FIU Panthers protecting the ball

FIU is one of the nation’s best teams at getting turnovers. It also has also avoided turnovers from the quarterback position, despite playing true freshman quarterback Alex McGough most of the snaps this season.

Both McGough’s interceptions and one of his two fumbles came in the loss to Louisville. Otherwise, he has fumbled once (he lost both fumbles). Junior E.J. Hilliard lost one of his two fumbles and has thrown no interceptions.

▪ FIU got enough points to beat Alabama-Birmingham and scored enough to hang in against Pitt until the fourth quarter. But a nagging inconsistency remains in the Panthers’ offense, evidenced by two stats: In three games against FBS schools, only one FIU touchdown drive exceeded five plays, and FIU is still last in the nation in third-down conversion percentage (21.8).

This story was originally published September 30, 2014 at 9:33 PM with the headline "FIU Panthers protecting the ball."