After a disappointing 19-9 loss at the hands of the South Florida Bulls in Tampa, the FIU Panthers went back down south to Pitbull Stadium to welcome the Buffalo Bulls and even their season. Thanks to an impressive offensive performance led by quarterback JJ Kohl, FIU defeated Buffalo 33-20.
“I never apologized for a win,” FIU coach Willie Simmons said. “That’s the goal: To win the game. With our standard of excellence, we still have a lot to improve. We’re not playing good football consistently, and we can’t get blinded by the result. We talked about success and about excellence over success. We were successful tonight, but we were not excellent in how we executed it.”
Kohl, who became the first 300-yard passer in the Simmons era after his Week 1 performance, turned it up a notch, completing 21 passes for 367 yards and four total touchdowns, including three through the air.
With just under five minutes to play in the first quarter, Kohl handed the ball off to Devonte Lyons, who then handed it to Jojo Stone. He connected with Kohl for a 19-yard pass, extending the lead for FIU to 14-3. Kohl became the first quarterback in FIU history to record a receiving touchdown.
For Stone, his touchdown pass is the first by a wide receiver since former NFL wide receiver T.Y. Hilton threw a 38-yard touchdown to Junior Mertile against Arkansas State on November 8, 2008.
We’ve been working on it this week, and every day it’s kind of been like kind of open, then today, it kind of just wasn’t as open,” Stone said. “I threw it the same way I’ve been throwing it, kind of like a little lob. I was just glad JJ was able to go up and show the receivers how to high-point the ball.”
Kohl and Stone connected once again in the third quarter, but this time it was Kohl making the pass to Stone for a 68-yard touchdown, extending the FIU lead. Stone finished the game hauling in four receptions for a career-high 98 yards and a touchdown.
Maguire Anderson led the way with 99 receiving yards and recorded his first career multi-touchdown game. Anderson leads the team in receptions (13), receiving yards (186) and touchdowns (two).
Defensively, FIU held Buffalo to 308 total yards of offense. Of those yards, just 59 were on the ground. Elisha Baldridge and DeeJay Holmes Jr. ranked at the top of Conference USA per Pro Football Focus’ defensive ratings.
Baldridge, who made his first career start on Saturday, finished the night with six total tackles, including four solo, two tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles. He finished ranked as the 13th-best edge rusher in the country in Week 2.
He’s played with that type of motor since he stepped foot on this campus, and I’m so excited for him,” Simmons said of Baldridge. “The guys feed off of him and Elisha is gonna be a heck of a ball player for us.”
With the win, FIU moves to an even 1-1 on the season. FIU is also now the only Conference USA team with a win against an FBS opponent this season. Simmons also recorded a third straight home win dating back to last season, and he is now 5-2 at home.
On Saturday, FIU will head north to Boca Raton to face off against the Florida Atlantic Owls in the 24th edition of the Shula Bowl. The Owls defeated Navy, 38-30, last weekend at home, to improve to 1-1.
