Tag Archive for: FIU football

FIU Panthers puts out the Flames in Homecoming win

/0 Comments/in , /by

Turning the clock back to their early days as the Sunblazers, the FIU Panthers put out the Flames of Liberty in a 34-27 overtime win at homecoming on Saturday, Nov. 15, in Miami.

Joe Pesansky, a senior transfer from Holy Cross who started for the second straight game, threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns while scoring an additional touchdown on the run. Redshirt senior receiver Maguire Anderson caught the go-ahead touchdown in overtime for his lone reception of the game.

The Panthers’ defense came through in the final possession. Mister Clark intercepted Liberty quarterback Ethan Vasko to seal the win. Before that, Vasko was sacked by Keegan Davis. Both of Davis’ tackles during the game have been sacks.

Vasko threw for 218 yards, one touchdown, and was intercepted twice. Evan Dickens led the Flames in rushing with a game-high 106 yards and a touchdown.

The Panthers relied heavily on running back Kejon Owens, who rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown in 18 carries, and wide receiver Alex Perry, who caught eight passes for 88 yards and a score.

Liberty struck first with a 15-yard pass from Vasko to Donte Lee Jr. for a first-quarter touchdown. FIU responded with a six-yard run by Pesansky to tie the game 7-7 entering the second quarter.

A pair of rushing touchdowns by Dickens and Vaughn Blue put the Flames ahead in the second quarter. FIU was able to remain in the game with Owen’s score and a late field goal to enter halftime trailing 21-17.

The Panthers quickly took the lead early in the second half with Perry’s touchdown and another field goal by Noah Grant to lead 27-21. Liberty kicker Jay Billingsley kicked a pair of field goals, including one as time expired in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

The Panthers (5-5, 3-3) are now one win away from being bowl eligible for the first time since 2019. The Panthers host C-USA leading Jacksonville State next Saturday for their final home game of the season. FIU will close out the season on the road against Sam Houston State, which started the season with eight straight losses.

FIU Quarterback James Morgan shines in Shrine Bowl

/0 Comments/in /by

The East-West Shrine Bowl turned out to be a stupendous showcase of offensive fireworks.

Starting with FIU quarterback James Morgan, who began the game by leading the East team to two touchdown drives en route to a 31-27 win over the West team on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

Morgan started the weekend being honored with the Pat Tillman Award, which is presented to a player, “Who best exemplifies character, intelligence, sportsmanship and service. The award is about a student-athlete’s achievements and conduct, both on and off the field.”

“It was really a nice week,” said Morgan. “I just wanted to come in, work as hard I could, learn as much as possible and go out and compete. It was quite an experience.”

Morgan completed 9-of-14 passes for a game high 116 yards and a touchdown while splitting time with Princeton’s Kevin Davidson and Mississippi State’s Tommy Stevens. It’s an impressive stat line considering he only had a week to mesh with a seemingly random collection of college seniors.

Morgan said before the game that the experience gained from playing in these collegiate all-star games is “extremely valuable” in terms of preparing him for the NFL Draft because he’s coming from a small program and got to throw to and against players from big name programs.

Morgan emphasized work ethic and leadership as qualities that make him a quarterback worth choosing in the draft. There are other quarterback prospects with bigger names and better tangibles with higher upside but NFL teams have approached him with the mindset that he is a prospect that can come into a huddle and lead like a field general.

“I’m absolutely in love with the game of football.” Morgan said. “I have been ever since I was a little kid. I’m going to work my tail off and as much as I can to help an organization win games. And when I come in, I’m going to lead by example.”

While it sounds like he’s angling to be the next Tom Brady, the NFL quarterback that served as his greatest source of inspiration was Brett Favre because he grew up in Wisconsin during the Hall of Fame’s career as a Green Bay Packer.

Morgan split his collegiate career between Bowling Green and FIU. Two of the Panthers’ three straight bowl seasons came with Morgan as the starting quarterback. His senior year and career may be forever defined by when he led FIU to their first ever win over the Miami Hurricanes at the site of the old iconic Orange Bowl.

”I just really believed in myself,” Morgan said. “The NFL was always a dream and this is one step closer.”

Morgan said he will have his pro day on April 1 at FIU.