DENTON, Texas -- Florida Atlantic's season was on the brink of disaster, when quarterback Rusty Smith came to the rescue.

Smith saved the Owls with his arm and -- more surprisingly -- his feet, overcoming a dreadful performance by the defense to twice rally FAU for a 44-40 victory over North Texas on Saturday at Fouts Field.

Alfred Morris capped a career-high 147-yard performance -- tied for the second-best rushing total in FAU history -- by scoring on a 1-yard run with 4:55 remaining for the winning touchdown. The drive was keyed by the Owls' longest play of the season, when Smith and Chris Bonner hooked up for a 51-yard pass to move the ball to North Texas' 20.

The back-and-forth game, in which the teams combined for 1,044 yards, saw FAU overcome a 12-point deficit in the first half, helped by a 30-point second quarter, the most points scored in any quarter in school history.

FAU took a 37-19 lead in the third quarter before North Texas came back with 21 unanswered points to take a 40-37 lead.

The defense, which was carved up by Lance Dunbar -- who rushed for 238 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns -- finally stopped North Texas on fourth down, giving FAU possession with a little more than three minutes left to run out the clock.

The victory was the first for the Owls this season and their first since ending the 2008 season with a victory over Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl. FAU (1-4, 1-1 Sun Belt) avoided what would have been the third 0-5 start in its history.

North Texas (1-5, 0-3) lost its 14th consecutive Sun Belt game.

Smith was 21 of 40 for 309 yards and three touchdowns. He added 30 yards on the ground, including a rare designed 17-yard touchdown run that gave the Owls their first lead of the game. Although FAU's offense was finding its groove, the Mean Green was losing its leader. Freshman quarterback Riley Dodge left the game midway through the second quarter after sustaining a high ankle sprain when he was tackled for a 2-yard loss by Andy Czuprynski.

Behind backup quarterback Nathan Tune and Dunbar, North Texas scored twice in the third quarter to get the crowd of 23,319 back into the game.

FAU's second-quarter scoring spree started when Smith capped a 15-play drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jason Harmon. After Jamaal Jackson scored for North Texas on a 69-yard reception, Morris answered with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Smith then scored on his longest career touchdown run and, after kicker Ross Gornall forced and recovered a fumble on the kickoff, Bonner hauled in a 31-yard scoring pass from Smith.

Another North Texas fumble led to FAU's fifth scoring drive of the half, which ended on a 26-yard field goal by Gornall.

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