For the first time in nearly two years, Lane Kiffin and the Florida Atlantic Owls found themselves on the wrong end of a Conference USA matchup, dropping their C-USA opener 25-24 to the rival Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
FAU (2-3, 0-1 in C-USA) had a 21-3 lead at one point over the Blue Raiders (2-2, 0-1) as the Owls hoped to win in Murfreesboro for the first time since Sept. 18, 2004. But Middle Tennessee quarterback Brent Stockstill, who hadn’t faced the Owls since 2015, engineered a late comeback and gave the Blue Raiders a late lead with only 38 seconds left.