Kennedy McGill Runs Wild as Western Illinois Hangs 55
Kennedy McGill ran 25 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns, threw a touchdown pass too, and Western Illinois beat UT Martin 55-24 at home. The Leathernecks never trailed.
The closest UT Martin got was four. Jaydon Peete's 2-yard run made it 14-10 with 1:02 left in the first half, and McGill answered with a 25-yard touchdown run with 43 seconds left. That was 19 seconds of game clock between a game and a gap. McGill added a 56-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter, UT Martin answered in 66 seconds with Peete's second short score, and Western Illinois stretched it right back out when Christian Anaya hit Israel Hiraldo for a 64-yard touchdown at 11:00.
From there it was a long afternoon for UT Martin. Ronan Culkin kicked field goals from 28 and 51 yards, David Hargro ran in from 9 yards, and Ethan Bryce broke a 53-yard run with 1:51 left to make it 55-24. Chris Franklin's 34-yard run had pulled UT Martin to 24-38 early in the fourth, and that was the last time they scored.
The numbers are lopsided. Western Illinois ran 38 times for 331 yards and finished with 534 total, against 366 for UT Martin, which threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. UT Martin did throw for 276 yards, with Deuce Oliver alone catching three passes for 119, but it never turned the yardage into a lead.
Both teams are 3-3. For fantasy, McGill's 50.6 points are a season high and the kind of game that wins a week outright, while Hiraldo and Hargro (18.2 and 18.1) came along for the ride.