MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Logan Kilgore threw two touchdown passes and the Middle Tennessee defense forced four Memphis turnovers in a 48-30 win on Saturday night.
Kilgore, who was 22 of 30 for 253 yards, opened the scoring with a 12-yard toss to Christian Collis. The Blue Raiders (2-1) extended their lead to 20-10 after Kevin Byard's 68-yard interception return for a score. Jacob Karam's 10-yard pass to Marcus Rucker pulled the Tigers (0-3) back to within 27-17 just before halftime, but that was as close as they'd get.
Benny Cunningham's 1-yard TD run less than four minutes into the second half, and Drayton Calhoun's 2-yard score nearly five minutes later pushed Middle Tennessee's advantage to 41-17 -the Blue Raiders cruised from there.
Cunningham finished with two touchdowns on 57 yards rushing for Middle Tennessee.
Karam threw for 325 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Rucker had 177 receiving yards and two TDs.
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| Scoring Summary |
| MTSU | Christian Collis 12 yd pass from Logan Kilgore (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| MEMP | Tyler Spurlock 38 yd FG |
| MEMP | Marcus Rucker 49 yd pass from Jacob Karam (Tyler Spurlock kick) |
| MTSU | Carlos Lopez 19 yd FG |
| MTSU | Carlos Lopez 43 yd FG |
| MTSU | Kevin Byard 68 yd interception return (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| MTSU | Benny Cunningham 6 yd run (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| MEMP | Marcus Rucker 10 yd pass from Jacob Karam (Tyler Spurlock kick) |
| MTSU | Benny Cunningham 1 yd run (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| MTSU | Drayton Calhoun 2 yd run (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| MEMP | Jerrell Rhodes 6 yd run (failed 2pt pass) |
| MTSU | Christian Collis 9 yd pass from Logan Kilgore (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| MEMP | Carl Harris 1 yd run (Tyler Spurlock kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| MTSU | MEMP | |
| First Downs | 27 | 23 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 7-12 | 8-16 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 1-1 | 3-4 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 76-439 | 70-399 |
| Rushes-Yds | 45-179 | 33-74 |
| Passing Yds | 260 | 325 |
| Kick Return Yds | 15 | 200 |
| Punt Return Yds | 1 | 2 |
| Passes | 23-31-0 | 26-37-1 |
| Punts | 2-49 | 2-79 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 6-3 |
| Penalties-Yds | 5-50 | 7-75 |
| Time of Poss. | 33:14 | 26:46 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| MTSU: Benny Cunningham 11-57, Drayton Calhoun 9-38, Jeremiah Bryson 6-28, Reggie Whatley 3-28, Jordan Parker 7-20, Shaun White 4-7, William Pratcher 3-2, Alexandro Antoine 1-1, Team 1--2 |
| MEMP: Jerrell Rhodes 15-48, Carl Harris 5-18, Jaquise Cook 2-6, Jacob Karam 7-1, Jai Steib 4-1 |
| PASSING |
| MTSU: Logan Kilgore 22-30-253-0, Jeff Murphy 1-1-7-0 |
| MEMP: Jacob Karam 26-37-325-1 |
| RECEIVING |
| MTSU: Anthony Amos 9-128, Marcus Henry 3-46, Christian Collis 3-32, Kyle Griswould 3-8, Harold Turner 2-16, Reggie Whatley 2-15, Vincent Van Horne 1-15 |
| MEMP: Marcus Rucker 10-177, Keiwone Malone 10-102, Alan Cross 2-20, Jamere Valentine 2-10, Jaquise Cook 1-14, Jerrell Rhodes 1-2 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Middle Tennessee | 2nd Sun Belt | 6-2 | 8-4 |
| Memphis | 3rd Conference USA East | 4-4 | 4-8 |
