After a tough loss at home, here is what’s next for the FIU Panthers football team

FIU allowed the FAU Owls to run for 439 yards on 60 carries late Saturday night.

The Panthers’ offense, meanwhile, ran for just 96 yards on 33 carries.

Those two statistics, more than anything else, explain why the Owls hammered FIU 49-14, snapping a 14-14 tie score in the third quarter with 35 consecutive points.

FAU star running back Devin Singletary, who seemed to make at least three zig-zag cuts per carry, rushed for a season-high 184 yards, a 6.8 average and three touchdowns. Singletary led the nation with 32 rushing touchdowns last season, so his credentials were already well-established.

However, his backup, Kerrith Whyte, was just as good if not better with 165 yards, a 9.7 average and one score against FIU. And FAU also got 61 yards from quarterback scrambles.

“The most disturbing part of the entire night was playing run defense like we did,” FIU coach Butch Davis said. “Our kids know [Singletary] is a very good running back, but to allow them over 400 yards rushing is very disappointing.

“Missing tackles — eventually it catches up to you. We did a terrible job [of not] gang-tackling. It was a poor performance defensively.”

Besides the tackling issues, here are four other takeaways on FIU football:

▪ 1: Hit the road: The loss knocked the Panthers out of first place in Conference USA’s East Division. FIU (6-3, 4-1) trails Middle Tennessee (6-3, 5-1) by a half-game.

However, FIU beat Middle Tennessee this season and would own the head-to-head edge if the division title would come down to that tiebreaker.

This Saturday, the Panthers travel to play a league game against Texas-San Antonio, which just took a 52-3 loss to Alabama-Birmingham. UTSA is 3-6 overall, 2-3 in Conference USA, and this sets up as a potential bounce-back game for FIU.

▪ 2: Crucial fumble: Trailing 7-0 in the first quarter against FAU, the Panthers drove to the Owls one-yard line when Panthers quarterback James Morgan fumbled the center exchange.

There were extenuating circumstances, however.

“The umpire was standing over the ball, and he had his hand on our center,” Davis said. “James had his hand under the center, trying to get him to snap the ball.

“We were set. [FAU] was set out. [The umpire] wouldn’t get out. James pulled out because he thinks they won’t let him snap the ball.”

The ball was then snapped, and FAU recovered the fumble and raced 99 yards for an apparent touchdown and a 14-0 lead. On video review, the TD was wiped out, but FAU was awarded the ball on its own 1-yard line, eliminating a golden opportunity for FIU.

▪ 3: Questionable call: FIU defensive back Richard Dames made the biggest hit of the night in the first quarter, racing in to stop a bubble screen and then blasting wide receiver Willie Wright, who was shaken up on the play but eventually got up and walked off the field.

Unfortunately for Dames, he was ejected for targeting, and FIU was penalized 15 yards, getting FAU out of poor field position.

In past years, this hit would’ve just been called … football. But with a focus on trying to avoid concussions as much as possible, hard hits that are not helmet to helmet are at risk of being penalized.

“I looked at the Jumbotron,” Davis said, “and it looked to me that [Dames’] helmet hit the kid in the chest.”

FIU safety Olin Cushion was ejected for a similar hit last week against Western Kentucky. And, in that case, Davis said, the head of officials called him last Monday and apologized for that ruling.

“I love [Dames’] aggressiveness,” Davis said. “We tell all our kids, ‘Don’t ever aim for anything above the shoulders.’ But if you are flying in to make a tackle, and the guy ducks, I don’t know what to tell you.

“I know that we don’t have a kid on our team who tries to target someone’s head.”

▪ 4: Trick play: With a fourth-and-nine at the FAU 12 in the second quarter, FIU’s attempt at a fake field goal went wrong, even though, in practice, it worked “every time for about a month,” Davis said.

Holder Stone Wilson, who was tackled for an eight-yard loss on the play, had been “probably 40 out of 40 over the past month throwing that,” Davis said.

The Morgan fumble, the trick play that went awry and a dropped pass in the end zone by FIU’s top receiver, C.J. Worton, were all lost opportunities for the Panthers.

“We would’ve liked to have those 14 or 21 points at the time that they would’ve occurred,” Davis said, “to see if that at least would’ve changed how the opponent played.”