Four field goals, 12 points: Bourgeois boots Middle Tennessee past Florida Intl 26-23

Twelve of Middle Tennessee's 26 points came off one right foot. Dominic Bourgeois kicked four field goals, and the Blue Raiders needed every one of them to leave with a 26-23 win over Florida Intl.

Florida Intl struck first and struck bold. Kyle McNeal's touchdown and JJ Kohl's two-point conversion put the Golden Panthers up 8-0 in the first quarter. Brody Benke answered with a touchdown to trim it to 8-7, and Bourgeois opened his account in the second quarter with a pair of field goals — 8-10, then 8-13 — and a 13-8 halftime lead. Florida Intl never led again.

Bourgeois pushed it to 8-16 with his third kick in the third quarter. Florida Intl clawed back: Kevin Schaeffer's touchdown, Devonte Lyons' two-point conversion, and a 16-16 tie. Terrence Brown Jr. put the Blue Raiders back in front at 16-22, Bourgeois drilled his fourth field goal in the fourth quarter for 16-26, and Sterling Joseph's touchdown with the extra point set the final margin at 23-26.

Bourgeois was the difference. Four field goals across three quarters, 12 points on a night when Middle Tennessee's offense found the end zone just twice — Benke in the first quarter, Brown Jr. in the third. Florida Intl kept reaching the end zone but kept going for two, converting after both of its first two touchdowns and saving its only extra point for Joseph's late score.

Middle Tennessee never trailed after Bourgeois' first kick. Florida Intl scored three touchdowns; the Blue Raiders scored two and won anyway. The kicking game settles arguments.