FIU bounces back after two consecutive defeats to hold off Louisiana Tech 17-10

Standing up seems simple enough.

But it’s not so easy to stand up when you’re in the type of pain a quarterback knows will happen after getting crunched by a linebacker who outweighs him by 33 pounds.

Similarly, it’s not so simple to stand up to the doubters after you and your teammates have taken two straight losses — one against a rival that has tormented you for seven straight years and one against a supposedly inferior FCS team.

The FIU Panthers (2-3) stood up on Saturday night, taking on the pain — physical and emotional — and delivering a blow themselves.

The result was a 17-10 win against the visiting Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (1-3) in the Conference USA opener for both teams.

Here are five takeaways regarding FIU football:

1: STAND UP: Jenkins, who weighs 195 pounds, took a first-quarter sack from 228-pound linebacker Sifa Leota.

Jenkins was pounded so hard that he left the game. Backup QB Amari Jones, who missed the past two seasons largely due to injury, came in and fired a n9-yard completion to Ross Fournet.

Meanwhile, Jenkins was on the sideline, essentially yelling at FIU coach Mike MacIntyre.

“I’m OK!” Jenkins told MacIntyre and the trainers. “Let me up!”

MacIntyre allowed him to return, and Jenkins completed FIU’s longest drive of the season with a 10-yard TD pass to Eric Rivers.

It was FIU’s longest drive of the season — 13 plays, 84 yards, 7:02 time elapsed.

2: RISE UP: MacIntyre said last week’s 45-42 loss to FCS team Monmouth was a “heartbreaker.”

The previous week, FIU lost — again — to rival Florida Atlantic.

But in the week prior to the Louisiana Tech game, MacIntyre had a message for his players:

Said MacIntyre: “I kept telling our guys to, ‘Get up!’ That’s what you have to do in life — get up.”

3: TRUST UP: Despite taking three sacks, Jenkins completed 17 of 31 passes for 208 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

On the play in which Jenkins got knocked out temporarily, there was a miscommunication among FIU’s linemen regarding who would pick up the blitzing linebacker.

“One of our guys got beat inside,” MacIntyre said. “The guy came clean.”

Despite that, Jenkins told his coach that he still trusted his blockers, which is crucial.

“Keyone did a good job absorbing punishment,” MacIntyre said. “Bill Parcells used to say that if a quarterback gets hit and comes back and he’s not looking at the rush but he looking downfield … you have a tough quarterback.”

4: D-UP: The Panthers held Louisiana Tech to just 79 yards rushing (2.7 per rush).

In addition, FIU produced an incredible goal-line stand, stopping the Bulldogs on four straight rushes.

“That doesn’t happen a lot,” MacIntyre said of four straight no-gain rushes from the one. “The toughness, the effort, the pad leverage and the strength of our D-line ...

“We couldn’t have done that before. But we have the strength now. We have some powerful young men who played their technique right and wrapped up, knocking their guys back.”

5: NEXT UP: FIU will now have nine straight days without a game before traveling to Virginia to face defending league champion Liberty (4-0, 2-0) on Oct. 8.

Liberty won 38-6 at FIU last year.

In fact, since the start of the 2023 season, the Flames are 17-1, and their only loss during that span was to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

“Liberty is the best ‘Group of Five’ team in the country,” MacIntyre said.