Adrian Benitez | Staff Writer
For being the game in which the FIU football team wore their 2024 FIU Vice uniforms, even bringing a yacht out onto the field, their contest against the Sam Houston Bearkats was a surprisingly boring affair.
The game remained a scoreless tie until the 6:38 mark of the third quarter, the longest that any FBS football game has remained scoreless in the entire 2024 season.
Junior quarterback Chayden Peery had become the main man under center midway through the game, the first time he’d ever seen the field in his collegiate career.
Eventually, he got a chance to lead the Panthers, down 10-7, on a game-winning drive with only 1:50 left on the clock. To orchestrate a game-winning drive in his first-ever college game would be storybook material.
This was the climax of the FIU football team’s clash against the Sam Houston Bearkats, which occurred on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 at Pitbull Stadium in Miami.
Sam Houston’s starting quarterback, junior Hunter Watson, missed the game due to injury. Junior Jase Bauer took the start in his place.
FIU’s offense got off to a bad start, to say the least. Sophomore quarterback Keyone Jenkins was intercepted on his first pass of the game. Senior linebacker Kavian Gaither returned the pick to the 27-yard line, putting the defense in a hole on their first series.
The defense showed up when it mattered, able to hold the Bearkats to a field goal attempt that banged off the right upright, miraculously keeping points off the board.
Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t take advantage of their mulligan. They made it just past the 50 before going for it on fourth down and getting stuffed, giving the defense a second straight drive starting in their own territory.
Once again, the defense came to the rescue. The Bearkats could only muster a second consecutive missed field goal.
After that, the game was punctuated with ineffectiveness from both offenses. Punts and failed fourth-down attempts defined most of the half. In particular, the Bearkats burned 8 minutes on a drive in the second quarter only to be stopped right at the goal line.
On the Panthers’ final drive of the half, Jenkins was subbed out. Peery took the reins of the offense.
The 0-0 scoreline at the break meant this was the first time that FIU participated in a game that was scoreless at half since 2017. It was Sam Houston’s first since 2003.
After more floundering on offense, senior defensive back Jaylon Jimmerson blocked a Panthers punt before promptly picking up the ball and running it down to the three-yard line. Freshman running back DJ McKinney took it in to give the Bearkats the lead.
After this, the Panthers finally responded on offense. Peery drove down the field before finding junior wide receiver Eric Rivers in the endzone for a 28-yard touchdown. It was the first touchdown pass of Peery’s career.
The defense came through yet again to force a punt, putting the offense back on the field with a chance to take the lead with just under 12 minutes remaining. Unfortunately, they couldn’t capitalize, and Sam Houston got the ball back with 8:02 left in the game.
The Bearkats would drive down the field, killing time before kicking a field goal to take a 10-7 lead. The Panthers would get the ball back with 1:50 to go in the game, and Peery would have a chance to win the game for the Panthers.
Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. A successful 4th down conversion was wiped off the board after a holding call, and the next 4th down attempt was incomplete. Sam Houston would escape Pitbull Stadium with a 10-7 win.
There’s a discussion that can be had on whether or not the holding call was correct, but besides that, there aren’t really many words to say about this performance. It’s another game defined by squandered opportunities from the Panthers.
With the Panthers at 2-6, they’re now completely against the wall in regards to bowl qualification. Needing to win out, the team has a big wall to climb. They can make it happen, but it will need a resolve that we haven’t yet seen from the team this year.
Head coach Mike MacIntyre spoke about the decision to make a change at quarterback.
“Keyone was a little erratic. He didn’t practice as much this week, and just wasn’t in the flow, and we felt like we had a better chance going with Chayden. All credit to Keyone, but he just didn’t get to practice. He fought through that injury and just wasn’t feeling it.”
COACH MIKE MACINTYRE
MacIntrye addressed frustration from the players after a subpar offensive performance, which included going 2-for-14 on third down.
“Oh, they’re frustrated. There wasn’t any outburst or anything like that going on. But, I mean, if they’re not frustrated, something’s wrong, right? So we’ll keep working on it and find a way to try to fix it, and keep going.”
MacIntrye also talked about missed opportunities for wins over the past few weeks.
“I love this team. I still believe we’re really good. I mean, we played four games in a row and only won one, and should have, could have won all of them. It’s tough, but they keep believing, they keep fighting, and we come back against New Mexico State a week from now, so we’ll go from there.”
With the Panthers having no more room for error, they will return to Pitbull Stadium to face the New Mexico State Aggies on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024.
Follow Adrian Benitez on X: @ab305FIU
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