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.”