Middle Tennessee Routs North Texas

Phillip Tanner rushed for 159 yards and scored six touchdowns to lead Middle Tennessee to a 52-13 win over North Texas on Saturday.

Tanner scored five rushing touchdowns in the first half and returned the opening kickoff of the second half 92 yards to set a Sun Belt Conference record for touchdowns in a game. Tanner finished with 301 all-purpose yards.

Middle Tennessee (5-6, 3-3) took advantage of two North Texas turnovers to build a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.

Joe Craddock threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Eldred King on the Blue Raiders  third offensive play of the game. Craddock completed 19-of-31 passes for 251 yards.

Tanner scored his first touchdown of the game on a 12-yard run with 6:20 remaining.

North Texas (1-10, 0-6) cut the Middle Tennessee lead to 17-13 in the first quarter.

Giovanni Vizza threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Casey Fitzgerald with 4:53 remaining in the quarter. Vizza completed 25-of-39 passes for 211 yards.

Cam Montgomery added an 11-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left in the quarter.

Tanner took over in the second quarter for MTSU, scoring four touchdowns on runs of 1, 19, 66 and 36 yards.

Tanner s six touchdowns also tied the MTSU record, set in 2000 by Dwone Hicks before the school joined the Sun Belt Conference.

The Blue Raiders finished with a season-high 237 yards rushing.