True freshman quarterback leads FIU to a narrow victory over Maine in home opener

With apologies to Alanis Morissette …

Isn’t it ironic:

That a player with the name Keyone “Lights Out” Jenkins has such a bright future?

Isn’t it ironic:

That after a veteran quarterback, Grayson James, had just 4 four yards passing last week, Jenkins — an 18-year-old freshman playing his first collegiate game — passed for 292 yards?

Ironic or not, all of that happened on Saturday night as Jenkins led the host FIU Panthers to a 14-12 win over the Maine Black Bears.

Jenkins broke FIU’s single-game record for most yards by a freshman. The previous record was held by James Burke, who passed for 258 yards in 2002.

Jenkins, who was sacked three times and intercepted once, completed 15 of 30 passes for two touchdowns. With James benched, Jenkins seems to be at least the tenuous QB1 for FIU.

Here are four takeaways regarding the Panthers (1-1):

1: PERFECT TENS: Wide receiver Kris Mitchell and middle linebacker Donovan Manuel — who both wear No. 10 for FIU — both had stellar games.

Mitchell had nine catches for 201 yards and two touchdowns. The 201 receiving yards ties an FIU record held by T.Y. Hilton in 2011 and Tyrese Chambers one decade later. Mitchell on Saturday also had a 62-yard reception – the longest catch of his career.

Manuel had a game-high 14 tackles — many of them of the bone-jarring variety – and he had 15 stops last week.

2: NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: Beyond Jenkins and Mitchell, safety D’Verik Daniel had a career-high 11 tackles.

Outside linebacker Alex Nobles was another FIU standout as he had 1½ sacks, and backup cornerback Brian Blades recovered the first fumble of his career.

FIU also got five catches for 86 yards from Dean Patterson, who added two punt returns for 34 yards. In fairness, however, Patterson lost a fumble while fielding a punt.

3: CLOSE CALL NO. 1: For the second straight year, FIU’s first win came in a narrow victory over an FCS school. Last year, FIU beat Bryant, 38-37, in overtime.

FIU never trailed Saturday. Still, with 8:59 left in the third quarter, Maine scored on a 5 -yard run by Tristan Kenan, cutting the Black Bears’ deficit to 14-12. However, a Maine two-point conversion fell short.

Then, after three straight Jenkins incompletions and Daton Montiel’s short 27-yard punt, Maine drove and had a first down at FIU’s 13-yard line. However, FIU’s Daniel stopped Kenan on a fourth-and-3 run, turning the ball over on downs.

4: CLOSE CALL NO. 2: The Panthers tried to put the game away in the fourth quarter, driving 86 yards and burning five minutes. But on fourth-and-2 from Maine’s 4-yard line, FIU center John Bock II snapped the ball prematurely. Jenkins couldn’t catch the shotgun snap, and, by the time he scooped the ball, he got sacked.

Maine, which had already made field goals of 48 and 28 yards, took over with 6:05 left, hunting a potential game-winning kick.

The Black Bears mounted a 14-play drive that was — incredibly — kept alive by three pass-interference penalties on the same FIU player, Larry Preston.

But a huge sack by Jordan Guerad forced an incomplete pass on fourth-and-15 from FIU’s 42, and that was the game.