Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Indiana gets 3 late TDs, gets past FIU 34-13 in opener
(AP) — A fourth-quarter deficit, on the road, in a season-opening game with a new quarterback wasn’t exactly the scenario Indiana would have chosen for itself.
The Hoosiers made overcoming that challenge look easy.
Richard Lagow passed for one score and ran for another in the fourth quarter, and Indiana returned two interceptions for touchdowns in its season-opening 34-13 win over Florida International on Thursday night.
Indiana (1-0) trailed 1312 going into the fourth, then outscored FIU 22-0 in the final 15 minutes.
“A pretty good team win,” Indiana coach Kevin Wilson said. “This game had my attention a lot. First game on the road, you’ve got new defensive coaches, you’re going to have some glitches ... and I saw a lot of things we can do better.”
Most of those things were likely before the fourth quarter.
Lagow connected with Daniel Friend on a 21-yard touchdown pass to put Indiana on top for good early in the final quarter, capped the next Hoosiers drive with a 6-yard scoring run and Tegray Scales capped the night with a 16-yard interception return for another score.
Lagow said he wasn’t worried, even when trailing going into the fourth.
“The whole team had played so well all night,” Lagow said. “Defense had played their tails off. We had been real close, a lot. It was just a matter of keeping our foot on the pedal.”
Devine Redding rushed for 135 yards and Rashard Fant returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown in the first half for Indiana (1-0). It was Indiana’s first time with two interception-return touchdowns in the same game since 1966, school officials said.
Alex McGough completed 23 of 46 passes for 263 yards and three interceptions for FIU (0-1). Alex Gardner had a 1-yard rushing touchdown for the Panthers, who were outgained 486-331.
The game had a little of everything: a safety, a missed field goal, a bad snap on another field goal try, two defensive touchdowns and even an end-around for a 2-point conversion by the Hoosiers.
“We battled, we competed, we did some good things,” FIU coach Ron Turner said. “But very, very disappointed in the outcome and very disappointing in the offensive execution and offensive performance. .... Way too many missed opportunities.”
Friend’s touchdown was his first in four years with the Hoosiers, two of those seasons getting cut short by injury.
SMU 34, North Texas 21: Courtland Sutton only made four catches but three went for touchdowns in SMU’s 34-21 victory over North Texas in a season opener on Saturday.
Sutton finished with 162 yards receiving, including an 88-yarder from Ben Hicks for the fifth-longest touchdown pass in Mustangs history. Sutton’s other two TD receptions were thrown by Matt Davis. Xavier Jones added 115 yards and a score on 11 carries as the Mustangs rolled up 572 yards offense.
SMU jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter on Jones’ 49-yard run, a 29-yard field goal by Josh Williams, and the 88-yard pass play. A 46-yard Davis pass to Sutton with two minutes left in the half put the Mustangs ahead 24-7, which came following Horace Richardson’s second interception of the game.
The Mean Green’s Alec Morris threw two touchdown passes, one each to Thaddeous Thompson and Kelvin Smith, but he also tossed three first-half interceptions. …
Western Kentucky 46, Rice 14: Mike White threw for 517 yards and three touchdowns in his debut as starting quarterback as Western Kentucky opened the season and Conference USA play with a 46-14 drubbing of Rice.
White, who was 25 for 31 passing, is only the third quarterback to throw for 500 or more yards in Western Kentucky history.
The Hilltoppers had two receivers top 100 yards in receiving as Taywan Taylor caught five passes for 165 yards and Nicholas Norris hauled in seven for 147 yards and two scores.
Western Kentucky, which won its 13th straight conference game, finished with 552 yards passing and 97 rushing, amassing 649 yards while limiting Rice to 288 total yards.
White’s first scoring strike was for 87 yards as Norris hauled that one in for a 16-0 lead with 1:31 left in the first quarter. The Hilltoppers were up 30-7 at the half.
Tyler Stehling led Rice with 183 passing yards. …
Florida Atlantic 38, Southern Illinois 30: Jason Driskel passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another, and Florida Atlantic scored 17 consecutive points in the second half to beat Southern Illinois 38-30 in the season opener for both teams on Saturday.
Driskel’s 2-yard run on fourthand-goal capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive out of halftime and gave Florida Atlantic a four-point lead. After a Southern Illinois punt, Driskel found Tyler Cameron for a 4-yard score. Greg Joseph’s 40-yard field goal made it 38-24 with 10:38 left.
Gregory Howell Jr. rushed for two TDs and 128 yards for Florida Atlantic.
Middle Tennessee 55, Alabama A&M 0: Brent Stockstill passed for 329 yards and a career-high tying five touchdowns — all in the first half — and Middle Tennessee cruised to a 55-0 win over Alabama A&M in the season opener for both schools on Saturday.
Stockstill, who has thrown for at least 300 yards in six of his last seven games, completed 30 of 36 passes and the sophomore moved into eighth place (or higher) on the school’s career lists for passing yards (4,375, eighth), completions (359, sixth) and touchdown passes (35, seventh).
Middle Tennessee scored touchdowns on each of its first six drives, forced Alabama A&M into five firsthalf three-and-outs and led 45-0 at the break. Fifteen Blue Raiders had at least one catch, led by Richie James who had eight receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Alabama A&M was limited to 146 total yards.
It was Middle Tennessee’s first shutout since a 48-0 win over Florida International on Nov. 9, 2013. …
UTSA 26, Alabama 13: Dalton Sturm threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns, ran in a third score from midfield, and led UTSA to a 26-13 win over Alabama State in the season opener for both teams Saturday night.
Sturm finished 20-for-25 passing with an interception, and got his rushing TD with a 51-yard scramble late in the first half. Jalen Rhodes also ran in a touchdown, Marquez McNair hauled in a 5-yard pass for a TD and Kerry Thomas Jr. snagged a 25-yard pass for a TD as well.
UTSA set a single-game school record with six sacks and overpowered FCS Alabama State in the air, racking up 287 passing yards to the Hornets’ 142. The win marked new coach Frank Wilson’s first NCAA victory. …
UTEP 38, New Mexico State 22: Zack Greenlee threw for three touchdowns as UTEP beat New Mexico State 38-22 in a season opener for both teams on Saturday night.
Greenlee was 15 of 27 for 229 yards for the Miners. Aaron Jones rushed for 249 yards and two scores on 31 carries and Jay Mattox kicked a 23-yard field goal.
Jones ran for a 37-yard score early in the first quarter and Greenlee threw two touchdowns in the second quarter — including a 46-yarder to Cole Freytag — and UTEP took a 24-3 lead into the break. A 75-yard touchdown run by Jones stretched the UTEP lead to 38-16 with 14:47 to go in the fourth quarter.
Tyler Rogers threw for 206 yards on 17-of-41 passing for the Aggies. He also ran for 63 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Jason Huntley scored from the 1 as time expired in the third quarter.