FIU falls to Texas State, 23-17 in overtime

A strip sack in overtime doomed the FIU Panthers.

The Texas State Bobcats recovered the Max Bortenschlager fumble and scored on the next possession, knocking off host FIU 23-17 on Saturday night.

FIU (1-1) will hit the road for the first this season next week, visiting Texas Tech.

Meanwhile, D’vonte Price — FIU’s top player and NFL prospect — ran for 111 yards and a 4.8 average on Saturday, but he lost a pair of fumbles.

Bortenschlager, a sixth-year senior who started his career at the University of Maryland, completed 17-of-34 passes for 259 yards and one touchdown. He was not intercepted, but he lost that one crucial fumble.

Indeed, FIU lost the turnover battle, 3-0, and Texas State (1-1) scored 13 of its 23 points off those Panthers giveaways.

The Panthers trailed 10-0 in the second quarter. But Bortenschlager tossed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Tyrese Chambers with six seconds left in the first half, cutting the Texas State lead to 10-7.

FIU took a 17-10 lead in the third quarter as Bortenschlager completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to tight end Rivaldo Fairweather, and Chase Gabriel kicked an 18-yard field goal.

But Texas State helped send the game to overtime by scoring on Brock Sturges’ one-yard run with 10:09 left in the fourth quarter.

In overtime, Bortenschlager faced a third-and-eight from the Texas State 13 when he was sacked by backup outside linebacker Issiah Nixon, a freshman. The ball was recovered by defensive tackle Caeveon Patton.

Sturges then took over as the Bobcats scored in two plays. He got a 14-yard first down and an 11-yard walk-off score, dooming FIU.

On the bright side for the Panthers, Chambers (79 yards) and Fairweather (54 yards) each had four catches and one for a score.

FIU also had more total yards than Texas State, 400 to 336.