Jamil Ferrer | Oct 15, 2025
The Florida International Panthers walked into Houchens-Smith Stadium that held a blacked-out crowd of Hilltopper fans Tuesday night and stunned Western Kentucky in a 25-6 victory.
Led head on by an impressive defensive performance, which included three interceptions— two by Freshman DB Jessiah McGrew and a red zone diving interception by Sophomore Mister Clark.
FIU’s ground game was also unstoppable, as RB Kejon Owens racked up a career high 195 rushing yards on 26 carries with a leaping touchdown to get by a defender.
To add onto that, Quarterback Keyone Jenkins had an outstanding night of his own, completing 18 of 27 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown.
As the Panthers kept their paws on the Hilltoppers necks, they never found any rhythm. WKU Quarterback Maverick Melvor threw three interceptions after entering with just two in the whole season.
FIU jumped ahead early with two first-quarter field goals, Jenkins’ second quarter touchdown pass and Owens’ third quarter 6-yard scoring run gave the Panthers a 25-6 cushion.
WKU’s only glimpse of hope came late in the first half when kicker Brayden Narveson nailed a 55 yard field goal to make it 19–6. Yet, the Panthers defense shut them out completely in the second half, allowing fans to question if the Hilltoppers even came prepared.
“We’re proud of how our guys played tonight,” stated FIU Head Coach Willie Simmons. “We thought we had to win this game with our defense — I thought they did that. We ran the ball hard. We made plays in critical moments. That’s what good teams do on the road.”
WKU Head Coach Tyson Helton credited FIU for their win.
“Congratulations to FIU. They came ready to play. Obviously, I think it was pretty apparent who the better football team was tonight. They beat us in all three phases pretty soundly and we need to get better. We need to get better. Hopefully we will learn from this loss. … When you turn the football over several times, you’re going to have a hard time winning games. They were a hungry football team that came here to win the game.”
FIU improves to 3–3 overall, snapping a 10-game losing streak, while also snapping a 5-game losing streak against WKU. As for WKU, they drop to 5–2.
The Panthers return home next week to face Kennesaw State, while WKU looks to move in a more positive direction on the road against LA Tech.
