RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) Parker McKinney threw for 427 yards and five touchdowns, two of them to Cornelius McCoy, and Eastern Kentucky defeated Kennesaw State 45-38 on Saturday.

McKinney opened the scoring with an 80-yard TD pass to Jayden Higgins and his 65-yard touchdown pass to Braedon Sloan gave the Colonels (7-4, 3-2 Atlantic Sun) a 45-31 lead in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Jonathan Murphy scored on a 3-yard run - one of his three rushing scores in the game - to get Kennesaw State (5-6, 1-4) within seven points. After forcing a punt, the Owls reached the EKU 25-yard line on their final drive but were stopped on downs.

Isaac Foster had 148 of Kennesaw State's 439 rushing yards.