INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 22 UIndy football team (3-1, 2-0 GLVC) celebrated Homecoming with a decisive 41-17 win against the visiting Lincoln Blue Tigers (2-3, 1-1) Saturday night at Key Stadium. The Greyhounds racked up nearly 500 total yards while scoring 41 points for the second consecutive week.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The fireworks started early for the Hounds, as freshman Toriano Clinton returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. The play marked the longest kickoff return by a Hound since Dave Horvath's school-record 100-yard refund at Valparaiso in 1982.
 
UIndy hung three more points on the board in short order to take a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the action. The Greyhound defense jumped on a Lincoln fumble on its very first possession, and the offense parlayed the takeaway into a 36-yard field goal by senior Jacob LaFree.
 
The Hounds went on to score 31 points before the Tigers finally answered late in the first half. UIndy used a pair of lengthy TDs to pull away; Malik Higgins took a simple screen pass 52 yards to the house in the first quarter, while Al McKeller broke off a 48-yard rush for a score in the second.
 

?? | TOUCHDOWN GREYHOUNDS! Al McKeller takes it 48-yards to the house, @UIndyFB up 24-0 on Lincoln! #GLVCfb pic.twitter.com/ADjrl1JKu3

— UIndy Athletics (@UIndyAthletics) September 29, 2018

Higgins would later record touchdown catches of 38 and 22 yards to notch his second straight game with three TDs, and McKeller finished with a 110 yards on the ground.
 
Linebacker Joe Lambright led all players with 11 total tackles, defensive end Jacob Schmatz was credited with 1.5 sacks, and Rondell Weathers and Cory Klem each forced a fumble.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Stepping in for the injured LaFree, redshirt-freshman Paul Buisman scored his first career points, connecting for a 35-yard field goal while going 3-for-3 on extra-point attempts.
- Higgins became the first Greyhound to notch back-to-back games with three TD catches since All-American Reece Horn turned the trick in October of 2014.
- McKeller amassed 96 of his 110 rushing yards in the first half alone.
- Four other running backs garnered carries on the night, including Clinton (27 yds, 7 att), Gavin Bane (26 yds, 6 att), Tyre Lee (24 yds, 2 att) and Daniel Wright (12 yds, 4 att).
- Neither team threw an interception, but Lincoln lost two of its three fumbles while the Hounds committed zero turnovers for the second consecutive game.
- Junior wideout Maurice Robinson, who had a 26-yard reception in the fourth quarter, got his first career start.
 
MORE NOTES
UIndy is now a perfect 6-0 all-time versus Lincoln … The Hounds have won their last eight Homecoming contests and 12 of their last 13 … Higgins now has 27 career receiving touchdowns, moving him past Greyhound legend Dick Nyers and into third place on the UIndy all-time list.
 
UP NEXT
After three straight games at Key Stadium, the Hounds hit the road for four of its next five contests. UIndy heads to Rolla, Mo., next Saturday for a match-up with the Miners of Missouri S&T. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET.