was frozen twice by consecutive Florida Atlantic timeouts, nailed the extra point to send the remaining Blue Raider faithful into a frenzy as the students stormed the field. FIU Middle Tennessee's hopes of a push toward the Sun Belt Conference championship in the second half of the season took a decisive blow in Miami, FL, when Florida International dealt the Blue Raiders a 31-21 setback at FIU Stadium. Middle Tennessee never got on track offensively in the opening half and things worsened in the second half when the Golden Panthers finally started gaining yards in chunks against a Blue Raider defense that had been on the field a majority of the first half. Middle Tennessee fell to 2-4 overall and was out of the conference race at 1–3. As of this game, the series between Middle Tennessee and Florida International is tied 2-2. The home team has never lost in the series. Louisville Middle Tennessee showed fight against Louisville during a dandy first-half display but the Cardinals flexed their Big East muscle in the second half and pulled away for a 42–23 win in Louisville. The Blue Raiders led 17-14 after a spirited first half but the second half belonged to Louisville as it made a statement and pulled away from Middle Tennessee's upset bid. The game started well enough for the Blue Raiders who jumped out to the early lead and maintained it throughout the first half. Louisville quarterback Hunter Cantwell had a pass intercepted by Blue Raider safety Jeremy Kellem, who returned 14 yards for the touchdown to give Middle Tennessee a 7–0 lead, with 9:27 remaining in the opening frame. Minutes later, Blue Raider receiver Patrick Honeycutt took the handoff from quarterback Joe Craddock and pulled up for a pass to a wide open tailback Phillip Tanner, who caught the ball at the 18 and went 39 yards for the touchdown to give the Blue Raiders a 14–0 lead with 6:46 remaining in the opening quarter. The tide turned somewhat in the second quarter, particularly when Louisville running back Victor Anderson sprinted 88 yards to tie the game, 14-14, with 12:10 remaining in the first half. Louisville went on to win 42–23. Mississippi State Middle Tennessee's offense put together five scoring drives and Eldred King turned in one of the best performances ever by a Blue Raider receiver but it wasn't enough in a tough 31-22 setback