FIU goes on the road, takes unbeaten Liberty to overtime before falling 31-24

FIU took mighty Liberty to overtime.

In what can be viewed as FIU’s most impressive performance of the season, the Panthers lost to host Liberty 31-24 in a Conference USA game on Tuesday night in Lynchburg, Virginia.

With 17 consecutive victories, Liberty (5-0, 3-0) has the longest active regular-season win streak in the nation.

Yet FIU led 10-3 in the second quarter, and the teams were tied after regulation.

“Our kids fought and had a lot of grit,” FIU coach Mike MacIntyre said. “Liberty is the best Group of 5 team in the nation, and our guys kept pushing and competing.”

Here are eight takeaways regarding FIU football:

1: IMPRESSIVE COMEBACK: The Panthers (2-4, 1-1) trailed 24-10 with less than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

But FIU got a 3-yard touchdown run by Kejon Owens with 6:24 left and a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a TD by Keyone Jenkins, forcing overtime.

“We took them right to the wire,” MacIntyre said. “We had a lot of momentum (going into overtime). We need to learn from this and take the next step. We need to realize how good we can be.”

2: OVERTIME BREAKDOWNS: In the first overtime possession, Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter scored on a 9-yard run. He faked an option pitch, and that drew safety C.J. Christian out of position.

When FIU got the ball, the Panthers faced a third-and-2 play. Jenkins faked a handoff to Lexington Joseph.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, Liberty safety Christian Bodnar raced in — untouched — from the right side of the defense. Bodnar clobbered Jenkins, who fumbled, and the ball was recovered by Liberty’s Jerome Jolly Jr.

That ended the game, but MacIntyre said that had FIU scored a touchdown there he would have gone for a two-point conversion. Had that been successful, FIU would have staged the massive upset.

3: FOR THE DEFENSE: Panthers linebacker Travion Barnes staged a monster performance. He had game highs in tackles (15), tackles for losses (three) and sacks (two).

He also recovered a fumble after Liberty had driven to FIU’s 1-yard line.

Barnes wasn’t on the FIU roster last year when Liberty routed the Panthers, 38-6.

4: ACTIVE RIVERS: Panthers wide receiver Eric Rivers caught five passes for 95 yards, but there was a lot of nuance to his overall promising showing.

In the third quarter, Jenkins’ only interception of the game went through Rivers’ hands.

Then, with 6:49 left in the fourth, Rivers caught a 40-yard pass down to Liberty’s 3-yard line. Rivers got away with a push-off, but the play led to an FIU touchdown, cutting its deficit to 24-17.

Finally, with 4:11 left in the fourth, a deep pass went through Rivers’ hands.

In summary, Rivers was targeted a game-high 11 times, and he made those five grabs.

5: RUNNING THE BALL: The Panthers were held to 99 yards rushing and a 2.9 average.

Liberty ran for 281 yards and a 5.6 average, and that disparity was a huge factor.

6: QB COMPARISON: Salter, C-USA’s preseason Offensive Player of the Year, completed just 9 of 16 passes for 125 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 60 yards and two TDs.

Jenkins completed 19-of-29 passes for 245 yards, no TDs and the fumble. He also ran for 11 yards and one TD.

7: CONTROVERSIAL PLAY: Panthers wide receiver Dean Patterson was targeted eight times, and he had six catches for 90 yards.

Patterson was also part of a key play. With 14:59 left in the fourth, FIU went for it on fourth-and-4 from the Liberty 18.

Jenkins passed toward Patterson, who was sprinting down the right sideline. Liberty cornerback Alex Oliver grabbed Patterson but was not called for interference. The pass fell incomplete, and FIU did not score on that drive.

8: LIBERTY COMMENTS: Liberty coach Jamey Chadwell said his team knew it was going to win.

“The other sideline was hoping to win,” Chadwell said of FIU.

On the game-winning forced fumble, Chadwell said Liberty took away Jenkins’ first read.

“That gave [Bodnar] time to get there [on the safety blitz)]” Chadwell said.

Chadwell also said Liberty’s passing game wasn’t “connecting”, and he offered that the weather-induced bye week may have been a factor.

“[FIU] was also dropping a lot of guys into coverage to try to stop explosive plays,” Chadwell said. “But we felt that if we handed the ball off, we could move the ball.”