Florida International 23, Florida A&M 6

October 1, 2005

MIAMI, Fla. (Oct. 1) - The Florida International University Golden Panthers played their first home game as a Division I-A program Saturday night, but the Florida A&M Rattlers fought them valiantly for four quarters before bowing out, 23-6 at FIU Stadium.

A crowd of 16,512 fans packed the stadium to witness the Rattlers (2-3) hold the Golden Panthers (1-3), to a trio of Adam Moss field goals in the first, third and fourth quarters.

However, FIU turned a 3-0 lead after the first into a 17-0 halftime bulge with a 14-point flurry to finish the first half.

FIU's Josh Padrick hit Chandler Williams on a 58-yard scoring pass play with 4:54 left in the half to push the Panthers ahead, 10-0.

The Miami crew made it 17-0 with just 12 seconds left in the half, when Padrick hit Cory McKinney for a 20-yard scoring strike.

FAMU got on the board just seconds into the fourth quarter, when Roosevelt Kiser took a pass from Albert Chester and streaked 77 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown (14:38). The extra point failed.

FIU outgained the Rattlers, 470 to 154 in total yards, rushing for 244 yards on 44 carries, while FAMU was held to 28 yards rushing on 26 carries.

The Panthers' Ben West rushed for 214 yards on 34 carries, the second-most yards rushing allowed ever by a FAMU team. The Rattlers' Rashard Pompey led the FAMU ground gainers with 17 yards on nine carries.

Josh Padrick threw for 226 yards and 2 TDs for FIU, completing 15 of 23 passes, while Chandler Williams caught five passes for 122 yards and a TD.

The FAMU defense was tough in the early going, stopping FIU twice in the red zone in the first quarter - forcing a field goal attempt on one drive and getting the Panthers to turn the ball over on downs on a second drive.

Sophomore end Tyrone McGriff, Jr., led the Rattlers with nine tackles.

Defensive back Keith Williams and Steve St. Felix each added eight stops.

QUARTERBACK QUANDRY: The injury bug struck the Rattlers at quarterback Saturday, as starter Chris Owens, who struggled under constant pressure, suffered a hip pointer and caught a blow to the head in the first half…. Sophomore Leon Camel came in for several series, relieved by Albert Chester, who engineered a scoring drive for FAMU in the fourth period, before tossing an interception on his second drive…. With a bye week, the quarterback situation will have a major bearing on the stretch run for the Rattlers, which stand 1-1 in the MEAC, with all six remaining bouts against league competition… WHAT'S NEXT: The Rattlers get a needed bye week next Saturday, before returning to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play for the remainder of the year.

FAMU travels to South Carolina State for a 1:30 showdown at Oliver C. Dawson/Bulldog Stadium in Orangeburg on October 15.

COACH CARTER'S COMMENTARY:"It was not a very good game for us at all…. I thought we played mediocre…. We did come out with a lot of intensity early and I thought we fought hard on defense… We gave up some easy scores and easy first down situations and some big plays, which concerns me…. If we can make the opponent's offense have longer to go, we've got a chance…. We can't give up big plays where they score on third and long situations…." "Our offense was really ineffective today…. We really didn't do anything, especially against a front that I thought we would be able to at least move some… We didn't get a good push on third and inches and we were forced to put in younger players, who aren't really experienced, which caused a lot of problems for us."