FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -Rusty Smith threw four touchdown passes as Florida Atlantic beat Louisiana-Lafayette 40-29 on Saturday.
Florida Atlantic (5-5,3-2 Sun Belt Conference) won its fourth straight game while handing the Ragin' Cajuns (5-5, 4-1) its first conference loss.
Smith was 17-for-26 for 290 yards, and Rob Housler caught two of Smith's touchdown passes and had 65 receiving yards.
Michael Desormeaux was 11-for-18 for 84 yards and two interceptions for Louisiana-Lafayette before being replaced by Brad McGuire, who was 7-for-8 for 48 yards. Chris Masson, the third quarterback used by the Ragin' Cajuns, was 6-for-7 for 72 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The Owls took a 6-0 lead on Charles Pierre's 6-yard touchdown run in the first, and stretched the lead to 12-0 on a 13-yard touchdown pass to Chris Bonner from Smith.
Florida Atlantic made it 19-0 on Smith's second touchdown pass, a 14-yard strike to Rob Housler in the second quarter.
Louisiana-Lafayette pulled to 19-7 on a 14-yard touchdown run by Tyrell Fenroy, but a 10-yard touchdown run by Willie Rose gave Florida Atlantic a 26-7 lead at halftime.
Housler and Smith would hook up again on a 23-yard score in the third.
Trailing 40-7 in the fourth, Louisiana-Lafayette scored 22 points in the final quarter to shrink the final margin.
