South Florida Beats FIU 19-9 on Four Field Goals
One touchdown. Four field goals. South Florida beat Florida International 19-9, and Nico Gramatica was the reason the scoreboard looked the way it did.
He kicked a 37-yarder as the first quarter ended and a 53-yarder in the second, so it was 6-0 at the break. FIU's Robert Czeremcha answered with a 29-yard field goal midway through the third. That was as close as the game got until the very end, and South Florida never trailed. D.J. Crowther scored from a yard out early in the fourth to make it 13-3, and Gramatica added a 30-yarder with 7:03 left and a 29-yarder with 1:44 left to make it 19-3.
The yardage says FIU should have been closer. FIU threw for 301 yards and had 381 in all, against 208 for South Florida (100 passing and 108 rushing on 38 carries). The turnover line is why it was not. FIU threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, South Florida had none, and J.J. Kohl needed 50 throws to get his 301 yards. He finally got a touchdown on the last play, a 21-yard pass to James Resar as time ran out, and it made the final read 19-9. It was a garnish.
South Florida is 1-0 and FIU is 0-1. The fantasy story is a strange one: the three best scorers in the game all played for the losing team, led by Kohl at 21.1 and Maguire Anderson at 16.7. Losing a game 19-9 can still be a fine week for your passing game.