FAU rolls over FIU for 5th win in a row in Shula Bowl
FAU has outscored FIU 234-85 in five consecutive wins, and the Owls’ 58 points Saturday were the most by a single team in the history of the Shula Bowl.
The last time FIU won the Shula Bowl against rival FAU was in 2016.
No FIU player has beaten the Owls and on Saturday afternoon, N’Kosi Perry made sure the Panthers’ drought would continue.
Perry, the former UM quarterback, threw three touchdowns in the second quarter alone as FAU held a 13-point halftime lead and beat the visiting Panthers 58-21 at Howard Schnellenberger Field.
FAU has won the Shula Bowl 15 times in the 20-year history of the rivalry, including the past five.
The Owls (3-2, 1-0 in Conference USA) have outscored FIU 234-85 in those five wins and their 58 points Saturday were the most by a single team in the history of the series.
For FIU coach Butch Davis, Saturday’s game was just another disappointing loss in what has been a two-year slide.
Since beating the Hurricanes at Marlins Park in 2018, the Panthers are 1-11 with their only win coming against Long Island in this season’s opener.
Although the Panthers (1-4, 0-1) held the lead early in the second quarter, they were chasing the Owls for most of the game.
“Our kids really, truly want to try and win,” said Davis, whose team has lost its past four and has lost 10 consecutive road games since winning at Charlotte in 2018.
“They play hard. But the explosive plays, when you give those things up: 60-70 yard runs, the quarterback scrambles around and throws it in the back of the end zone instead of it being incomplete … there were 7, 14, 21 points just on big plays and we have to fix that.”
Despite the lopsided score, the
game was close for a while.
As Perry threw for 329 yards and accounted for four touchdowns before leaving in the third, FIU quarterback Max Bortenschlager threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns — including a 68-yarder to Tyrese Chambers that pulled the Panthers within six with 4:54 left in the half.
“We started out pretty hot, made some big plays but they are really solid on defense and have been solid all season,” said Bortenschlager, who was held to just 19 yards in the second half. “We just have to fix some stuff, get back to it.”
Perry, who transferred to FAU after replacing an injured D’Eriq King in the Cheez-It Bowl for the Hurricanes last December, kicked things off with a 45-yard pass to Brandon Robinson on the first offensive play of the day. Perry hit the end zone three plays later, racing in from the 8.
The Panthers pulled even on a 1-yard run by D’Vonte
Price, which was set up on a 47-yard pass from Bortenschlager to Bryce Singleton.
The scoring went backand-forth in the second with the two teams combining for 41 points. Unfortunately for the Panthers, FAU accounted for 27 of them as the Owls took a 34-21 lead into the locker room.
Perry’s three touchdown passes to Zaire MitchellPaden, Johnny Ford and Je’Quan Burton in the second accounted for 153 his yards. Running back James Charles also scored in the second on a 32-yard run up the middle.
FIU took a 14-13 lead when Bortenschlager and Randall St. Felix hooked up from 11 yards out.
The Panthers got the ball back to start the second half but an incomplete pass on third down stopped it fairly quickly.
Perry then drove the
Owls down to the 2, but FAU settled for a 20-yard field goal.
With 4:04 left in the third, Bortenschlager was picked off at midfield. Perry, who had left for the locker room with an undisclosed injury, was replaced by backup Nick Tronti — who drove the Owls 61 yards and ran it in from the 5 to make it 44-21.