Owens propels Texas Southern to 34-31 victory over Bethune-Cookman

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — LaDarius Owens rushed for 163 yards and three touchdowns to help Texas Southern hold off Bethune-Cookman 34-31 on Saturday.

Owens had a 42-yard scoring run with 60 seconds left in the first quarter to give Texas Southern (2-4, 1-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) a 10-0 lead.

Owens scored from a yard out and Jacob Williams returned a fumble 95 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers a 24-7 lead late in the second quarter. It was 27-10 at the half.

Bethune-Cookman (1-5, 0-3) got back in the game with a pair of third-quarter touchdown drives. Jimmie Robinson III capped a 16-play drive with a 2-yard TD run and Luke Sprague put the finishing touches on a 14-play drive when he ran it in from a yard out to get the Wildcats within 27-24 after three quarters.

Owens put the Tigers up 34-24 midway through the final quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run. The Wildcats' final score a 6-yard pass from Sprague to Jaiden Bivens with 43 seconds left to play, ending a 19-play, 71-yard drive.

Jace Wilson completed 15 of 29 passes for 189 yards for Texas Southern. Trenton Leary had six catches for 82 yards.

Sprague completed 14 of 26 passes for 118 yards with one interception for Bethune-Cookman. Robinson finished with 98 yards on 17 carries.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll