After rallying to take lead, FIU falls to Marshall in OT, finishes 0-5 on the road

FIU finished an 0-5 road season, and its 30-27 overtime loss to Marshall on a cold, rainy Saturday might have been the toughest to swallow.

The Panthers enjoyed a fourth-quarter lead thanks to two touchdowns in 12 seconds and was ahead briefly in overtime, but lost on a Brenden Knox 1-yard run. On Marshall’s first play of overtime, Knox broke off a 24-yard gain, his longest of the day.

The Panthers (6-6, 3-5 Conference USA) allowed the league’s leading rusher 146 yards, but he needed 33 carries to do it. FIU allowed only 290 total yards.

“We had some plays in the game I was really proud of,” FIU coach Butch Davis said. “We got some tackles for loss, we got some pressure on the quarterback, got a couple of sacks. Sage Lewis had a phenomenal game.”

The Panthers lost despite James Morgan’s 236-yard effort on 21-of-37 passing. Tony Gaiter IV caught nine passes for 107 yards, and Austin Maloney’s 59-yard catch set up FIU’s first touchdown. Lewis registered 17 tackles.

Napoleon Maxwell’s 1-yard run gave FIU a 7-3 lead in the first quarter. The Thundering Herd (8-4, 6-2) answered in the second on Xavier Gaines’ 20-yard run, and Marshall took that 10-7 lead into halftime.

The lead stretched to 17-7 on quarterback Isaiah Green’s 1-yard run. At that point, FIU’s bad field position was the story, as the Panthers started four drives at its 11-yard line or deeper and four others at the 25.

But the Panthers rebounded despite an injury to Morgan, who sustained a hit that was initially ruled targeting. While Morgan recovered, backup Kaylan Wiggins ran 14 yards on fourth-and-6 and passed to Anthony Jones for 4 on third-and-2.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, FIU finished the 7-minute drive with Jones’ 9-yard run cutting the deficit to 17-14.

Left end Jean Alexy-Baptiste then sent FIU’s momentum into hyperdrive by recovering a fumbled snap at the Marshall 22. Morgan returned and threw to Gaiter to give FIU a 21-17 lead with 14:42 left — 12 seconds after the Jones’ score.

FIU escaped a turnover as MU’s Justin Rohrwasser missed a 45-yard field goal try, but the Panthers could not stop the Herd again. Green found a wide-open Gaines for an 18-yard TD and a 24-21 lead with 2:16 left.

The Herd was aided by two pass-interference penalties and an offsides call — nearly half the 75-yard drive. Davis didn’t address those fouls directly but did say, “I’m shaking my head an awful lot on some of the things that happened today.”

Jose Borregales overcame the dismal conditions with his game-tying, 41-yard field goal with 21 seconds left. After FIU was held without a first down in overtime, Borregales connected from 35 for a 27-24 lead.

Two plays later, the Herd sent the Panthers home cold, wet and frustrated.

“It was the first time in three years we’ve been in an overtime situation,” Davis said. “We practice that, scenarios that happen, in training camp and all season long. Basically, it’s high red zone. We would have like to have driven down on the first possession and get a touchdown, but we didn’t.

“It was a well-fought game. Our kids and our seniors would have loved to have had a different outcome.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ While FIU began the wait on its bowl assignment, Marshall immediately watched the Florida Atlantic-Southern Mississippi game. MU needed an FAU loss to claim the C-USA East Division championship.

▪ FIU managed just 82 yards rushing, as Jones and Maxwell were held to a combined 81. The Panthers gained 322 yards total and were sacked just once.