Mario Busto/ Contributing Writer
Injuries, penalties, and special team mishaps overruled any benefit mother nature and a stifling Panther’s defense provided to FIU in a game that ended 28-21 in favor of the Louisville Cardinals.
After an early Louisville touchdown, FIU’s offense responded with a score of their own when Darian Mallary punched one in from three yards out, his sixth of the season.
Mallary would leave the game on the next drive due to what appeared to be a concussion.
On the very next possession, Jonathan Cyprien intercepted a Teddy Bridgewater pass, Bridgewater’s fist of the season.
“I just tried my best to cover in the pass game,” said Cyprien. “We have great defensive lineman who give all the defensive backs a great chance to break on the ball and to make reads on the quarterback.”
With the Panther defense holding the Cardinals to just seven points, FIU took a 14-7 lead with 7:08 remaining in the second quarter on a one-yard rushing touchdown by Jake Medlock.
Tacking onto the toll of injuries, Medlock suffered a fractured foot on the touchdown run and did not return for the remainder of the game. The recovery time for the injury is still uncertain.
Following a controversial personal foul on Jonathan Cyprien, the Cardinals marched the ball down the field 77 yards and into the end zone with a 1 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andrell Smith.
The questionable personal foul call on Cyprien gave the Louisville offense, which had been stagnant up until that point, a fresh set of downs and rhythm in their passing game. The game went into halftime tied at 14.
“That’s one thing I really can’t get into, in terms of penalties like that,” said Cristobal. “I wouldn’t change anything that Jonathan did; he’s running at a 100 miles an hour, he’s being physical. I felt he was low enough where he put his facemask on the receiver’s chest; that’s the discretion of the official.”
After forcing Louisville to punt, FIU punt returner Sam Miller went back to return. While attempting to return it, Miller muffed the punt and it was recovered by the Cardinals.
“A costly one today, especially [when] the defense comes out and gets a three and out,” said Cristobal. “He misjudged it. Sam’s working his butt off, he didn’t feel the ball. You turn over the ball like that, especially after a three and out, it can hurt you.”
The Cardinals turned that turnover into points when Jeremy Wright ran into the end zone from six yards out.
Getting his first real-game action following the Cardinal touchdown was freshman quarterback E.J. Hilliard. No other situation would be more fitting for Hilliard to start his collegiate career than playing against the quarterback he played behind at Northwestern, Teddy Bridgewater.
Making up for the loss of Medlock, Hilliard took the ball 62 yards on his first career drive and deep into the Cardinal red zone. However, the offense turned the ball over on downs when instead of going for a field goal; they decided to go for it on fourth-and-1.
“I think the best thing I could ever do as a coach is if they have a chance to make a fourth-and-1, go ahead and do it,” said Cristobal. “We didn’t get it [this time], we have gotten other ones. Were [going to] keep staying aggressive and playing with trust.”
Following the FIU turnover, the Cardinals extended their lead 28-14 with a 1 yard rushing touchdown by Bridgewater.
Taking advantage of another turnover caused by the defense, Hilliard tossed a perfectly thrown fade to Jacob Younger in the back corner of the end zone that brought the score to 28-21.
“It’s a lot to ask of a guy to go right in there and play right away in his first year,” said Cristobal. “Once [E.J.] settled down he did some things that are certainly going to have to help us win football games going forward.”
Down by seven and With 4:54 left on the clock following the FIU score, the Panther defense came up with yet another big stop at the most crucial point of the game.
However, once again the special teams gave a huge break to Louisville after a roughing the kicker penalty gave the Cardinals a new set of downs, which gave the Cardinals all they needed to run out the clock.
“They did a real good job, forced a couple turnovers, [and played] really well against the run for long stretches,” said Cristobal. “They played very physical against the number 18 ranked team in the country. It’s definitely a tremendous step for our defense. We’re starting to look more and more like the team that we can be, especially facing the competition that we did today.”
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