C-USA Football Scoreboard: You have to play 60 minutes

Football is a second half game, and no better weekend will show you that than this weekend, as huge second halves across C-USA football lead to victory or defeat.

17 first quarter points by the Owls lead them to their third victory in a row, as they beat FIU in Miami 31-17. Those first quarter points by Rice all came consecutively, until the Panthers broke the streak with a late touchdown in the quarter. FIU got as close as 17-14, but two Owl touchdowns to only one Panther field goal kept FIU in the distance. Driphus Jackson threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns for the Owls. Rice will host UTSA next week, while FIU will travel to Old Dominion.

A tie game at halftime turned into a second half blowout for the Cougars, as

threw for 316 yards and two scores to defeat the MTBRs.

had a relatively quiet day, throwing for just 119 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.the Cougs’ defense held the Raiders’ running game in check, holding them to only 109 yards on the ground. MTSU has a week to stew about this one, as they’re off next week.

A game that many thought ODU could win turned out to be the third win of the year for Vandy, as a 21 point second quarter put this one out of reach in the middle stages. Taylor Heinicke certainly did his part, however, as he threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns, and ODU also had a defensive touchdown, when Poncho Barnwell recovered a ball in the endzone. The Monarchs did a good job of holding the Vandy passing offense in check, as Johnny McCrary threw for 281 yards (but five touchdowns), but they were burned by the running game, as Ralph Webb had 166 of the ‘Dores 243 rushing yards.

The Owls scored

21

fourth-quarter points, erasing a 28-7 lead, but a

24 yard field goal with two seconds left on the clock sealed the deal, allowing the Blazers to escape and keep pace in the C-USA East.

nearly propelled another huge second half comeback, throwing for 177 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came in the second half. UAB had a pair of 100-yard performers, with

Jordan Howard

rushing for 167 yards and

catching 125 of the 184 yards tossed by

WKU’s opponent for homecoming this week will come in on a three game winning streak, after coming alive in the second half for 28 points, and limiting Southern Miss to scoring in just one quarter. The Miners were very opportunistic and only had two offensive touchdowns – the others came from a pick six, a fumble return and a kickoff return. Yikes.

The Bulldogs remain perfect in conference play, and the Hilltoppers didn’t play well in any facet of the game. It was a ballgame after one quarter, and the Tops weren’t

completely

out of it come halftime (even though it was 31-10), but after a second-half opening touchdown drive from LA Tech, and a fumbled kickoff return by WKU the very next play, the game was all Bulldogs.

was threw for a season low 134 yards, and was limited to under 300 yards passing for just the second time this season (Illinois), and tossed four really poor interceptions.

threw for 335 yards and a career high five touchdowns. The silver lining for the Tops is they limited top running back,

to 77 yards, but 48 of that came on the first touchdown of the game. It’s back to the drawing board for homecoming this week for WKU, and Tech hits the road to face UAB.

Next: Hilltoppers offense sputters in Bayou blowout