BOCA RATON – There was no doubt on how this year’s Shula Bowl would ultimately fare between FAU and FIU.
In the 20th annual meeting between both Conference USA teams, there was actually a battle brewing for parts of the first half on Saturday (Oct. 2). At the end of the first quarter, FAU and FIU were tied at 7-7.
The first scoring drive came from former Miami (Fla.) quarterback and FAU graduate senior N’Kosi Perry, who is certainly having his best college football season to date. He led a four-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown run of 8 yards at the 13:52 mark.
With an extra point by kicker Aaron Shahriari, FAU took a 7-0 lead over FIU.
“It was important that we execute the plays,” FAU head coach Willie Taggart said. “You go back to when we did bad, just lack of execution. The plays were there we just did a poor job of executing. Our guys, they were dialed in. N’Kosi made a great throw, [Brandon Robinson] made a great catch. And you know, that set the tone from the beginning and again, that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
But it was not long before FIU would answer with its own scoring drive.
A seven-play, 93-yard drive by FIU ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back D’Vonte Price. This happened at the 10:35 mark, with an extra point by kicker Chase Gabriel tying the game up.
The Shula Bowl was effectively decided in the second quarter, when FAU (3-2) scored 26 of its points in this pivotal frame.
FIU (1-4) did take a lead in the second quarter, with quarterback Max Bortenschlager (12-of-28 passing, 263 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) found Randall St. Felix for an 11-yarder to the end zone. With Gabriel’s second extra point, FIU was in front of FAU by a score of 14-13 at the 12:03 mark.
But the next two drives for FAU proved to be the deciding factor in this one.
Perry (18-of-21 passing, 329 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions; four carries, 16 yards, one touchdown) led a seven-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Zaire Mitchell-Paden. Shariari’s second extra point resulted in a 20-14 lead for FAU at the 8:42 mark.
And then the next FAU drive took only one play. It was a 78-yard bomb from Perry to running back Johnny Ford that sent the FAU fans into a frenzy and helped to give the home a 27-14 lead at the 7:15 mark.
“It’s just the connection,” Ford said. “[FAU QB N’Kosi Perry and I] just had to get our connection right. He comes to me a lot so we just had to get it down pat and he found how to get me the ball in different … I appreciate coach, I appreciate Kosi for believing in me because I didn’t even know he was gonna throw that ball really but he threw it and when my number called, I gotta make that happen.”
FIU’s last end zone appearance came on the game’s very next drive. Bortenschlager led a four-play, 78-yard drive that ended with his 68-yard touchdown pass to Tyrese Chambers.
Gabriel’s third and final extra point cut FAU’s lead to 27-21 at the 4:54 mark.
From that point on, it was all FAU.
Perry got the Owls to a 34-21 lead the Panthers by his 42-yard touchdown pass to Je’Quan Burton at the 1:33 mark.
Shahriari’s extra point helped to preserve the 13-point halftime lead for FAU.
FIU could not get much going on offense in the second half, as its running game was ground to a halt of sorts. For the game, FIU was held to 69 yards rushing and committed the game’s only turnover – an interception that FAU’s defense caught at the 4:04 mark of the third quarter.
“I thought overall, our guys did well,” Taggart said. “They did one thing we set out to do from the beginning, and that was stop the run. … We wanted to keep [D’vonte] Price under 100 … and he had [34 yards rushing]. So, that was pretty good. … The thing I always talk about to our defense each week, and it’s so important, is we can’t give up big plays for touchdowns. And when they do catch them, we gotta get them down. We gotta tackle and make people earn those touchdowns, so I was disappointed that we gave up those big plays.”
FAU had five possessions in the second half, scoring a touchdown on three of them and connecting on a 20-yard field goal by Shahriari on the other one.
This effort was enough to seal FAU’s 58-21 home win.
In what was the most dominating overall performance on either side of this rivalry to date, FAU obliterated FIU in total yardage, 704-388.
This is FAU’s fifth straight Shula Bowl victory, as our home FBS school also won in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
“What a win, what a win,” Taggart said. “That was a great win for our football team, great way to bounce back after the way we played last week, and very proud of our guys for doing that.”
NOTE: Perry was selected as the 2021 Shula Bowl MVP for his dominating performance.
“I thought N’Kosi played outstanding,” Taggart said. “I’m glad he played outstanding because the way that he worked this week was the way he was supposed to work. We got back from Air Force about (8 AM). At noon, he was in the office trying to get better. Learning what he did wrong and it was like that all week long and it’s no surprised that he played the way that he did.”
NEXT GAME FOR FAU: Away at UAB (3-2) on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 3:30 p.m.
NEXT GAME FOR FIU: Home vs. Charlotte (3-2) on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.
CONFERENCE USA EAST STANDINGS: FAU is tied with Charlotte for first place right now at 1-0; FIU is tied for last place right now with Marshall (2-3) and Old Dominion (1-4) at 0-1
CONTRIBUTION CREDITS: Kevin Fielder
PHOTO CREDITS: Keith Forde
