Western Kentucky rolls over Old Dominion

NORFOLK, Va. — Anthony Wales rushed for a career-high four touchdowns and Brandon Doughty threw for three scores to lead Western Kentucky to a 55-30 win over Old Dominion on Saturday.

Doughty, who has now thrown at least one touchdown pass in 23 consecutive games, completed 21 of 28 pass attempts for 276 yards. Nicholas Norris pulled in five of those for 117 yards and one score for Western Kentucky (7-2, 5-0 Conference USA).

Wales, who finished with 185 yards, ran for a 44-yard score and Doughty hit Norris on a 54-yard scoring strike in the second quarter as the Hilltoppers pulled away for a 31-10 lead at the break.

Old Dominion (3-5, 1-3) closed to 41-23 when Shuler Bentley, who threw for three scores, tossed a touchdown pass to Marques Little from the 16 on the first play of the final quarter. The Hilltoppers answered when Wales broke for a score from the 19 with 12:57 left.

Southern Miss 34, UTEP 13: Nick Mullens threw four touchdown passes to spark Southern Mississippi to a 34-13 win over Texas-El Paso Saturday afternoon.

Southern Miss (6-3, 4-1) played in all-black uniforms while UTEP (3-5, 1-3) got permission from Conference-USA to wear all-orange for the Halloween game and the weather turned scary with a lightning storm that caused the stadium to be cleared at the start of the fourth quarter in a weather delay.

Mullens sandwiched an 11-yard pass to Michael Thomas and a 9-yard strike to Jalen Richard around a Jay Mattox 38-yard field goal that put the Golden Eagles up 13-3 at intermission.

Mullens found DJ Thompson with two second-half touchdown passes and finished with 277 passing yards on 23 of 33 throwing.

Southern Miss finished with 246 yards rushing, led by Richard’s 127 yards on 20 carries.

The Golden Eagles held the Miners to 298 yards of offense.

Marshall 34, Charlotte 10: Chase Litton threw for a career-high 486 yards with two touchdowns and Marshall beat Charlotte 34-10 on Saturday.

Marshall (8-1, 5-0 Conference USA) has won seven straight and remains tied with Western Kentucky (7-2, 5-0) atop the conference standings.

Litton was 33-of-48 passing with scoring throws 17 and 66 yards. Remi Watson and Keion Davis added touchdown runs for the Thundering Herd, who had 630 yards of offense and forced two turnovers.

Kalif Phillips ran for 99 yards with a 6-yard touchdown run to lead Charlotte (2-6, 0-5).

Watson scored on a 7-yard run on the Thundering Herd’s fourth play from scrimmage. Litton connected with Davonte Allen on the 66-yard touchdown pass, and threw his 17-yard scoring strike to Ryan Yurachek. Davis ran in from the 6-yard line, Nick Smith kicked a 32-yard field goal, and Marshall led 31-3 at halftime.

North Texas 30, Texas-San Antonio 23:

DaMarcus Smith ran for 137 yards with a late touchdown run to help North Texas win its first of the year, over one-win Texas San Antonio, 30-23 on Saturday.

Smith also was 11 of 22 passing for 104 yards. Jeffrey Wilson added 127 yards rushing with a touchdown.

Halen Steward scored on a 1-yard pass from Dalton Sturm midway through the fourth to put Texas San Antonio up 23-21. The extra point was blocked, and Chad Davis returned it for a defensive point-after-touchdown to tie it.

North Texas (1-7, 1-4 Conference USA) then marched 70 yards on 10 plays, with Smith’s 1-yard touchdown run the difference-maker.

The Mean Green took the lead early in the fourth on Willy Ivery’s 5-yard run, following a seven-play, 76-yard drive.

Sturm finished 27 of 41 for 245 yards and a touchdown pass. He carried 21 times for 73 yards. Jarveon Williams and Tyrell Clay had short TD runs for the Roadrunners (1-7, 1-3).

Florida Atlantic 31, Florida International 17:

Trey Rodriguez rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns to help Florida Atlantic beat Florida International 31-17 Saturday.

Jaquez Johnson completed 10 of 19 passes for 113 yards and added 64 yards rushing on nine carries for FAU (2-6, 2-6 Conference USA), which snapped a three-game skid.

Five plays after Nate Ozdemir recovered a fumble by FIU’s Alex McGough, Rodriguez scored on a 5-yard run to give the Owls a 7-0 lead with 6:01 left in the first quarter.

FAU forced the Panthers to punt on their ensuing possession before Jason Driskel’s 6-yard scoring run made it 14-0 early in the second quarter.

FIU (4-5, 2-3) cut its deficit to 17-10 on a 47-yard field goal by Austin Taylor with 5:45 left in the third, but Florida Atlantic responded with a 17-play, 78-yard drive that chewed up more than eight minutes and culminated with a 1-yard touchdown run by Rodriguez.

Jalen Young’s 58-yard interception return for a touchdown made it 31-10 with 3:01 to play.

Louisiana Tech 42, Rice 17: Jeff Driskel threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns, Kenneth Dixon ran for two scores, and Louisiana Tech scored 28 straight in a 42-17 victory over Rice on Friday night.

Trent Taylor had five catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns for Louisiana Tech (6-3, 4-1 Conference USA).

On Louisiana Tech’s first possession, Taylor caught Driskel’s pass, broke a tackle and raced for a 47-yard touchdown. Rice answered with Samuel Stewart’s 4-yard touchdown catch. Then Driskel had a 14-yard touchdown strike to Carlos Henderson.

Louisiana Tech took advantage of a taunting penalty after its incompletion on third-and-goal and Dixon punched in a 2-yard touchdown run for a 21-7 lead. Three minutes later, Taylor’s 63-yard catch-and-run set up Dixon’s 5-yard TD to make it 28-7 at halftime.

Henderson added a 24-yard touchdown catch on the Bulldogs’ first drive of the second half.

Driphus Jackson led Rice (4-4, 2-2) with 180 yards passing and two touchdowns.