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Shula Bowl Champions Once Again
The first Shula Bowl in the Willie Simmons era for FIU arrived with the Panthers hosting this years edition at Pitbull Stadium welcoming the rivaled FAU Owls. The Panthers have not been able to hoist the Don Shula award trophy since 2016, a year where Ron Turner was fired as head coach making way for interim head coach Ron Cooper with QB Alex McGough. Since 2002 the Panthers have only been to defeat the Owls a total time of four times. Even FIU's most successful coach Butch Davis who was able to defeat the Miami Hurricanes could not beat the Owls in his tenure.
FIU's RB Kejon Owens had a stellar game running for 173 yards and two touchdowns. The other explosive threat of the offense was QB Keyone Jenkins going 18 for 24 with 184 yards and one touchdown as well as a rushing touchdown. The game was delayed for more than two hours due to lightning in the area.
The Owls QB Caden Veltkamp went 33 for 50 with 343 yards with two touchdowns but really hurt his team with three interceptions. The good thing for FAU is that none of the interceptions resulted with the Panthers getting points on the board. The final interception with 2:39 remaining in the game ended the Owls chances of coming back into the game down 10.
Key factors in this game would be the Panthers taking advantage of an early turnover which would lead to an Owens touchdown. FIU would open up the second half having three straight scoring possessions with Jenkins rushing for one, throwing the second, and Anthony Carrie getting a rushing score for the third. The Owls had a blocked punt and would return it for the score with 7:47 left to bring the game to 10. The Panthers would win their first Shula Bowl since 2016 with a final score of 38-28.
Next up for the FIU Panthers is a home game welcoming the Delaware Blue Hens to Pitbull Stadium.
Written by: Daniel Torres
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