Houston staves off Temple

Kyle Postma passed for 226 yards and a touchdown, and the Houston defense made three interceptions in a 20-13 victory over Temple on Saturday.

Houston’s defense held Temple to 324 total yards, including 142 rushing. Garrett Davis intercepted two of Logan Marchi’s passes and Isiah Johnson grabbed the other.

Postma, making his first start since Sept. 10, 2016, also gained 81 yards on 15 carries. He started for Kyle Allen, who did not play because of a coach’s decision after starting the first three games of the season.

D’Eriq King scored on a 13-yard run to open the scoring for Houston (2-1, 1-0 American Athletic). Postma, who was 25 of 36 with an interception, hit Linell Bonner on a 9-yard scoring strike to make it 20-0 in the third quarter.

Temple (2-2, 0-2), who was trounced by the USF Bulls 43-7 last week, had its best offensive performance in an 11-play, 85yard drive capped by Marchi’s 1-yard scoring pass to David Hood, on fourthand-goal in the fourth quarter. Marchi was 20 of 41 for 182 yards passing. Aaron Boumerhi kicked a 41-yard field goal.

Pittsburgh 42, Rice 10

Max Browne returned at starting quarterback and threw four touchdown passes in Pittsburgh’s 4210 rout of the Rice on Saturday.

Pitt’s offense was rolling from the start, scoring on its first three possessions. Chawntez Moss and Jester Weah hauled in touchdown passes of 48 and 55 yards and Qadree Ollison added a 10yard touchdown run.

Browne, a redshirt senior transfer from Southern Cal, came out of training camp as Pittsburgh’s starter, but lost the job to redshirt sophomore Ben DiNucci after three games.

DiNucci started against Georgia Tech a week ago, but couldn’t stop the slide as Pitt (2-3) lost its third game in a row.

That gave Browne another opportunity and he responded by completing his first nine passes on the way to a 28-for-32 afternoon, with a career-high 410 yards and four touchdowns.

Rice quarterback Jackson Tyner hit Austin Walter for a 70-yard touchdown as the Owls (1-4) pulled it to 28-10 in the third quarter. Tyner finished 15 of 32 for 222 yards, but also threw three interceptions.

Browne connected on short touchdown passes to Darrin Hall and Chris Clark in the fourth quarter as the Panthers pulled away.

Villanova 24, Towson 9

Jack Schetelich passed for one touchdown and ran in two more to lead Villanova to a 24-9 win over Towson on Saturday night.

Both of Schetelich’s rushing touchdowns were set up by fumble recoveries in the fourth quarter. The first came when Julian Williams recovered Ryan Stover’s fumble at the Towson 8 and Schetelich scrambled into the end zone on the next play. Then, with 3:12 left, Stover again fumbled — this time while being sacked — and Malik Fisher recovered it at the Towson 11, with Schetelich taking it in for the final score of the game on the next snap.

Villanova (3-2, 1-1 Colonial Athletic Association) also struggled with turnovers. Schetelich threw three interceptions and was just 5 of 15 for 59 yards passing. In the game’s opening possession, he connected with Taurus Phillips for a 7-yard touchdown to cap a 15-play, 75-yard drive.

Drew Kresge had a 46yard field goal in the third quarter to put Villanova back on top for good.

Towson (2-3, 0-2) also got points off a turnover.

Monty Fenner intercepted a pass from Schetelich in the second quarter, setting up a 3-yard touchdown run by Stover six plays later. Aidan O’Neill missed the PAT kick but Towson edged into a 9-7 lead in the second half with a 65-yard drive capped by O’Neill’s field goal.