Pesansky accounts for 5 TDs as FIU beats Middle Tennessee 56-30

Audio By Carbonatix

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Joe Pesansky accounted for five touchdowns and Florida International beat Middle Tennessee 56-30 on Saturday.

The Panthers (4-5, 2-3 CUSA) scored eight touchdowns on just 404 total yards. Pesansky threw for 257 with scoring strikes to Alex Perry twice, JoJo Stone and Dallas Payne, and added a 6-yard rushing TD.

Perry caught five passes for 71 yards, Stone had 64 yards receiving with a 49-yard touchdown and Kyle McNeal added five receptions for 58 yards. Kejon Owens ran 15 times for 68 yards and two touchdowns and Anthony Carrie added a 29-yard score.

The Blue Raiders (1-8, 0-5) finished with 331 yards passing and 33 rushing. Nicholas Vattiato threw for 242 yards with three touchdowns and one interception and Roman Gagliano added 89 yards and a 60-yard touchdown pass to Cam’ron Lacy. Jekail Middlebrook had five catches for 64 yards and TD, Myles Butler and AJ Jones each caught a touchdown.

FIU hauled in an interception, courtesy of Brian Blades II, and recovered two fumbles while Middle Tennessee intercepted two passes. The Panthers scored 35 points after halftime and produced four touchdowns of 18 yards or longer, including strikes of 49 and 30 and a 32-yard run by Owens.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football