Shake hands with FIU defensive lineman Tourek Williams and you notice how big are the freshman's hands.

Williams' large left hand got up high enough in overtime to block a 29-yard field-goal attempt by Louisiana-Lafayette kicker Tyler Albrecht and secure a 20-17 overtime win for the Golden Panthers on Saturday afternoon.

``A big part of the block was the big D-tackles we have in the middle,'' said Williams, a 6-4, former Miami Norland standout. ``It was a three-man block. All of us put six hands on the ball. The two inside guys cleared it up for me and I came through and put my hand up and watched the ball hit my hand. I thought it was still going in, but it was short.''

Once the ball fell to the ground at the 6-yard line, the Panthers (2-6, 2-3 Sun Belt) rushed from the sideline to join their special teams in celebration at FIU Stadium.

``You want to talk about a special guy,'' FIU coach Mario Cristobal said of Williams. ``That is a special, special guy that is going to have a phenomenal career here. I can't tell you how many times when we are watching film where we are this close to blocking field goals. I'm talking millimeters . . . [defensive coordinator Phil] Galiano always says it: `We are going to block a field goal to win a game.' Well, the self-fulfilling prophecy.''

LATE-GAME RALLY

FIU had to rally in the final two minutes of the game just to get into overtime. The Ragin' Cajuns (4-4, 2-2) extended their lead to 17-10 with a field goal with 2:27 left in the game.

On their final drive, the Panthers needed to go 69 yards without their top playmaker, T.Y. Hilton, who missed all but one play Saturday with a recurring knee injury. Instead, FIU quarterback Paul McCall relied on other targets.

McCall connected with running back Darriet Perry on passes of 10 and 18 yards. McCall also had a big completion to freshman receiver Wayne Times at the ULL 19. He then made a couple of nifty moves to get down to the 4.

``You can't speak enough of Wayne Times because he really makes me look good,'' McCall said.

``He does a lot of good things with the football when he gets it in his hands.''

With 10 seconds left in the game, on a fourth-and-goal from the 3, McCall found receiver Greg Ellingson in the back of the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.

``I would have been pretty disappointed if we didn't come through,'' said McCall, who was 22 of 41 for 250 yards and a touchdown. ``But we came through on fourth down. [The play with Ellingson] popped wide open. It's actually the third read and I saw it pop open so I just made it the second read.''

FIU was in a position to win because of its defense, which lost starting middle linebacker Toronto Smith for the season to a knee injury earlier this week.

The Panthers held the Ragin' Cajuns to 4 of 18 on third-down conversions and twice made critical stops on fourth down.

`A MONSTER'

Although Smith was second on the team in tackles and led FIU in tackles for loss, sophomore linebacker Aaron Davis filled in like ``a monster'' in the Halloween matinee.

Davis started at middle linebacker, and along with freshman safety Jonathan Cyprien, led the Panthers with nine tackles each.

``Losing Toronto is tough,'' linebacker Tyler Clawson said. ``But we have guys that will step up and make plays also. Aaron Davis is a monster. He can definitely make a big impact on this team. He showed that [Saturday].''

Davis and Clawson each had two tackles for loss to lead the Panthers. In ULL's overtime possession, Clawson had three big tackles, stopping Ragin' Cajun running backs for a 1-yard loss, no gain and a 2-yard loss.

The defense forced the Ragin' Cajuns to try the 29-yard field goal after FIU took a 20-17 overtime lead.

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