Despite upcoming bye week, FIU will not dwell on 41-12 road loss to Texas State

FIU sophomore quarterback Grayson James finally got his first college start, and it happened in his home state of Texas.

Unfortunately for James, it wasn’t a winning debut as FIU lost 41-12 to Texas State late Saturday night in San Marcos.

FIU (1-1) never led and didn’t score its only touchdown until 9:29 left in the fourth quarter as EJ Wilson found the end zone on a 6-yard run.

The Panthers trailed 10-0 in the first quarter and 20-6 at halftime. They went 1 for 9 on first-half third-down conversions.

James was playing in place of opening-night starter Gunnar Holmberg, who is out with a concussion. James completed 30-of-47 passes for 195 yards, and he threw two interceptions. One of his interceptions was returned for a 60-yard touchdown by Kordell Rogers.

James, who is from the Dallas area, had been looking forward to this game.

Prior to the game, James said: “Emotions will be high. I know a few guys on the Texas State team. This will be a fun game for sure.”

After the game, James called it a “great experience” despite the loss.

“It was not the result we wanted, and I’m disappointed with that,” James said. “But we can grow as a team from this experience.

“Every loss is tough, but you can use that to your advantage and grow.”

While it was James’ first start, Saturday also marked the debut for FIU third-string quarterback Haden Carlson, a third-year freshman from Tampa. Carlson went 5 for 9 for 55 yards with no interceptions.

“Haden came in and made a couple of nice throws,” FIU coach Mike MacIntyre said.

Here are five takeaways from FIU’s perspective:

1: POSITIVE MAC: MacIntyre didn’t exude any negativity following the loss.

“I’m so proud of these kids,” MacIntyre said. “We’re so young. We’re fighting hard.

“[Texas State] made some good plays against us. We kind of gave them a few things, but we kept battling.”

2: QB PICTURE UNCLEAR: FIU is off until Sept. 24, when the Panthers visit Western Kentucky.

The bye week could give Holmberg a chance to return from his concussion, sustained on a hit he took in the opener against Bryant.

“We will go into practice this week and see how Gunnar is and how Grayson is doing and Haden,” MacIntyre said.

MacIntyre was asked to analyze James’ performance.

“Grayson made some good plays,” MacIntyre said. “He also made a couple of bad throws he’d like to have back. [Texas State] kind of [baited] him into a couple of things. The quarterback has to see it ...

“When Grayson sees the film and understands what’s going on, he will be able to learn from that.”

MacIntyre also emphasized James’ potential.

“Grayson made some [good] throws that we didn’t catch, and he showed us that [this stage] is not too big for him,” MacIntyre said. “He has the ability to make plays, and I see a lot of hope for his future.”

3: EXTRA ATTENTION: FIU wide receiver Tyrese Chambers, with more than 1,000 receiving yards last season, had another strong performance against Texas State.

Chambers had game highs in catches (10) and yards (72), but he was kept in relative check because Texas State had two deep safeties to contain any long gains.

“When you have a guy like Tyrese, the defense is going to focus on him,” James said. “I tried to get the ball to the other guys as well.”

Unfortunately for FIU, no other Panthers receiver had more than four catches or more than 33 reception yards.

4: WORK IN PROGRESS: FIU rushed for just 62 yards and a 2.8 average on Saturday, emphasizing the Panthers’ blocking issues.

FIU center Julius Pierce did not start due to an ankle sprain that caused him to miss practice all week.

Pierce, though, did play as a reserve behind true freshman John Bock, who started at left guard in the opener.

“Bock did some good things,” MacIntyre said. “John is a really good player. He can play center or guard. I’m really pleased with where he’s headed.

“Julius did well at the end. Hopefully his ankle is getting better.”

As for the offensive line as a whole, MacIntyre remained positive.

“Sometimes we just didn’t block it well,” MacIntyre said of FIU running plays. “We will look at it to see if the running backs are running hard. When we have the opportunity to run, we have to block better and hold our blocks.

“But we will keep working on our offensive line just like we will work on our team.”

5: BACK TO WORK: Despite having the bye week, don’t expect much time off for FIU’s football players.

“Our first week back, we will make all the corrections and see what fits us best,” MacIntyre said.

“But we’re going to practice. We’re not going to take a lot of time off. We need to get better.”