BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Richard Leonard returned a third-quarter kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, swinging the momentum back to Florida International in its 34-24 Sun Belt Conference victory over Florida Atlantic on Friday night.
Leonard's touchdown gave the Golden Panthers (3-8, 2-5) a 20-17 lead after the Owls (3-8, 2-5) had gone ahead for the first time in the game.
FIU made it 27-17 just before the end of the quarter with a 73-yard drive that featured seven completions by Jake Medlock and ended with his 15-yard pass to Wayne Times.
Graham Wilbert, who completed 28 of 51 for 403 yards, found Jenson Stoshak for a 60-yard score to make it 27-24, but FIU restored its 10-point lead with a touchdown and the defenses took over after that.
The Golden Panthers, who beat FAU 41-7 last year and move to Conference USA next season, retained the rivalry's Don Shula Trophy.
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| Scoring Summary |
| FIU | Willis Wright 38 yd pass from Jake Medlock (Jack Griffin kick) |
| FAU | Nexon Dorvilus 17 yd pass from Graham Wilbert (Mitch Anderson kick) |
| FIU | Rupert Bryan 5 yd run (Jack Griffin kick) |
| FAU | Mitch Anderson 37 yd FG |
| FAU | Jonathan Wallace 1 yd run (Mitch Anderson kick) |
| FIU | Richard Leonard 100 yd kick return (missed kick) |
| FIU | Wayne Times 15 yd pass from Jake Medlock (Jack Griffin kick) |
| FAU | Jenson Stoshak 60 yd pass from Graham Wilbert (Mitch Anderson kick) |
| FIU | Kedrick Rhodes 1 yd run (Jack Griffin kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| FIU | FAU | |
| First Downs | 20 | 17 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 6-13 | 4-15 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 67-431 | 70-391 |
| Rushes-Yds | 39-167 | 19--12 |
| Passing Yds | 264 | 403 |
| Kick Return Yds | 196 | 42 |
| Punt Return Yds | 24 | 18 |
| Passes | 17-28-0 | 28-51-1 |
| Punts | 6-223 | 7-284 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 2-0 |
| Penalties-Yds | 8-57 | 6-30 |
| Time of Poss. | 31:42 | 28:18 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| FIU: Kedrick Rhodes 18-99, Jake Medlock 12-36, Darian Mallary 7-32, Rupert Bryan 1-5, Team 1--5 |
| FAU: Jonathan Wallace 10-21, Damian Fortner 3--3, Daniel McKinney 2--5, Graham Wilbert 4--25 |
| PASSING |
| FIU: Jake Medlock 17-28-264-0 |
| FAU: Graham Wilbert 28-51-403-1 |
| RECEIVING |
| FIU: Wayne Times 5-53, Jacob Younger 4-94, Kedrick Rhodes 3-35, Willis Wright 2-55, Glenn Coleman 2-17, T.J. Lowder 1-10 |
| FAU: Daniel McKinney 7-90, William Dukes 6-116, Jenson Stoshak 5-108, Damian Fortner 5-45, Nexon Dorvilus 3-30, Jonathan Wallace 1-9, Robert Lohnes 1-5 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Florida International | 8th Sun Belt | 2-6 | 3-9 |
| Florida Atlantic | 8th Sun Belt | 2-6 | 3-9 |
