TAKEAWAYS: FIU Drops Homecoming Game To FCS Monmouth

For the first time since 2020, FIU losses a game to an FCS team

Kevin Barral | Sep 22, 2024

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FIU Panthers

MIAMI, FL - The last time the FIU Panthers dropped a game to an FCS team was on October 23 of 2020 against Jacksonville State, 19-10. Four years later on homecoming, FIU dropped their third game of the season to the Monmouth Hawks by a final score of 45-42.

Keyone Jenkins Bounces Back

Following a tough game last week where sophomore quarterback Keyone Jenkins threw a career-high three interceptions, Jenkins threw for 349 passing yards, a career high, with no interceptions.

"I thought Keyone did really well and did some really good things with some receivers," said head coach Mike MacIntyre. "Everybody made some nice catches and did some good things there."

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Fourth Down Struggles on Defense

The Monmouth offense converted five times out of seven on fourth down attempts on Saturday.

"Three or four of those fourth downs were like half a yard or a yard," said MacIntyre. "One of them really hurt us. We ran in there and hit him and he bounced off of him and the other guy kind of got caught and he came out. It was a weird deal. That was a really bad one, but we knew they were trying to go for it. We knew that was going to happen and we definitely could have made a couple of plays there."

On the plus side, linebacker Travion Barnes led the way with nine total tackles and his first FBS interception which he took back for an 85-yard touchdown, the longest pick-six in program history.

With less than three minutes in the first half, safety Jojo Evans was once again called for targeting and ejected from the game. It marks back-to-back games that Evans was ejected for targeting.

Derek Robertson As Good As Advertised

Entering Saturday's contest, Maine transfer and Monmouth quarterback Derek Robertson led the FCS in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Robertson ended the night throwing for 361 passing yards for two touchdowns and one interception. He posted a 137.1 quarterback rating.

"We knew coming in that they had good receivers and they could make some plays, and they sure did," said MacIntyre. "We had them stopped a few times and then gave them some short fields which hurt us there. He's a heck of a player there...He escaped a few times when we had him and that's been a little bit of our problems. We can get to the quarterback, we just can't grab him down. So we work on it all the time. We just have to keep working on it getting better."

What went wrong?

The Panthers dealt with a lot of penalties throughout the game. They had 12 penalties which cost them 108 yards. It allowed Monmouth to set themselves up to score frequently. Penalties also took away FIU's longest run of the night.

"We had an unfortunate taunting type penalty," said MacIntyre. "I've gotta do a better job of teaching these kids self discipline, controlling themselves in those situations. That was a critical, critical play. I've got to do a better job of them understanding what we talk about all the time. We work on it all we really do. We work on it all the time we talk about all the time snd trying to help them be more self discipline. We over me instead of me over we. That was a big play in the game, for sure."

What's Next?

For the first time under FIU head coach Mike MacIntyre, the Panthers will go 1-3 in the non-conference slate of the season. FIU will begin conference play next season at home against the 1-2 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, a team that they lost to last season. Kick-off time is set for 6:00 pm on ESPN+.