RUSTON, La. -- Ryan Higgins passed for 454 yards and five touchdowns and Louisiana Tech held off Western Kentucky 55-52 on Thursday night.
Louisiana Tech (5-5, 2-1 Conference USA) led 49-24 in the middle of the third quarter and Jonathan Barnes' career-long 54-yard field goal with 11 minutes left in the game proved enough to withstand Western Kentucky's rally.
Mike White rallied the Hilltoppers (3-3, 1-1) with TD passes of 31, 8 and 11 yards that made it 55-45 with 7:24 left.
Shaquille Johnson blocked a punt and Kylen Towner recovered and scored to pull WKU within three with 5:02 left. The Hilltoppers forced a punt, but Louisiana Tech's Aaron Brown strip-sacked White on the next play to secure the victory.
Carlos Henderson had eight catches for 232 yards and three touchdowns for Louisiana Tech. White had 340 yards and five touchdowns passing for Western Kentucky.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC
Tigers squeak by
MEMPHIS — Tony Pollard returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to help Memphis hold a fourth-quarter lead and Chauncey Lanier’s interception with 18 second left sealed the Tigers’ 34-27 victory over Temple.
Memphis (4-1, 1-0 American Athletic), which was coming off a 48-28 loss to No. 14 Mississippi, scored 27 consecutive after trailing 13-0 in the second quarter. Jack Elliot made a pair of field goals, Doroland Dorceus had a 71-yard TD run and Genard Avery returned an interception for a score less than a minute later that gave the Tigers the lead for good at 20-13. Darrell Henderson added a 28-yard touchdown run with 8:14 left in the game.
Temple (3-3, 1-1) quickly answered on Phillip Walker’s 61-yard TD pass to Jahad Thomas to make it 27-20 with 6:47 left.
Pollard then scored on the ensuing kickoff return and the Owls again pulled within a touchdown when Walker and Thomas connected for a 9-yard scoring strike with 3:49 left.
Pollard had Memphis’ first kickoff return for a touchdown since 1996.
In other games, Tarik Cohen ran for 200 yards to break the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference career rushing record and help North Carolina A&T beat Norfolk State 35-0 in Greensboro, N.C. Cohen pushed his career total to 4,702 to break the mark of 4,660 set by South Carolina State’s William Ford from 2006-2009. Cohen passed Ford on a 62-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Lamar Raynard had a touchdown pass and ran for a score in the first half to help N.C. A&T (4-1, 2-0) build a 14-0 lead. Oluwafemi Bamiro threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Denzel Keyes in the third quarter and Darryl Johnson recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to cap the scoring. Norfolk State (1-5, 0-3) was held to 137 yards of total offense. ... Cam Jackson ran for 107 yards and a touchdown and undefeated Citadel beat Division II North Greenville 38-14 in Tigerville, S.C. The game was moved up from Saturday and shifted to North Greenville’s Yount Stadium because of the anticipated impact of Hurricane Matthew. The Bulldogs (5-0), who are tied with Chattanooga atop the Southern Conference, finished with 559 yards rushing with six ball carriers going for at least 73 yards on the ground. North Greenville struck first on Will Hunter’s 99-yard touchdown pass to Javon Smith, and the two later tied it at 14-14 in the second quarter when they connected for a 90-yard score. But Jackson’s 52-yard run on the next play from scrimmage gave Citadel the lead for good and the Bulldogs added a pair of third-quarter touchdowns — Dominique Allen’s 15-yard keeper and 30-yard scoring pass — to make it 35-14.
Sports on 10/07/2016