Florida Atlantic 41, Southern Mississippi 7
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Quarterback Jaquez Johnson of Florida Atlantic played football at a school only two hours from the Southern Mississippi campus before signing with the Owls last spring.
The former East Mississippi Community College star made sure his return to the Magnolia State was nothing short of spectacular as Florida Atlantic thumped Southern Miss, 41-7, in a Conference USA game at M.M. Roberts Stadium on Saturday.
Johnson headlined a dominant rushing attack for the Owls, running for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Florida Atlantic racked up 333 total rushing yards, the most in school history against an FBS opponent.
Florida Atlantic (3-4, 4-6) ended the game with 383 yards of total offense despite throwing the ball only 12 times.
Johnson wasn't the only guy to make some noise on the ground, as running backs Jay Warren finished with 108 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns, and Damian Fortner ran for 98 yards on 13 caries and also scored twice.
For Southern Miss (0-10, 0-6) the miseries of a winless season continue to mount. The Golden Eagles could muster only 189 yards of offense and were never able to establish any semblance of a ground game.
Southern Miss was forced into being one-dimensional early in the game, as the Eagles rushed for a mere 20 yards behind four running backs.
Freshman quarterback Nick Mullens was hit early and often, completing 12-of-37 passes for 169 yards, with two interceptions. Mullens also rushed for the Golden Eagles' only touchdown late in the game.
Both teams struggled to convert on third down, but it didn't matter for Florida Atlantic in the end. The Owls converted 3-of-14 third down attempts to Southern Miss' 4-of-13.
Florida Atlantic decided to go for it on fourth down four times in the game, converting three of those attempts. The one stop the Eagles make came on a fake field goal that was stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
Southern Miss extended its losing streak to a nation-leading 22 games dating to last season.
