MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- The misery FIU endured against Middle Tennessee in a 48-21 loss Saturday afternoon could have been captured in one play.

Blue Raiders quarterback Dwight Dasher was about to be corralled by a couple of Golden Panthers midway through the second quarter.

FIU was about to stop a Middle Tennessee drive for just the second time in the first half, but as Dasher was falling to the ground, he flipped a shovel pass to running back D.D. Kyles.

Kyles, who was buried among the FIU defenders, escaped and ran 30 yards to the FIU 16.

Two plays later, Dasher found Patrick Honeycutt for a 9-yard touchdown that put Middle Tennessee ahead 31-0.

``We knew their weapons and we tried to stop them and they hit us with those weapons any way,'' FIU coach Mario Cristobal said. ``Dwight Dasher got off to a great start. He got himself pretty hot and we didn't find a way to slow him down until the end of the first half.''

Dasher combined for 360 yards of total offense and five touchdowns -- three rushing, two passing -- to hurt FIU (2-7, 2-4 Sun Belt) again.

The Blue Raiders (6-3. 4-1) rushed for 385 yards -- a season-high against FIU and the fifth-most by an FIU opponent in the program's eight-year history. Middle Tennessee tallied 587 yards of total offense -- also a season-high against FIU and also the fifth-most ever by an FIU opponent. Two years ago, in a 47-6 win over FIU, Dasher also accounted for five touchdowns.

`HEART AND SOUL'

``We didn't play assignment football early on,'' FIU linebacker Scott Bryant said. ``Dasher is the heart and soul of their offense. Once we stop him, we basically stop them. We lost containment early in the ball game.''

Middle Tennessee didn't waste any time putting away FIU. In the Blue Raiders' first four scoring drives, they needed four plays or less to score and go up 24-0 early in the second quarter. On the third play of the game, Dasher gashed FIU with a 70-yard touchdown run to open the scoring. The Blue Raiders partially blocked an FIU punt before their second possession.

Three plays later, Dasher connected with Sancho McDonald on a 27-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 lead.

Without starting quarterback Paul McCall, who missed the game with a hyper-extended elbow sustained last week, the Panthers struggled to move the ball. Backup Wayne Younger got the start and made some plays with his feet early on, but it wasn't enough. FIU could only get into Middle Tennessee territory twice in the first half. The first time, the Blue Raiders blocked a Dustin Rivest field goal. Younger fumbled the second time at the Middle Tennessee 37 and the Blue Raiders recovered.

``We started off a little slower than we wanted to,'' said Younger, who was 14-of-38 for 178 yards and three interceptions. ``They bring pressure from a lot of places. They jumped up their scheme this year. We knew it was going to come, we just didn't hit it the way we wanted to.''

The Panthers came out strong in the second half, intercepting Dasher twice. O'Darris D'Haiti returned the first interception to the Middle Tennessee 8.

BERRY'S SHINING MOMENTS

Running back Kendall Berry, who led FIU with 103 yards rushing and three touchdowns, scored his second touchdown of the game, making it 34-14.

After an interception by Jeremiah Weatherspoon and a three-and-out by Middle Tennessee, the Panthers capitalized and scored their third touchdown.

Berry rushed in from 4 yards for his third score and FIU was down by 34-21. However, FIU could not muster any offense the rest of the game.