Five for Five: Czeremcha Boots FIU Past New Mexico State 22-3 in Conference USA Opener

MIAMI — On a night when points were scarce and the rain fell light on Pitbull Stadium, FIU’s best offensive weapon turned out to be its kicker. Robert Czeremcha drilled all five of his field goal attempts — including booming kicks from 48 and 52 yards — and the Panthers’ defense suffocated New Mexico State in a 22-3 Wednesday night win that opened Conference USA play for both teams.

The Panthers (3-2, 1-0 CUSA) won ugly and won comfortably, holding the ball for nearly 38 minutes and never once trailing. The Aggies (2-4, 1-1) managed a season-low three points despite averaging 27.8 per game entering the night. They turned it over three times, converted just 3 of 12 third downs, and mustered only 230 yards of total offense. Ten of FIU’s 22 points came directly off those takeaways.

The tone was set early. After a Wesley Miller interception, FIU marched 53 yards in eight plays, and Anthony Carrie punched it in from a yard out in the first quarter for the Panthers’ only touchdown of the night. New Mexico State answered with its best drive of the game — a 14-play, 67-yard march capped by Kyah Francone’s 26-yard field goal at the 10:16 mark of the second quarter — and then Czeremcha closed the half with a 40-yarder that made it 10-3. The Aggies actually outgained FIU 133-122 in total offense over the first 30 minutes, but dropped passes and poorly timed penalties kept the scoreboard tilted the wrong way.

The second half was the Czeremcha show. Four more field goals — the Panthers leaned on the leg that had made six total field goals entering the game, and he nearly doubled that season total in a single evening — stretched the lead while the defense finished the job. Two of the five makes came from beyond 45 yards, distances where college kickers are anything but automatic. For a team that averages just 18 points per game, turning stalled drives into three points instead of zero is the difference between 3-2 and a losing record. The Aggies’ deepest push ended at the FIU 36-yard line in the third quarter on a turnover on downs, and after that the outcome was never in doubt.

The Aggies will spend the bye week thinking about the chances that got away. On a short week after Thursday’s 34-13 win at Western Kentucky, New Mexico State moved the ball early — the Aggies outgained FIU 133-122 in total offense over the first 30 minutes — but dropped passes, poorly timed penalties and three turnovers buried every promising drive. The 14-play, 67-yard march that produced Francone’s field goal was the lone sustained sequence of the night; everything else stalled before it started, and a team averaging 27.8 points per game walked off with its lowest total of the season.

That is what this FIU team is. The Panthers don’t score much — they entered the night ranked 126th in the FBS at 18.0 points per game despite a passing attack that moves the ball (294.0 yards per game, 20th nationally) — but they defend at a nationally relevant level. The 14.5 points per game allowed ranked 18th in the country; the 245.8 total yards allowed ranked ninth; the two passing touchdowns allowed tied for third. New Mexico State, on a short week after Thursday’s 34-13 win at Western Kentucky, ran into the conference’s best defense at the worst possible time, in 85-degree heat with rain moving through South Florida.

The broader picture is kind to FIU, too. The Panthers’ two losses — 19-9 to South Florida, 16-10 to Florida Atlantic — were both low-scoring affairs in which the defense did enough to win. The two wins before Wednesday — 33-20 over Buffalo, 20-3 over LIU — followed the same formula. This is the third time in five games FIU has held an opponent to single digits, and the CUSA opener is the kind of statement win that matters in a league race where style points count less than November positioning.

The road gets harder from here. FIU faces a stretch with four road games in its next six, beginning with a trip to Jacksonville State on Oct. 13. New Mexico State, meanwhile, gets a week off to recover before visiting Sam Houston State on Oct. 21, then gets three home games in four weeks to steady its season. The Aggies’ short series with FIU, tied 2-2 before Wednesday, now tilts toward Miami.

For the bettors watching on ESPN2, the night offered no drama either: FIU covered as a 7.5-point favorite, and the 25-point total stayed well under the 46.5-point consensus line — the kind of result the Panthers’ defense has been producing all season. Read Friday’s Week 6 preview, the Wednesday college football notebook, and all of Previously’s college football coverage.