MIAMI – It was a festive time at Riccardo Silva Stadium from start to finish in FIU’s 48-23 homecoming win over Charlotte.
With the airy atmosphere and vibe in place, the stage was set for the Panthers to have one of their best games of the season. All the home team really needed to do tonight was run the ball well.
FIU redshirt senior running backs Anthony Jones and Napoleon Maxwell led the way, as they combined for 231 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. It was relatively hard for the Charlotte defense to stop either one of them in their tracks, to say the least.
In particular, Jones was a dual threat on the field tonight. He didn’t just reach the end zone three times on the ground; he also found the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown catch from quarterback James Morgan (13-of-16 passing, 160 yards, 1 TD) with 25 seconds left in the second quarter.
But perhaps the best play tonight from Jones came at the 3:07 mark in the third quarter, when he made a bust through the heart of Charlotte’s defense for a 41-yard touchdown run to the end zone. The score, plus an extra point by kicker Jose Borregales, essentially gave FIU a game-icing 41-23 lead at that point.
The final stat line for Jones went like this: 16 carries, 117 yards, three touchdowns; 5-yard touchdown catch; 122 total yards, four total touchdowns. His single-game touchdown total tied a school record for non-quarterbacks.
And as for Maxwell, his stat line came out to 15 carries for 114 yards and one touchdown. He finished with 118 total yards and the rushing score.
Maxwell credited the offensive line for his team’s success tonight.
“Those guys got some great blocks in and got us to the second level as running backs,” Maxwell said.
Jones concurred.
“The guys up from got us a great push and we stayed on our road spots,” Jones said. “We executed on the plays our coach called for us. We have great running backs and a great o-line. I just love running with them.”
Meanwhile, the FIU defense did its job by holding Charlotte to 330 total yards. They forced a fumble, which remarkably happened to be the game’s only turnover.
But throughout this conference tilt, it was all about making plays when it mattered the most on both sides of the ball. It’s just that on this night, FIU made more of those plays than Charlotte did.
Even though Charlotte senior running back Benny Lemay had a great game in his own right (21 carries, game-high 144 yards, 1 touchdown), the FIU defense stopped him from making big runs that could have turned the game into something different.
FIU is now 2-0 since its bye week. The Conference USA upstart seems to be an entirely different team now, relatively far removed from what it looked like in its 1-3 start.
Next game for FIU (3-3; 1-2 in
Conference USA): Home vs. UTEP (1-4; 0-1 C-USA) on Saturday, Oct. 19, 7 p.m. kickoff
Next game for Charlotte (2-4; 0-2 in Conference USA): Away at Western Kentucky (4-2; 3-0 C-USA), Saturday, Oct. 19, 4 p.m. kickoff
PHOTO CREDIT: Danis Sosa – Lemon City Live
