SAN ANTONIO — Lowell Narcisse turned in the seventh 300-yard passing game in UTSA history but Southern Miss outscored the Roadrunners 20-7 in the second half in a 36-17 victory in Conference USA on Saturday night at the Alamodome.
The Golden Eagles (7-3, 5-1) kept pace in the C-USA West Division race by tallying 493 yards of offense — 290 through the air and 203 on the ground — in winning for the third straight season against the Roadrunners (4-6, 3-3 C-USA).
Narcisse completed 21 of 40 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns to lead UTSA to 422 yards of offense, the second straight game with 400-plus yards. The sophomore quarterback's career-best yardage total is the program's first 300-yard passing game in two seasons dating back to when Dalton Sturm threw for a school-record 367, also against Southern Miss.
Zakhari Franklin nearly recorded his second straight 100-yard receiving game, as the freshman wide receiver caught a team-best seven passes for 97 yards.
Carlos Strickland II was on the receiving end of five passes for 79 yards and his team-leading third touchdown of the season, while Joshua Cephus caught three balls for 95 yards and his first career TD, a 75-yard catch-and-run that opened the scoring for the Roadrunners.
Jack Abraham completed 22 of 34 passes for 290 yards and a pair of touchdowns and De'Michael Harris rushed for a game-high 121 yards and two TDs on 16 carries to lead Southern Miss. Quez Watkins had seven receptions for 137 yards and a TD, while Tim Jones caught eight for 97 yards and a score for the visitors.
Southern Miss struck first on Jones' 2-yard touchdown reception on a slant route with 9:31 left in the opening quarter. That score put an end to a six-play, 62-yard drive that took only 1:40 off the clock.
UTSA answered quickly as Narcisse found Cephus open near the left sideline and the freshman wide receiver made one defender miss and outran the rest for a 75-yard scoring connection. That play is the longest of the season for the Roadrunners and is tied for the third-longest pass play in program history.
The Golden Eagles reclaimed the lead at 10-7 after a 27-yard field goal by Andrew Stein early in the second stanza.
The Roadrunners responded with a 25-yard field goal by Hunter Duplessis to tie things up with a little less than six minutes left in the first half.
Harris got loose for a 56-yard TD dash with 1:56 remaining until halftime to put Southern Miss back on top. The extra point hit the upright and was no good, leaving the score at 16-10.
Abraham found Watkins open on a crossing route that turned into a 77-yard touchdown play on the opening possession of the third quarter, a period that included turnovers on four straight possessions, two by each team.
Following the turnover stretch, Narcisse hit Strickland over the top of the defense for a 51-yard TD reception to make it a one-score game again with 4:57 left in the third.
However, the Golden Eagles responded as Harris found paydirt from 33 yards out on the next drive. The two-point conversion attempt failed, making it 29-17 in favor of the visitors.
Southern Miss put the game out of reach on Kevin Perkins' 39-yard touchdown jaunt with 4:45 remaining in the contest.
The Roadrunners will close out the regular season home schedule next Saturday, Nov. 23, against Florida Atlantic (7-3, 5-1). Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at the Alamodome and the game will air on ESPN+ and Ticket 760.
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