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Jean-to-Arnold in final minutes complete comeback win
FIU Football News

I guess the motto to FIU's season will be "never say die".

Senior QB DeMarcus Jean threw his 4th TD pass of the day to sophomore WR Nick Arnold with only 1:18 to play to erase USF's 17-point halftime lead and complete FIU's incredible comeback in a 34-33 road victory. The Bulls led 23-6 at the half, but Jean & company rallied back on the strength of their passing game to erase the deficit and improve to 2-0 to start the season.

USF came out of the gates fired up, looking to get revenge for last year's 62-21 embarrassment they suffered at the hands of FIU. South Florida scored on their opening possession on a Jake Bennett TD run, but pressure from the FIU block team forced USF to try for a desperate two-point conversion that failed. The failed conversion turned out to be the 1-point difference in the final score.

Following a Dwight Heinz field goal, USF put another score on the board when FS Tim Watts recovered a Josh Chance fumble and fell into the end zone to give the Bulls a 13-3 lead. FIU's usually potent offense struggled in the first half and only managed another Heinz field goal to cut USF's lead to 16-6 with under a minute to play. The Bulls decided that a 10-point lead wasn't enough, as QB Dan Salyer found WR Greg Heath up the sideline for a huge 68-yard TD catch to boost USF to a 23-6 lead right before the half.

"We made a lot of adjustments at the half, mainly on offense," FIU head coach Kyle Borland said. "They were shutting down our running game so we decided to open up the passing game. It ended up working out."

Jean and his crew of receivers began to slowly cut into USF's lead. All-American TE junior Chris Hendrix and the aforementioned WR Arnold were Jean's biggest targets as FIU began to mount the comeback. Jean found each for a score in the 3rd quarter, but another long TD pass from Salyer-to-Heath and a field goal allowed USF to go into the 4th quarter still up 33-20.

In the 4th quarter, it was a back-and-forth turnover battle that eventually led to FIU's incredible win. FIU cut the lead to 6 when Jean found Hendrix for his 3rd TD pass of the day, but following another Josh Chance fumble, it appeared FIU's shot at completing the comeback was out of the question. That's when the FIU defense stepped up, particularly sophomore SS Tim Sykes. On USF's first play following the turnover, Sykes stepped in front of Salyer's pass and nabbed it to give the ball right back with just over 2 minutes to play. The Panthers drove the ball the rest of the way, and Jean found Arnold for TD pass #4 to give FIU their 1st lead of the day.

The FIU defense allowed two first downs on the ensuing USF drive, but two sacks put the Bulls in a 3rd & long and a 4th & long situation that they couldn't convert.

Jean threw for 450 yards on 25-of-39 passing in the victory. His biggest target was Arnold, who is beginning to emerge as a serious go-to threat. Arnold caught 13 passes for 273 yards and 2 TDs, including the game-winner. Hendrix, who led all tight ends last season in TD catches, had 75 yards receiving and 2 TDs on the day, pushing his current season total for TD catches to 4. Last season he had 10 TD receptions.

The FIU running game was ineffective, gaining only 1 yard on 39 carries total. Chance finished with only 8 yards on 20 carries, while sophomore QB Lamont Whitworth led the team with 13 yards on 3 carries. Whitworth got injured in the 2nd quarter and did not return.

The Golden Panthers face a big and challenging task next week, as they travel to take on the #5-ranked Texas Longhorns.

Box Score

USF 6 17 10 0 - 33
FIU 0 6 14 14 - 34

1st --- USF --- Bennett 8 run (conversion failed)
2nd --- FIU --- Heinz 27 FG
2nd --- USF --- Watts 4 fumble return (Humphrey kick)
2nd --- USF --- Humphrey 34 FG
2nd --- FIU --- Heinz 37 FG
2nd --- USF --- Heath 68 pass from Salyer (Humphrey kick)
3rd --- FIU --- Hendrix 18 pass from Jean (Heinz kick)
3rd --- USF --- Humphrey 29 FG
3rd --- FIU --- Arnold 40 pass from Jean (Heinz kick)
3rd --- USF --- Heath 61 pass from Salyer (Humphrey kick)
4th --- FIU --- Hendrix 4 pass from Jean (Heinz kick)
4th --- FIU --- Arnold 3 pass from Jean (Heinz kick)

Team Stats

1st Downs: USF --- 12 ... FIU --- 22
Total Offense: USF --- 327 ... FIU --- 451
Rushes-Yards: USF --- 24-52 ... FIU --- 39-1
Passing (C-A-I): USF --- 16-26-2 ... FIU --- 25-39-2
Pass Yards: USF --- 275 ... FIU --- 450
Times Sacked: USF --- 5 ... FIU --- 6
3rd Down Conversions: USF --- 4-11 ... FIU --- 7-13
Turnovers: USF --- 2 ... FIU --- 5

Individual Stats

SOUTH FLORIDA

Dan Salyer, QB --- 16 - 26 - 275 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT

Jake Bennett, RB --- 17 att. - 80 yds, TD; 4 rec. - 41 yds

Grant Dowdell, WR --- 4 rec. - 50 yds
Greg Heath, WR --- 3 rec. - 157 yds, 2 TD

Tim Watts, FS --- 8 tkls, 4-yd FR TD
Drew Berg, OLB --- 8 tkls (3 TFL), FR
Josh Watkins, CB --- 8 tkls (1 TFL), 1 sack, INT, FF

FIU

Jean, QB --- 25 - 39 - 450 yds, 4 TD, 2 INT; 14 att. - (-17) yds

Whitworth, QB --- 3 att. - 13 yds
Chance, RB --- 20 att. - 8 yds
Fisher, RB --- 2 att. - (-3) yds

Arnold, WR --- 13 rec. - 273 yds, 2 TD
Hendrix, TE --- 5 rec. - 75 yds, 2 TD
Lloyd, WR --- 4 rec. - 57 yds

M. Johnson, CB --- 7 tkls
White, SS --- 7 tkls
Goins, DE --- 5 tkls (3 TFL), 1 sack
Diggs, DE --- 5 tkls (2 TFL), 1 sack
Sykes, SS --- 4 tkls (1 TFL), INT