock found Johnson for a 10 yard gain on first down, but three straight incomplete passes brought drive quickly to an end. An only 38 yard punt from Hagen, and North Texas was back in business on their 49 yard line. The Mean Green appeared ready to take advantage of the midfield field position, as Byrd rushed for gains of 7 and 5 yards. However, a holding penalty on first down pushed the North Texas offense back 10 yards, forcing Thompson to take a shot downfield, where the ball was intercepted by cornerback Khambrel McGee, who returned it out to our 26 yard line. After an 8 yard pass to Johnson to set up second and 2, Johnson was able to plow through the line for a 2 yard gain, giving us a new set of downs. Medlock threw an incomplete pass on first down, but the North Texas defense broke down on the next play, as the safety failed to cover Rhymes, letting him run right past and get wide open along the left hash marks, for a 26 yard gain, giving us first down at the North Texas 38 yard line. A 9 yard pass to Johnson set up second and 1 at the North Texas 29 yard line, which was all Johnson would need, as he was able to get through the line, break two tackles, and then outrun the defense to the end zone for a 29 yard touchdown, making it 14-7 with 3 minutes left in the first half.
North Texas would come out looking ready to respond as they started their drive at the 20 yard line. Jackson got things started off with a 6 yard rush, followed by rushes of 2, 5, 7 and 4 yards all by Byrd, giving North Texas first and 10 at their 44 yard line. Thompson started to get involved, throwing a 7 yard pass to Jackson and a 2 yard pass to Jason Hopkins, before Byrd picked up 4 yards on the ground for another North Texas first down at our 43 yard line. The Mean Green returned to the ground, with Byrd rushing for 4 yards, a 5 yard gain by Thompson, and a 5 yard gain by Byrd, making it first and 10 at our 29 yard line. Despite an incomplete pass on first down, the Mean Green got help from our defense yet again, with a pass interference penalty, giving North Texas a new set of downs at our 14 yard line. Despite tackling Byrd for a loss of 2 yards on first down, the defense decided they again wanted to help, getting flagged for being offside, erasing the previous play and making it second and 7 at our 11 yard line. A rush attempt by Thompson also ended in a 2 yard loss, before an incomplete pass left North Texas facing fourth and 7. They would attempt the 33 yard field goal, but it ended up being shanked to the right, giving us the ball back at our 20 yard line with 20 seconds left in the half.
Despite being on our 20 yard line with only 20 seconds left, we decided to take a chance and try to extend our lead going into halftime. On first down, Medlock found Wright along the right hash mark for a 36 yard gain to the North Texas 44, followed by a quick timeout with 13 seconds left. An incomplete pass on first down left us with 8 seconds left, before Wright tried to make his case for player of the game, hauling in a 27 yard pass along the right sideline, giving us first and 10 at the North Texas 17 yard line with 2 seconds left to play. Following a quick timeout, Yusef Hagen, as time expired, kicked a 34 yard field goal to give us a 17-7 lead going into the locker room.
Start of the third quarter, North Texas came out looking to get back the momentum, starting on their 17 yard line after a 23 yard kickoff return. Byrd got things underway with a 5 yard rush, before our defense helped out, getting flagged twice for two 5 yard penalties, making it first and 10 at the North Texas 33 yard line. Two rushes for 5 and 6 yards by Thompson kept the drive moving at the North Texas 44 yard line, before a loss of one yard by Brelan Chancellor made it second and 11. Byrd quickly regained that yard, breaking a 7 yard run, before Thompson hit Hopkins for a 5 yard gain, giving North Texas a new set of downs at our 45 yard line. A 9 yard pass to Chancellor on second and 10 was setback with a sack for a loss of 5 yards, but that sack was immediately offset when our defense got called for offside, giving those 5 yards right back, before a 3 yard rush by Byrd gave North Texas another first down. Rushes of 3 and 4 yards by Byrd and an incomplete pass by Thompson left North Texas facing fourth and 3 from our 26 yard line. The Mean Green chose to go for it, with Byrd converting the fourth down attempt with a 7 yard rush to keep the drive alive. A 2 yard rush by Byrd and a pair of incomplete passes, and the Mean Green would finally settle for a field goal attempt, as Edward Bush kicked the 34 yard field goal to make it 17-10 with 5:25 left in the quarter.
A 22 yard kickoff return by Mallary gave our offense a decent starting point, as we began our drive at the 27 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Medlock was able to find Wright through a gap in the coverage, connecting for a 36 yard gain to give us first down at the North Texas 37 yard line. The next play, Medlock found Glenn Coleman breaking free across the middle for a 30 yard gain down to the 7 yard line. On the following play, the Mean Green brought the house, trying to overwhelm our line, but Medlock was able to dump the pass of to Johnson, who caught it at the one yard line before getting stood up by #39, making it second and goal at the North Texas 1 yard line. Johnson would only need one attempt to find the end zone, running it off tackle on second down. While Johnson was met at the goal line by two North Texas defenders, as they taking him to the ground, Johnson was able to roll forward over top one of them and fall into the end zone for the touchdown, giving us a 24-10 lead with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
Starting their next drive on their own 22 yard line, North Texas wasted little time in finding a response. Byrd got the drive kicked off with a 5 yard rush, followed by an 8 yard rush by Thompson to get a first down at their 35 yard line. An 18 yard pass to Chancellor advanced the ball to our 47 yard line. A 4 yard rush by Thompson on first down and a second pass to Chancellor for 12 yards, giving North Texas a new set of downs at our 31 yard line. The Mean Green temporarily went backwards, as Byrd was tackled for a two yard loss on first down, but Thompson immediately rectified that with an 18 yard pass to Marcus Smith, for a first down at our 15 yard line. A 12 yard pass to Luis Wallace would give North Texas first and goal at our 3 yard line. Thompson would use just one play, scrambling in from three yards out, to strike the responding touchdown and make it 24-17 with 1:50 left in the third quarter. Starting our drive on our own 27 yard line, Johnson found some immediate success with a 10 yard gain on the ground. Hoping to keep the ground game going, we tried two more rushing attempts, but Johnson could only tally 3 total yards, leaving us facing third and 7. For the second time of the game, the safety blew his assignment, letting Rhymes go running right past him, and leaving Rhymes completely uncovered along the left hash marks for a 26 yard gain, giving us a first down at the North Texas 33 yard line. The final 14 seconds ticked off the clock and the third quarter came to an end with a 24-17 FIU lead.
The start of the fourth quarter, our offense continued right where we left off as Johnson picked up 11 yards on the ground to get us down to the North Texas 22 yard line. After a 1 yard rush by Johnson and an incomplete pass, on third and 9, Medlock found Coleman on a curl route along the left sideline for a 15 yard gain to give us first and goal at the 6 yard line. On the very next play, Medlock found Wright over the middle in the back of the end zone, dropping the pass in right over the middle linebacker’s head, for a 6 yard touchdown pass. Wright was able to catch and just get a foot down before being pushed out the back of the end zone, to give us a 31-17 lead with 7:48 left in the game. North Texas knew they were in a hole, and tried to respond back. Thompson got them started off with a 9 yard pass to Chancellor. After an incomplete pass, a 5 yard pass to Lane gave them first down at the 34 yard line. A 4 yard rush by Byrd left them with second and 4 at the 38, but a sack for a loss of 10 yards left in a third and 4 hole from the 28. Thompson needed only one pass to erase that, hitting Byrd for a 29 yard completion to get the first down at our 43 yard line. Shelton Gandy gained 5 yards on the ground, getting down to our 38, before rushes for a 2 yard loss by both Thompson and Byrd left North Texas with fourth and 9 from our 42 yard line. Thompson’s fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete and North Texas turned the ball over on downs with 5:40 left to play.
Trying to run down the clock, we took to the ground game, but were only able to go two play before having the air it out again, as Johnson could only manage 3 yards on two carries. Medlock was able to convert the third and 7, with a 17 yard pass to Johnson when the defense bit to a fake on the left side, allowing Johnson to run past all of them and get open over the middle, giving us first and 10 at the North Texas 38 yard line. Going back to the ground game, Johnson picked up 3 yards on first down, before our offense got flagged for delay of game, erasing that gain. On second and 12, Johnson was able to cut the yardage in half with a 6 yard gain, making it third and 6 from the North Texas 34 yard line. Instead of airing it out, we decided to let Johnson try to run the clock down further. Instead, Johnson decided to seal the game right there, as he plow through the line, broke through a tackle, and outran the pursuing defense all the way to the corner of the end zone for a 34 yard touchdown. Hagen would miss extra point, making it 37-17 with 2:03 left to play in the game.
North Texas, facing a 20 point deficit with only 2 minutes left to play, wasted no time to moving down the field from their own 23 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Thompson found Chancellor for a 33 yard gain, advancing the ball to our 44 yard line. The next play, Thompson found Chancellor again on an 8 yard pass, making it second and 2 from our 36. After an incomplete pass, our defense helped out, being called for pass interference, with the damage being 12 yards against our defense. With a new set of downs, Thompson found Chancellor yet again for a 14 yard completion, giving the Mean Green first and goal at our 10 yard line. One play later, Thompson connected with Johnny Lane for a 10 yard touchdown pass, making it 37-24 with 1:02 left to play. The onside kick attempt by North Texas was recovered by our return team, giving us the ball on the North Texas 43 yard line with 58 seconds left.
With a 13 point lead and only 58 seconds left to play, and first down on the North Texas 43 yard line, Medlock only needed to kneel the ball a couple times to end the game. After kneeling the ball on first down, North Texas however was not about to let that happen, choosing to call the first of their still remaining three timeouts, trying to keep the game going. With North Texas using their timeouts, we had no choice but to rush the ball. Johnson picked up 11 yards on the next play, making it third and 1 and another North Texas timeout, stopping the clock with 52 seconds left to play. Johnson tried to pick up that one last yard on third down but got stuffed at the line for no gain. North Texas’ third and final timeout stopped the clock with 48 seconds left to play, our offense facing fourth and 1 at the Mean Green 34 yard line. Deciding to keep our faith in the hands of Johnson, the offensive line came through on their blocks, giving Johnson a huge hole to penetrate and pick up 8 yards, getting the first down and securing us the victory. A kneel by Medlock with 16 seconds left was all that was needed and the game came to an end. While Wright did do his best to be named the player of the game, ending the day with 141 yards receiving on 6 receptions and one touchdown, it was Storm Johnson, instead, who took home the player of the game honors, ending with 135 yards rushing on 21 carries, three rushing touchdowns, 51 yards receiving on 5 receptions, and 26 yards in returns with a single kickoff and single punt return, ending the day with 212 all-purpose yards.
With the win, we improve to 1-3 on the season, 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. With the loss, North Texas drops to 0-5, 0-1 in Sun Belt play. Up next, we go back on the road to take on Western Kentucky, who enters the game at 1-5, 1-2 in the Sun Belt. Western Kentucky opened up their year with a 43-10 loss at kentucky, followed by a 51-3 rout at Tennessee. When they finally played their first home game, they found a 28-17 loss from Navy awaiting them. The following week, they broke into the win column with a 31-10 win at Mid Tennessee State, before losing 22-17 at Louisiana-Monroe and 42-25 at home to Florida Atlantic.
Final Score
37,
24
Stat(s) of the Game:
- FIU Offense – After those first couple drives and that interception, Medlock turned it around nicely, passing fairly well the rest of the game, and throwing two touchdown passes. Hopefully he can carry that into the next game. Storm Johnson finally got a chance to unleash the beast inside him. While North Texas was able to keep our running game grounded for a good portion of the game, Johnson was still able to reel off 135 yards rushing with 6.4 yards per carry average, and be a dual threat with 51 yards receiving with a 10.2 yards per reception average. If Johnson keeps those number productions up, he could be first team All-Sun Belt by season's end.
- FIU Defense – I don't know if our defense was trying to help us win or help North Texas win. Of the 86 yards in penalties we had against us, 81 of those yards were from our defense, including some incredibly stupid penalties that kept drives alive. Then in the fourth quarter, when North Texas had to move the ball, they were like a sieve, just letting the Mean Green get yards left and right. They are going to hurt us the rest of this year.
- FIU Kicker Yusef Hagen – Exactly like I thought, Jack Griffin 2.0. He did go 1 for 1 in field goals, kicking a 34 yarder, but missed his last extra point to go 4 for 5 in PATs. He is good for pretty much all be one or two kicks per game. He's going to miss a field goal or a PAT every game, sometime both. I just hope we don't have to rely on him to win us a game, because my faith in him is weak.
Scoring Summary
| Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
7 |
0 |
10 |
7 |
24 |
|
7 |
10 |
7 |
13 |
37 |
| Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
| First Quarter |
| 4:00 |
|
Touchdown |
C. Jackson, 8 yard pass from D. Thompson (E. Bush kick) |
7-0 |
| 1:07 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Mallary, 3 yard pass from J. Medlock (Y. Hagen kick) |
TIED 7-7 |
|
| Second Quarter |
| 3:00 |
|
Touchdown |
S. Johnson, 29 yard run (Y. Hagen kick) |
14-7 |
| 0:00 |
|
Field Goal |
Y. Hagen, 34 yard field goal |
17-7 |
|
| Third Quarter |
| 5:25 |
|
Field Goal |
E. Bush, 33 yard field goal |
17-10 |
| 3:54 |
|
Touchdown |
S. Johnson, 1 yard run (Y. Hagen kick) |
24-10 |
| 1:44 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Thompson, 3 yard run (E. Bush kick) |
24-17 |
|
| Fourth Quarter |
| 7:48 |
|
Touchdown |
W. Wright, 6 yard pass from J. Medlock (Y. Hagen kick) |
31-17 |
| 2:03 |
|
Touchdown |
S. Johnson, 34 yard run (missed kick) |
37-17 |
| 1:02 |
|
Touchdown |
J. Lane, 10 yard pass from D. Thompson (E. Bush kick) |
37-24 |
| North Texas |
Stat |
Florida International |
| 24 |
Score |
37 |
| 21 |
First Downs |
20 |
| 370 |
Total Offense |
468 |
| 45 - 145 - 1 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
29 - 129- 3 |
| 18 - 36 - 2 |
Comp - Att - TD |
19 - 34 - 2 |
| 225 |
Passing Yards |
339 |
| 2 |
Times Sacked |
1 |
| 7 - 18 (38%) |
3rd Down Conversion |
6 - 12 (50%) |
| 2 - 3 (66%) |
4th Down Conversion |
1 - 1 (100%) |
| 0 - 0 (0%) |
2-Point Conv |
0 - 0 (0%) |
| 6 - 3 - 1 (66%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
9 - 3 - 1 (44%) |
| 1 |
Turnovers |
1 |
| 0 |
Fumbles Lost |
0 |
| 1 |
Intercepted |
1 |
| 13 |
Punt Return Yards |
6 |
| 92 |
Kick Return Yards |
83 |
| 475 |
Total Yards |
557 |
| 4 – 40.8 |
Punts - Average |
4 - 39.0 |
| 3 - 32 |
Penalties |
11 - 86 |
| 16:40 |
Time of Possession |
19:20 |
| Fail Impact |
Goal |
Progress |
Pass Impact |
 |
500+ rushing yards in each season |
380 |
 |
|
Win 8 games in one season |
 |
|
|
2000+ total offensive yards in each season |
1570 |
|
|
7+ passing TD in one season |
|
|
|
10+ points per game in each season |
22 PPG |
|
|
2400+ total offensive yards in one season |
|
|
 |
Win 4 games in one season |
|
 |
 |
2000+ total offensive yards in one season |
|
|
Reply With Quote
Could have been in a good position if those couple times I was down inside the Louisville 5 yard, I had actually managed to score a touchdown, or ANYTHING. But, our offensive woes continue to kill our season. We kept it close for a quarter and a half, then Louisville remembered who they were and actually started whooping us like they have the past two years. Not much else to say about that. I just hope to God the Sun Belt Conference sucks ass again this year so I might actually have a chance to win games.
West Virginia drops to 0-6, 0-5 in the Big 12, after a 38-31 loss to 2-1 Kansas. Similarly to Jaymo, Arizona State now stands at 0-5 for the year following a 23-7 loss to 1-4 Washington State.
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
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