The feature attraction of Saturday night’s season-finale was supposed to be the ode to four seniors taking part in their final appearance at FIU Stadium in a Panther uniform. Instead, the crowd was treated to a furious 20-point second-half comeback at the hands of third-year freshman quarterback Haden Carlson, who threw four touchdown passes in a surprise start in place of Grayson James.
However, Carlson’s third of four interceptions with under three minutes left in the contest was returned 28 yards for the game-winning score by Middle Tennessee (7-5, 4-4) safety Jakobe Thomas to give the Blue Raiders a 33-28 road victory.