D.J. Sanders' 48-yard pick-6 of Alex McGough with 1:22 left sent Middle Tennessee past Florida International 42-35 on Saturday night.
Middle Tennessee (6-2, 3-1 Conference USA) raced to a 21-0 lead after six minutes of play. Brent Stockstill threw scores of 26- and 19-yards to Ty Lee and I'Tavius Mathers had a 9-yard TD run.
Florida International countered when McGough threw a 27-yard touchdown to Jonnu Smith and a 10-yarder to Thomas Owens.
Stockstill capped a 6-play, 43-yard drive with a 15-yard scoring pass to Richie James. But McGough cut the margin to 28-21 on a 7-yard keeper with 35 seconds left before halftime.
Later, McGough threw 24 yards to Owens to knot the game. Stockstill followed with a 52-yard strike to James.
FIU (3-6, 3-2) scored on its next drive when Anthony Jones crashed in from a yard out to tie it at 35.
McGough threw for 307 yards and Stockstill for 296.
