Troy beats James Madison 24-21 in overtime and North Texas outlasts FAU 48-41

Troy safety Justin Powe took over Thursday night in Harrisonburg. He intercepted three passes, returned one 37 yards for a touchdown, and broke up two throws at the goal line at the end of regulation as Troy beat James Madison 24-21 in overtime.

James Madison led 21-7 at halftime. Camden Coleman threw touchdown passes of 2 and 31 yards, and Seth Cromwell ran 14 yards for another score. Then the Dukes stopped holding on to the ball. Powe's pick-six of JC Evans 34 seconds into the third quarter made it 21-14, and Jaheim Merriweather's 28-yard run tied it with 6:25 left in the quarter.

JMU had one more shot in regulation. With 12 seconds left, Coleman threw deep twice toward the end zone, and Powe broke up both passes, the second on fourth down. Troy's account said he made "two game-saving plays to send us to overtime."

The Dukes had the ball first in overtime and got to the Troy 5, but Cromwell was stopped for no gain on fourth down. Troy ran twice, and Hunter Wolfe kicked a 27-yard field goal to win it.

JMU turned the ball over five times, with three interceptions and two lost fumbles. Cromwell ran for 135 yards on 23 carries, and the Dukes outgained Troy 408-349, but they fell to 7-2. Troy, 4-4, got 84 rushing yards from Merriweather even though Tucker Kilcrease threw for only 179.

The other Thursday game was a shootout in Denton. North Texas beat Florida Atlantic 48-41 behind Jahiem White, who ran for 193 yards on 26 carries with a 59-yard touchdown. Tayven Jackson completed 33 of 46 passes for 404 yards and four touchdowns, two to Kyle Koch. Justin Stevenson had nine catches for 119 yards.

FAU kept answering. Caden Veltkamp threw for 452 yards and five touchdowns, which ties a program record, and Easton Messer caught 16 passes, a school record, for 189 yards and three scores, according to FAU. Jackson's 2-yard touchdown to Koch with 4:02 left made it 48-38, and FAU's late field goal only cut it to seven. Peyton Taylor had an interception for the Mean Green.

North Texas is 6-2 and FAU is 5-3. Troy now has a road win over one of the Group of Five's better records, and JMU will spend the week thinking about the turnovers.