Florida Atlantic Outscores Rice 51-49 in a 100-point Shootout
Take away Easton Messer's 82-yard punt return and Rice wins this game 49-44. Instead, Florida Atlantic took it 51-49, and Rice's 499 rushing yards went into the books as a loss.
Rice started like it was going to be a rout. Gael Ochoa ran 55 yards for a touchdown at 13:33 of the first quarter, and 52 yards for another at 6:54, and it was 14-0. Florida Atlantic got a 30-yard touchdown pass from Caden Veltkamp to Branden Hoch, a safety, and then Messer scored on a two-yard run to take a 16-14 lead at 9:19 of the second. Rice never led again, even though it kept scoring. After the second quarter, Florida Atlantic led the rest of the way. Nobody ever tied it.
The third quarter was a pile of long plays. Messer scored on a five-yard run, Max Mosey answered with a 41-yarder, and Messer caught a 68-yard touchdown pass, with Rice scoring in between each. Ochoa ran 74 yards in the second quarter and 69 more late in the third. Rice totaled 608 yards (499 on the ground, 109 through the air) with no interceptions, and Florida Atlantic had 464 with 339 of them passing. Florida Atlantic threw one interception, and Rice lost one fumble.
The finish was ridiculous too. Messer's punt return with 3:37 left made it 51-42, and Ochoa threw a 71-yard touchdown to Braylen Walker 46 seconds later to cut it to 51-49. That was the final score. Florida Atlantic is 5-2 and Rice is 1-7. Fantasy managers who owned Ochoa or Messer had their season made.