McKinney tosses 4 TD passes, EKU beats Citadel 37-14
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- <a href="http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4368767/parker-mckinney" target="_new">Parker McKinney</a> threw for a career-high four touchdowns and Eastern Kentucky beat The Citadel 37-14 on Saturday to give Walt Wells his first victory as a head coach.
McKinney was 16-of-26 passing for 274 yards and became the EKU player to pass for four scores since Oct. 8, 2016. All three of Tennessee transfer <a href="http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4242443/jacquez-jones" target="_new">Jacquez Jones</a>' catches went for touchdowns, the longest a 53-yarder that gave EKU (1-2) a 30-14 lead in the third quarter.
McKinney and Jones combined for two touchdowns in the first quarter and <a href="http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4044081/keyion-dixon" target="_new">Keyion Dixon</a> made it 20-7 in the second quarter following a Bulldogs fumble when he made a juggling catch of a long pass for a 50-yard score.
The Citadel's <a href="http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4383196/emeka-nwanze" target="_new">Emeka Nwanze</a> rushed for 114 yards, while quarterback <a href="http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4032239/brandon-rainey" target="_new">Brandon Rainey</a> had a rushing and passing touchdown. With 89 yards rushing, he became the 16th player in program history to go over 2,000 yards on the ground.
The game was a rare 2020 FCS matchup with only 17 schools in the division playing this fall. This was The Citadel's only home game in a four-game fall schedule allowed by the Southern Conference, which hopes to play a spring league slate. The Bulldogs (0-3) lost 49-0 at No. 1 Clemson last weekend.
EKU has opted out of playing an Ohio Valley Conference schedule in the spring, choosing to play a nine-game fall schedule.
The Citadel restricted fan attendance to about one-quarter of its stadium capacity.
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