History Made: Monmouth University Gets First-Ever FBS Victory

WEST LONG BRANCH – Just when it appeared Monmouth University was about to suffer its second devastating last-second loss in the last three weeks, Monmouth’s rising sophomore safety Deuce Lee came to the rescue.

Monmouth had just gone ahead of FBS foe Florida International University 45-42 with 1:52 remaining in the fourth quarter on junior Michael Calton Jr.’s clutch 43-yard field goal. Calton Jr., a Manalapan High School graduate, easily had the distance and split the uprights for winning points.

The defense, which is starting to establish its own identity, gave the ball back to its offense deep in FIU territory after turning over the Panthers at the 39-yard line to set up the winning field goal. Transfer safety Alex Odom, who has established himself as one of the leaders on defense, forced a fumble, and senior linebacker Remi Johnson pounced on it at the 39.

The Hawks then advanced to the FIU 25-yard line, but a sack stalled the drive, and Calton Jr. came in and did his job.

However, with 1:44 still showing on the clock, the Panthers drove to the Monmouth 21-yard line in five plays to set up a second-and-one at the 21. Panthers quarterback Keyone Jenkins then completed a pass to wide receiver Eric Rivers at the 15-yard line. Rivers broke to the right side of the field and appeared on his way into end zone before Lee hit him, stripping the ball and recovering it inside the 1-yard line with 32 seconds left.

Lee led the defense with nine tackles, including five solo tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

“The defense grew up a lot today,” said Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan. “They developed a lot of confidence in their ability to turn people over today. It wasn’t always perfect, but they got themselves off the field when they had to, rose to the occasion, and made those types of plays they had to; they were opportunistic.”

Monmouth then ran out the clock, securing their first-ever victory over an FBS team in dramatic fashion, and the celebration was on.

“Just an awesome, awesome win,” said Callahan. “Frist and foremost I am so happy for the players on our team; they really believed and knew we were going to have to play a full 60 minutes, and it went right down to the last 30 seconds before we pulled it out. There were sometimes that maybe it didn’t look like we were going to come away with the win as they were driving at the end of the game and were able to strip the ball at the 1-yard line and get it back. It just shows there’s no quit in this team; they are going to play the entire game until there are zeros on the clock, and we got a great result.”

With two road wins in a row, the Hawks' season record is now 2-2 and 1-0 in the CAA. Next Saturday, a 0-4 Fordham team will visit Kessler Field for the Hawks last non-conference game of the season.

Once again, the Hawks offense was virtually unstoppable. Having discovered its running game the last couple of weeks to complement its explosive passing attack, the offense, led by quarterback Derek Robertson, is scary good. Sophomore running back Rodney Nelson had a breakout game, rushing for 117 yards on 14 attempts, including a 59-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 35-35 late in the third quarter.

“If you’re going to be successful on offense, you have to have some balance,” said Callahan. “That means you have to be able to run the ball and throw the ball. In the first couple of games, we threw the ball extremely well, and we finally got the running game going up in Maine, and I think you saw a continuation of that today

“We thought we could move the ball on them,” added Callahan. “We showed in the first half our ability to move the ball through the air on them, and we were able to get some runs going later on. Derek was lights out today. He spread the ball around to a lot of different receivers and they made plays all day.”

Monmouth’s offense, ranked No.1 in the CAA and second nationally in total offense, is averaging 510 yards per game. On Saturday, they racked up 540 yards after exploding for 632 yards last week in their win at Maine.

Robertson was 35-of-51 passing for 361 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, which was returned 85 yards for a touchdown after the Hawks drove to the Panther's 18-yard line on the game's opening drive, putting the Hawks in a 7-0 hole. Monmouth had won the coin toss and elected to receive, showing Callahan's faith in his offense.

After their win on the road at Maine, Monmouth was a confident bunch. At no time did they seem intimidated just because they were on the same field as an FBS team. They believed they could win.

“I think it (the Maine road win) instilled some confidence in the guys,” said Callahan. “To be able to come down here to an FBS school at their homecoming and walk away with a win is a testament to our guys' willpower. It’s funny because we talked last night and before we came out here today about how it was going to be a sixty-minute game, and we were going to have to make plays the entire way. And we took it right down to 30 seconds or something like that.”

The Panthers went up 14-0, but Monmouth didn’t blink. Hawks running back Sone Ntoh ripped off a 30-yard touchdown run to cap an eight-play, 81-yard drive to pull the Hawks to within 14-7. FIU went up by two scores again, but Monmouth answered with a nine-play, 68-yard scoring drive, with Ntoh again finishing off the drive with a 3-yard burst to make it 21-14.

A 42-yard touchdown strike from Jenkins to Juju Lewis made it a two-score game with 6:01 remaining in the first half, but the Hawks marched 75 yards in 12 plays to close the gap to 28-21 right before the half. Robertson found senior wideout T.J. Speight for a 4-yard touchdown.

Although they trailed by a touchdown at halftime, they outgained FIU 335 to 206, held a 14-9 advantage in first downs, and led in time of possession, 19:26 to 9:34. That just boosted their confidence level even higher heading into the second half.

The Panthers received the second-half kickoff, and the Hawks' defense forced a three-and-out. Junior defensive end Miles Mitchell made a big stop on third down, forcing an FIU punt.

Monmouth then went 60 yards in six plays to knot the game at 28-28. Robertson connected with junior wideout Gavin Nelson for a 4-yard touchdown to finish off the drive.

The back-and-forth contest continued with FIU going 70 yards to take a 35-28 lead before Nelson’s 59-yard scamper evened it at 35.

The Hawks took their first lead of the game at 13:24 of the fourth quarter. Robertson directed a 10-play, 53-yard drive, with Ntoh scoring his third touchdown of the game, a 1-yard burst to make it 42-35 after Calton Jr’s sixth after-point of the game. Ntoh finished with 53-yards rushing on 12 carries.

The lead didn’t last long, with FIU going 64 yards in six plays on their ensuing possession to pull even with the Hawks, 42-42, with 10:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The rest is history.

“We’ve built it brick-by-brick, year-after-year,” said Callahan, referencing the program's growth. “There’s no quick fix; there’s no easy way to do it. It didn’t always seem like we were making progress, but we were. Finally to play an FBS program and beat an FBS program on their field is a great statement about where the program is today and how far it’s come.”