[kblu54]

Warhawks erase halftime deficit to steal win from Panthers
FIU Football News

Down 17-3 at the half, it seemed like Louisiana-Monroe was looking at their 7th straight loss. But thanks to some tough defense and a solid offensive gameplan, the Warhawks came roaring back to tie the game and eventually win it on RB Calvin Dawson's 34-yard TD run midway through the 4th quarter. UL-Monroe was able to steal the win, 27-20.

The 1st half was all FIU, as they worked UL-Monroe with their solid offense and shut the Warhawks down on defense. Junior RB Casey Simmons had over 100 yards rushing in the 1st half in his 1st game back from injury, including a 62-yard TD run, and freshman QB DeMarcus Jean showed he could run a 2-minute drill well, throwing a TD pass to TE Mike Hamilton with only 17 seconds left in the 1st half. Up 17-3, the Panthers were riding high and looking right at win #2.

Unfortunately for FIU, there still was another half to play. The Warhawks made some great halftime adjustments on both sides of the ball and began to slowly work their way back into the game. On offense, QB Patrick Dombrowski used his arm and his feet to lead the Warhawk offense, scoring on a 7-yard TD run early in the 3rd quarter and tying the game with a beautiful 40-yard TD pass to WR Chris Barbour just before the 3rd quarter ended. On defense, UL-Monroe switched to a 4-4 defense to attack FIU's spread option offense and it seemed to work perfectly.

"Usually teams switch to a 5-2 to counteract us," Coach Borland said. "We were prepared to face a 5-2, but instead they switched to a 4-4. Having that extra linebacker in there allowed them to plug up holes that we usually our running lanes in the 5-2. We couldn't make the adjustment and they shut our offense down."

In the 4th quarter, teams traded possessions until the Warhawks sustained another solid drive midway through the 4th quarter. That drive ended up deciding the game, as RB Dawson split the FIU defense and sprinted his way to the game-winning 34-yard TD run, putting the Warhawks up 27-20. On the next drive, Jean began to lead the Panthers down but threw his 3rd interception of the game in Warhawk territory to seal the win for UL-Monroe.

Dombrowski was an unstoppable dual threat force for the Warhawks, throwing for 240 yards and running for 92 while having a hand in 2 Warhawk TDs (1 passing, 1 running). Dawson put up 79 yards rushing on 13 carries and Barbour had 121 yards receiving on 3 catches.

For FIU, they wasted a great game from the returning Simmons. Simmons put up 181 yards on 29 carries, including his 62-yard TD run. Jean struggled in the 2nd half and was a liability running the ball, finishing with -71 yards rushing but was sacked 6 times. Jean completed 12-of-26 passes for 212 yards and threw a TD, but his 3 interceptions turned out to be very costly.

"I hate to use the young team excuse again, but we are a really young team," Coach Borland said after the game. "You could see that as UL-Monroe began making their comeback that our guys were starting to lose their composure little by little. This loss really hurts considering we were up at halftime, but you live and you learn and you move on. The season is not over, and games like this are great learning experiences for freshmen and sophomores, which take up most of our starting spots. We just got to take the good, take the bad and look ahead to next week."

The schedule doesn't get any easier for FIU, as they travel to take on #10 Arkansas and Heisman hopeful Darren McFadden next week.

Box Score

ULM 0 3 17 7 - 27
FIU 7 10 3 0 - 20

1st --- FIU --- Simmons 62 run (Woodard kick)
2nd --- FIU --- Woodard 37 FG
2nd --- FIU --- Hamilton 25 pass from Jean (Woodard kick)
2nd --- ULM --- McCarty 38 FG
3rd --- ULM --- Dombrowski 7 run (McCarty kick)
3rd --- ULM --- McCarty 35 FG
3rd --- FIU --- Woodard 44 FG
3rd --- ULM --- Barbour 40 pass from Dombrowski (McCarty kick)
4th --- ULM --- Dawson 34 run (McCarty kick)

Team Stats

1st Downs: ULM --- 16 ... FIU --- 17
Total Offense: ULM --- 428 ... FIU --- 322
Rushing: ULM --- 34-188 ... FIU --- 42-110
Passing (C-A-I): ULM --- 9-23-1 ... FIU --- 12-26-3
Pass Yards: ULM --- 240 ... FIU --- 212
Sacked: ULM --- 1 ... FIU --- 6
3rd Down Conversions: ULM --- 5-12 ... FIU --- 4-16
Turnovers: ULM --- 2 ... FIU --- 3

Individual Stats

ULM

Dombrowski, QB --- 9 - 23 - 240 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT; 16 att. - 92 yds, TD

Dawson, RB --- 13 att. - 79 yds, TD

Barbour, WR --- 3 rec. - 121 yds, TD
Thomas Jefferson, WR --- 2 rec. - 64 yds

Chris Brewer, SS --- 11 tkls (3 TFL), 2 sacks, FF
Isaac Burnsides, CB --- 7 tkls (1 TFL), INT
Andrew Davis, DE --- 6 tkls (4 TFL), 2 sacks

FIU

Jean, QB --- 12 - 26 - 212 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT; 13 att. - (-71) yds

Simmons, RB --- 29 att. - 181 yds, TD

D. Anderson, WR --- 5 rec. - 86 yds
Hamilton, TE --- 4 rec. - 58 yds, TD
J.J. Smith, WR --- 3 rec. - 68 yds

J. Anderson, CB --- 8 tkls (2 TFL)
Paul, CB --- 7 tkls (3 TFL), INT
Razzano, SS --- 6 tkls (1 TFL), FR