UF rolls over Texas A&M; North Texas routs FIU
Anthony Richardson threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 78 yards and two scores as Florida snapped its two-game losing streak with a 41-24 win over Texas A&M on Saturday.
Richardson had touchdown runs of 10 and 60 yards in the first quarter and connected with Ja’Quavion Fraziars and Caleb Douglas on touchdown passes of 19 and 12 yards, respectively, in the third quarter as the Gators (5-4, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) opened up a 34-24 lead.
“I told Anthony there late in the game, ‘I think Anthony’s going to play this game for a long time,’ ” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “I think he will look back, and this will be one of those days that he will say was kind of a pivotal day. Playing with confidence. I thought he started fast. Really thorough in his prep during the week.”
Napier said he was proud of the Gators’ response in the second half, especially the defense which pitched a shutout over the final 30 minutes.
“I think we could have easily got frustrated with our defensive performance in the first half, but man, in that locker room you would never know,” Napier said. “It’s really a group that stuck together. They knew what the issues were. The ownership in each position group, being vocal about things they could do better. I think the staff did a terrific job making adjustments.”
Montrell Johnson Jr. rushed 22 times for 100 yards and a touchdown, Trevor Etienne rushed for 80 yards on 17 carries, and Ricky Pearsall had three catches for 65 yards as the Gators racked up 492 yards, including 291 rushing yards.
Devon Achane rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns and caught another score for the Aggies (3-6, 1-5), who went into halftime up 24-20. Achane had rushing touchdowns of 5 and 2 yards and caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Haynes King, who started in place of Conner Weigman.
King, who was making his fifth start of the season, finished 23 of 45 for 279 yards and a touchdown. Evan Stewart had eight catches for 120 yards, and Moose Muhammad III caught seven passes for 99 yards.
● North Texas 52, FIU 14: The 29-year-old quarterback beat the 19-yearold QB.
North Texas, led by Austin Aune’s 414 passing yards and five touchdowns, defeated the visiting Panthers in Denton, Texas.
Aune, who is married and has a daughter, is a former pro baseball player. He passed for 384 yards and five TDs in Saturday’s first half.
FIU’s teenage QB, Grayson James, completed 19-of-35 passes for 130 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
James, a native of Texas, is now 0-3 in starts in his home starts.
FIU (4-5 overall, 2-3 Conference USA) had its two-game win streak snapped.
North Texas (6-4, 5-1) has won four of its past five games.
This contest was never close as FIU trailed 38-0 with 10:54 left in the second quarter and 45-14 at halftime. The 45 points are the second-most allowed in any half in FIU history.
The North Texas Mean Green did not try to run up the score, handing the ball off for most of the second half. They also emptied their bench.
A highlight for FIU was Reggie Peterson’s 75-yard interception return, followed by his fumble, which was scooped up four yards for a touchdown by teammate Adrian Cole. It was FIU’s longest interception return since 2019.
North Texas had 623 total yards and 27 first downs to 258 and 12 for FIU. North Texas converted on 12-of-15 chances on third down. FIU went 5-for-16. — WALTER VILLA
● No. 25 UCF 35, Memphis A 28: UCF quarterback Mikey Keene earned the start as the No. 25 Knights won on the road over the Memphis Tigers at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
Keene started over John Rhys Plumlee, who left last week’s game vs. Cincinnati in the second quarter following a third-down run. Plumlee didn’t return to the field as Keene led the Knights to their first win over the Bearcats since 2018.
UCF coach Gus Malzahn said earlier this week it would be a game-time decision whether or not Plumlee would start. Ultimately, Malzahn stuck with Keene and the decision paid off.
Kenne, the sophomore from Arizona, finished 22 of 28 for 219 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
RJ Harvey led the Knights with 151 rushing yards on 17 carries and 1 touchdown, including a 61-yard run in the second quarter.
● Temple 54, USF 28: Edward Saydee ran for three long touchdowns, including a 75-yard to start the second half, and Temple routed USF (1-8, 0-5) in a battle between American Athletic Association teams searching for their first conference win.