Sept. 4, 2010

Jonathan Davis ran for a career-high 107 yards and a touchdown, while A.J. Guyton had a career-best 127 receiving yards and a TD to lead UCF to a 38-7 victory in Orlando. In front of a sold-out crowd at Robertson Stadium, Houston defeated Texas State, 68-28. The 68 points are the most ever scored by a C-USA team in an opening game and 8th highest all-time.

UCF 38, SOUTH DAKOTA 7
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Rob Calabrese promised over and over for weeks that he was a changed quarterback and things would be dramatically different this time around as UCF's starter under center.

Were they ever?

Calabrese looked like the calm, confident quarterback that UCF has been hoping for for years in Saturday's season-opener at Bright House Networks Stadium. And the results were dynamic as Calabrese did mostly as he pleased and led UCF to an easy, breezy defeat of South Dakota.

Calabrese played with a swagger as he completed his first nine passes of the game and threw for 176 yards and a touchdown in the Knights' 38-7 victory before a crowd of 34,373 fans.

``I knew I was in a groove,'' Calabrese said with a relieved smile afterward. ``I dreamed about this and knew that I was going to play well.''

UCF was both dominant and efficient offensively, totaling 472 yards and 27 first downs. The Knights drove into South Dakota territory on all of their eight drives and didn't punt for the first time until late in the third period. The 38 points were UCF's most in a season opener since 1998 when it beat Louisiana Tech 64-30.

It was almost a year to the date when Calabrese opened last season as the starting quarterback, but was lifted after a shaky performance. There was never a threat of that happening on Saturday night what with the way he was carving up South Dakota's defense with his poise in the pocket.

Calabrese definitively strengthened his hold on the starting quarterback job by leading scoring drives of 75, 84, 45 and 80 yards in the first half, allowing UCF to jump to a 24-7 lead. Calabrese battled freshman phenom Jeff Godfrey in the spring and fall for the starting job, but left Saturday's game as UCF's unquestioned leader of the offense.

``I felt much more confident and poised. I was relaxed and I knew where people were going to be,'' Calabrese said. ``I was throwing the ball before receivers made their breaks and I trust everyone on our offense.''

And the junior quarterback had plenty of help as sophomore tailback Jonathan Davis ran for a career-best 107 yards and a touchdown and wide out A.J. Guyton also had a career night with 127 receiving yards and an 11-yard scoring pass.

``We executed very well for the first game,'' UCF coach George O'Leary said. ``It was an overall good win and we got a chance to play some (reserves). Obviously we have some improvement to make. There are three things that you have to play with - your mind, your pads and your feet. And we had the least amount of mistakes in a first game since I've been here.''

Godfrey, the record-setting true freshman from Miami, played well in his three series in relief. He had an 11-yard completion to Guyton on his first collegiate pass. And in the fourth quarter, he found tight end Adam Nissley for a 21-yard gainer and hit Quincy McDuffie for a six-yard score for his first-ever college touchdown pass.

Said O'Leary: ``He's a talented kid. He made some mistakes, but he has the quickness to take a bad play and make something good out of it. He has a wonderful future in college football.''

South Dakota got within 14-7 early in the second quarter when tailback Chris Ganious got outside for a one-yard scoring run. UCF made the adjustments in the second half to keep contain on the perimeter and limited the Coyotes (0-1) to just 79 yards of offense in the second half.

``We were definitely more prepared for this game and we had such a great preseason that our chemistry is great right now,'' said All-American candidate Bruce Miller, who had three tackles. ``That allowed us to play more free out there and get the job done.''

Calabrese played mistake-free football in the first half, hitting on all nine of his passes - none of them bigger than his 11-yard throw to Guyton for a score on third-and-four. Calabrese also converted a key third-and-seven play with another 18-yard pass on a deep in to Guyton on the second drive of the game.

``I felt it from warm-ups that Rob was going to play well from the look he had in his eyes,'' Guyton said. ``He told us all just to go out there and have fun instead of being all jumpy. That's the biggest difference in him, not being jumpy. I have no doubt that he can make all of the throws, but the difference now is that he's more poised.''

And Calabrese's confidence was never higher than early in the third period when Calabrese broke the pocket on a scrambled and flattened South Dakota cornerback Aaron Swift. Calabrese jumped to his feet and pumped his fist as he was congratulated by his teammates.

All in all, Calabrese said the night couldn't have gone much better for him. He professed to being calm in the hotel in the hours leading up to the game, studying his playbook and even watching a few other games.

``I was high on confidence and I just kept telling myself to forget about the last play and move on,'' he said. ``I think we had four drives of at least nine plays and that's what you want - moving the chains and keeping the defense off the field. I knew I had completed every pass (in the first half), but I was just moving to the next play.''

HOUSTON 68, TEXAS STATE 28
HOUSTON -- Case Keenum completed 17 of 22 passes for 274 yards and five touchdowns to lead Houston to a 68-28 rout of Texas State Saturday in front of the largest crowd to watch a game at Robertson Stadium, 32,119.

Keenum only played the first half, but had touchdown passes of 40 yards to Michael Hayes, 63 yards to Patrick Edwards, 25 and 21 yards to Kierrie Johnson and 17 yards to James Cleveland as Houston built a 54-7 halftime lead.

Keenum, who also had two interceptions, set career school records for completions (1,098) and yards passing (13,179) in the win -- breaking the marks held by current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb.

Bryce Beall rushed five times for 48 yards and two touchdowns in the first half for the Cougars, who extended their home winning streak to a school-record 16 games and finished with 499 yards of offense.

Edwards finished with four catches for 80 yards; Cleveland also had four catches for 45 yards; and Johnson had three grabs for 61 yards. All three only played the first half.

Texas State quarterback Tyler Arndt was 14-of-22 passing for 153 yards and a touchdown, and added two touchdown runs. Karrington Bush and Dexter Imade both had 73 yards rushing for the Bobcats.

Texas State cut the lead to 13-7 on a 14-yard TD run by Arndt that capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with 4:26 left in the first half. But Houston responded with 55 unanswered points before Arndt found Eric Gentry for a 2-yard score in the third.

The 68 points scored by UH are the most ever scored by a C-USA team in an opening game and 8th highest all-time.

(4) TEXAS 34, RICE 17
HOUSTON - With the daunting task of facing a Texas team that had topped 50 points in each of the last four meetings between the two schools and which brought a renewed commitment to running the football, the last thing Rice needed in the run-up to the 2010 season opener was the loss of a key defender.

Add to that the decision to start a redshirt freshman at quarterback, and Texas fans strolled into Reliant Stadium anticipating anything but the need to remain focused for four quarters.

But the Owls stared just such a dilemma square in the eye and turned in a performance to build upon in front of a crowd of 70,445 at Reliant Stadium on Saturday afternoon, falling to Texas 34-17 behind three touchdown runs by Tre' Newton.

"I thought we went toe to toe with a giant and finished that game strong and finished it hard, and I'm really pleased that our freshman quarterback came out and played and effectively moved the offense," Rice head coach David Bailiff said.

The loss of senior defensive tackle Scott Solomon 10 days earlier seemed to put the Owls in the bullseye for a trampling by Texas. But an inspired effort by the reshaped interior defensive line, along with marked tackling improvement in open spaces kept the Owls in the game for all four quarters.

Sporting the same all-blue look their predecessors wore when they last defeated Texas in 1994, the 2010 Owls came out of the tunnel firing.

Redshirt freshman Taylor McHargue emerged from fall drills as the starter and deftly led the team on a march downfield in his first collegiate series that reached the Texas 13 before a pair of losses placed the ball at the Texas 25. McHargue completed all four of his passes in the opening drive, including a 31-yard strike to Patrick Randolph to set up the Owls at the Texas 25.

Redshirt freshman Chris Boswell knocked it home from 42 yards to give the Owls the early lead for the second consecutive game against the Horns.

Texas responded by driving 61 yards to the Rice one-yard line on their first possession, but Justin Hill and Travis Bradshaw broke through to stop Cody Johnson for a four-year loss on fourth down to stymie Texas' initial scoring threat.

"That just builds momentum in what we've been talking about," Bailiff noted. "Making the plays, tackling in space. ... When the guys are seeing their efforts paying off, you can build on that kind of thing. ... You play to win, but you can build on this game," he added.

The Horns got the ball right back when McHargue was picked off by Keenan Robinson to set Texas up at the Owls' 30. Chris Jones and Hill combined to stop Johnson for a four-yard loss on first down and a false start penalty slowed the Texas threat, as the Horns settled for a 51-yard field goal by Justin Tucker on the first play of the second quarter to knot the game at 3-3.

Boswell missed on a chance for Rice to regain the lead when his kick from 48 yards was wide to the right and the Horns followed with 21 consecutive points.

Newton capped nine-play, 69-yard drive with a one-yard run, and moments later McHargue fumbled and Robinson scooped it up for a 10-yard touchdown return. Newton added his second score, this once from two-yards out to close out the Texas scoring in the first half.

But the Owls would use a bit of luck and a lot of determination on the same play to close the gap to 24-10 at the half.

Faced with a third and eight at the Texas 47 in the final seconds of the half, McHargue sent the ball down the middle of the field, looking for Vance McDonald only to see it tipped away. However junior Randy Kitchens who was trailing on the play, plucked the deflected ball out of the air and rambled to the goal line, barely stretching the ball over the goal line for his first career touchdown.

While the celebrated Texas defense held the Owls in check during the third quarter, the Rice defense proved just as tough, force the Horns into a pair of field goal attempts that were both missed. Newton found the end zone for the third time as the third quarter wound down. Tucker added a 26-yard field goal midway through the fourth to close out the Texas scoring.

Rice closed the gap to 34-17 in the game's final minute, turning a late Texas fumble on a punt into a short touchdown run by Charles Ross.

McHargue finished the day hitting on 6 of 11 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown, while Nick Fanuzzi (3-4, 23 yards) and Taylor Cook (3-3, 18 yards) also saw action in the second half.

"We have a great quarterback situation," Bailiff said. "We have three very talented quarterbacks and I think they could start anywhere in Conference USA. That's how good each and every one of them are. He (McHargue) did some great things and he did some freshman quarterback things. He'll get better every week as he grows up. He's got four more years to grow, and we think he's going to be something really special," Bailiff said.

The 34 points by Texas was its lowest output against Rice since an 18-13 Longhorn win in Austin in 1999, and the 17-point margin of victory was the slimmest since that same game. Rice held the Horns to just 197 yards rushing and their top two rushers to less than four yards per carry.

"First I'd like to give credit to Rice, I thought they played better than they had at anytime last year," Texas head coach Mack Brown said. "They started a quarterback that we didn't anticipate, they ran an offense that we didn't anticipate and Sam McGuffie is going to help them ... he is a good back and he made some yards against us. I think Rice is a better football team than what we saw last year."

McGuffie, making his return to the field after a season on the sidelines after transferring home to Michigan, ran for 47 yards on 14 carries in his Rice debut. His former high school teammate Travis Bradshaw led the defense with 10 tackles, extending his streak of double-figure tackle games from last season to seven, and recording his 13th double-digit tackle game in 19 career starts.

The crowd was the sixth-largest to see a Rice-Texas game in Houston and the largest crowd for an Owl home opener since 73,000 jammed Rice Stadium to see Rice down LSU September 23, 1961.

Junior Kyle Martens, a Ray Guy Award candidate in 2009 before an injury held him out of the last three games, aided the defenders cause, averaging 45 yards on seven punts, including a career-best 71 yarder.

"Overall, this is a game we can look at, we can build on and improve, but I'm very pleased with the effort," Bailiff stated.

UTEP 31, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 10
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -Joe Banyard and Vernon Frazier combined for 183 yards rushing and four touchdowns Saturday, leading UTEP to a 31-10 season-opening victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Banyard finished with 94 yards and a pair of scores on 19 carries, while Frazier had 89 yards and two TDs on just six carries.

UTEP trailed 7-0 midway through the first quarter before Frazier scored from 33 yards out. Banyard added a 1-yard TD run in the second quarter to put the Miners up for good, 14-7.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff pulled within 14-10 on Chris Ewald's 38-yard field goal at the end of the first half, but UTEP scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to put the game away.

Trevor Vittatoe completed 17 of 27 passes for 229 yards for UTEP.

Pine Bluff quarterback Josh Boudreaux was 20-of-32 for 202 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. Raymond Webber had 10 catches for 123 yards.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 49, MEMPHIS 7
STARKVILLE, Miss.-- Despite a spirited effort in the first game under head coach Larry Porter, the Memphis Tigers fell to the Mississippi State Bulldogs 49-7 in its season opener at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., on Saturday night.

Memphis scored its lone touchdown with 1:39 remaining in the fourth quarter when Cannon Smith hooked up with Marcus Rucker on a 27-yard touchdown strike. The Tigers have now scored in 132 consecutive games, the second longest streak in Conference USA.

Smith, who started the game at quarterback for the Tigers, finished with 111 yards on 10-of-15 passing with one touchdown and no interceptions.

Freshmen running back Jerrell Rhodes led Memphis on the ground, gaining 26 yards on 10 carries. Greg Ray netted 20 yards on nine carries with a long rush of 13 yards.

Jamon Hughes, a transfer from Mississippi State, and Marcus Ball led the way on defense for the Tigers. Hughes accounted for nine tackles, including an eight-yard sack. Ball had eight tackles, six of which were unassisted.

Memphis found itself in a hole early, as Mississippi State took a 7-0 advantage less than five minutes into the contest after Bulldog quarterback Chris Relf connected with Leon Berry for a 55-yard touchdown score.

The Bulldogs added another score on their next drive, marching 91 yards in 2:42 minutes to make it 14-0 as #17 Tyler Russell connected on a 20-yard strike with #3 Brandon Heavens for one of his two touchdown receptions.

Memphis' best first half scoring opportunity came on its second drive of the game after a Terrence Thomas interception set the Tigers up with good field position on the Bulldog half of the field.

Paulo Henriques' 49-yard kick attempt, however, missed just right, and the Tigers were unable to score for the remainder of the half.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 21-0 going into halftime on a 51-yard touchdown run by Vick Ballard at the 1:58 mark in the second quarter.

Ryan Williams made his collegiate debut for Memphis on the third offensive series of the game. Williams completed his first attempted pass to Tannar Rehrer for a pickup of 18 yards. He finished the game with 85 yards on 10-of-17 passing with two interceptions.

Mississippi State kept applying the pressure after halftime, as the Bulldogs marched down the field and added another seven to their lead on the opening drive of the second half.

Russell found a streaking Heavens and the duo hooked up for another score to make it 28-0.

Williams was intercepted again on the ensuing drive, allowing the Bulldogs to set up first and 10 from the Memphis' 20. Three plays later, Mississippi State punched it into the endzone, pushing its lead to 35-0.

The Bulldogs extended their lead to 42-0 when Russell found Chad Bumphis across the middle for 57-yard TD pass.

Russell and Bumphis connected again at the 11:23 mark to make it 49-0.

Tom Hornsey's 438 yards punting ranks fourth all-time in the Memphis single game record book. It is the most since James Gaither had 450 yards punting against Southern Miss in 2001. Hugh Owens owns the single game record with 492 yards punting against Texas A&M in 1979.

Junior Billy Foster logged his first 100-yard return game in his first collegiate game with the Tigers today. Foster totaled 160 yards on seven returns. Ge recorded four returns over 20 yards, including a long return of 32 yards in the first quarter.

The 160 kick return yards ranks tied for fit all-time in the Memphis single game record book. Marcus Hightower's 169 yards against Houston in 2009 is the school record.

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