Oct. 18, 2008

Joe Webb set the Conference USA single-season rushing record for a quarterback and combined for 352 yards of total offense as UAB held off a late Marshall rally to win, 23-21. David Johnson passed for 434 yards and five touchdowns as Tulsa set a new record for points scored in a C-USA game in a 77-35 victory over UTEP. Rice held off Southern Miss, 45-40, Houston scored 21 fourth quarter points to win at SMU, 44-38 and East Carolina got back on track with a 30-10 win over Memphis.

UAB 23, MARSHALL 21
Joe Webb ran 28 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and UAB held off Marshall's late comeback attempt for a 23-21 victory on Saturday.

Webb had 20 carries for 135 yards and completed 15 of 28 passes for 217 yards to help UAB (2-6, 1-3 Conference USA) roll up 432 yards of offense.

Mark Cann completed 16 of 26 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns for Marshall (3-4, 2-1).

Webb's late touchdown with 14:53 left in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winning play.

A little more than three minutes later, Marshall's Mario Harvey stripped the ball from UAB's Aaron Johns and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. That pulled the Thundering Herd to within 23-21.

Marshall drove from its own 30 to the UAB 20 in the closing minutes, but the drive stalled, and Craig Ratanamorn came on to attempt a 37-yard field goal that would have given Marshall the lead.

But the kick sailed wide right with 2:50 left.

Darius Passmore finished with six catches for 165 yards and one touchdown for Marshall.

The game got off to a shaky start for Marshall.

The Herd's Chubb Small bobbled the opening kickoff and was tackled on his own 6-yard line after bringing the ball out of the end zone. Marshall tried a reverse, but Passmore was tackled in the end zone by UAB's Anthony Barnes for a 2-0 lead.

Marshall drove 71 yards in nine plays to score on a 21-yard pass from Cann to Cody Slate with 2:33 left in the first quarter.

The Herd appeared to take control when Cann hit Passmore on a 71-yard touchdown pass for a 14-2 lead early in the second quarter.

But UAB turned went on a 19-play, 93-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard scoring run by Justin Brooks.

The key play in the drive came when UAB went for it on fourth-and-7 at the Marshall 35. Webb bobbled a shotgun snap and was in trouble before escaping and gaining 10 yards.

UAB got a 22-yard punt return from Kevin Sanders to start at the Marshall 46. Webb's 31-yard pass to Jeffery Anderson went to Marshall's 1, and Rashaud Slaughter ran it in from there with 49 seconds left in the first half.

Slaughter caught a 2-point conversion pass from Webb to give UAB a 17-14 lead at halftime.

Marshall missed an opportunity in the third quarter. The Herd faced a third-and-17 at UAB's 49, and Cann had to leave the game after being injured.

Backup Brian Anderson launched a 48-yard strike to Passmore to UAB's 1, but the Herd couldn't cash in.

After Darius Marshall was stopped for no gain and a false start penalty, Anderson fumbled.

UAB's Richard Carter recovered, and the Blazers responded with the game-winning 93-yard scoring drive.

TULSA 77, UTEP 35
David Johnson threw for 434 yards and five touchdowns to help lead Tulsa to a record-setting performance and a 77-35 win over UTEP. The 77 points tie the C-USA record (set by Rice three weeks ago) and are the most points ever scored in a league game.

Brennan Marion had six catches for 233 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night, setting a Conference USA record for yards per catch in a game (38.8), as Tulsa (7-0, 4-0 CUSA) strengthened its case to move into the national rankings. The Golden Hurricane hovered just outside the Associated Press poll this week.

Tulsa amassed 791 total yards, including 321 rushing. The 791 yards of total offense is a new C-USA record.

UTEP (3-4, 3-1 CUSA) kept pace with Tulsa early and the score was tied 28-28 in the first quarter. But the Golden Hurricane began to rattle quarterback Trevor Vittatoe with a variety of blitzes, sacking him six times, and Tulsa scored 28 consecutive points.

Vittatoe finished 21 of 34 for 321 yards and four touchdowns, three of those in the first quarter.

RICE 45, SOUTHERN MISS 40
Chase Clement threw for 444 yards and tied his C-USA record with six touchdown passes and three Rice receivers topped 100 yards to lead the Owls to a 45-40 win over Southern Miss at Rice Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The win was the Owls third straight at home and their third in four tries in C-USA competition this season.

Jarett Dillard caught three of Clement's six touchdown passes to raise their NCAA record for career touchdown passes by a duo to 45 and his own NCAA career mark for touchdown receptions to 54. He finished the day with seven catches for 141 yards, his fifth consecutive game with more than 100 yards receiving.

James Casey grabbed seven for 113 yards and Toren Dixon added seven catches for 118 yards to give the Owls three receivers over the century mark for the first time since the final game of the 2007 season.

Dillard and Clement connected for the first time on the Owls first drive of the day, a 17-yard scoring strike with 10:11 left in the first quarter. They teamed up again at the start of the third quarter on a 51-yard combination, Dillard's longest since he caught a 65-yard TD pass at Tulsa in 2006. Dixon added a 28-yarder less than a minute later after Rice recovered an USM fumble to give the Owls a 31-12 lead early in the third.

But Southern Miss' proved to have a potent passing combination of their own as Austin Davis threw for a career-high 461 yards and four touchdowns and receiver DeAndre Brown caught 12 for 221 yards and four touchdowns, tying the C-USA single-game record, to lead USM back.

Davis and Brown's final scoring connection, from 17 yards out, closed the gap to 45-40 with just 17 seconds left, but Casey pulled down USM's onside kick attempt to ice the win for the Owls.

Clark Fangmeier converted all six of his PATs on the day to tie Brennan Landry for the school career record with 118. Travis Bradshaw, making his first career start in place of an injured Andrew Sendejo, was credited with a career-best 11 tackles while forcing a fumble, breaking up a pair of passes and blocking the Golden Eagles first PAT attempt.

HOUSTON 44, SMU 38
Case Keenum threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tyron Carrier with 24 seconds left as Houston rallied for its third straight win, beating SMU 44-38 on Saturday night.

Houston (4-3, 3-0 Conference USA) trailed 35-23 heading into the fourth quarter before Keenum, who surpassed 300 yards passing for the eighth straight game, engineered the comeback.

Trailing 38-36, the Cougars got the ball at their own 15 with 1:58 left.

Keenum, who completed 28 of 36 passes for 404 yards, was 5-of-6 on an eight-play drive. He capped it with his TD pass to Carrier, who made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone.

Bo Levi Mitchell was 29-of-39 for 365 yards and four touchdowns, and Aldrick Robinson had 186 yards receiving and two touchdowns for the Mustangs.

Bryce Beall rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns and Mark Hafner had 160 yards receiving for the Cougars, who are 3-0 in league play for the first time since 1990.

Keenum's 9-yard touchdown run brought the Cougars within 35-30 early in the fourth.

After an SMU field goal, Beall scored on a 1-yard run but Houston's two-point conversion attempt to tie the game failed. The Mustangs were forced to punt on their next possession, setting up the Cougars' game-winning drive.

Mitchell's desperation pass from near midfield on the final play of the game was intercepted.

SMU jumped out to a 21-7 lead thanks to Mitchell's first TD run of the season and two scoring passes to Emmanuel Sanders, who set the SMU school record with 26 touchdown receptions.

The Cougars crept within 21-17 early in the third. Mitchell tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Robinson, including a 70-yarder on the final play of the third quarter to extend SMU's lead to 35-23.

EAST CAROLINA 30, MEMPHIS 10
Rob Kass threw two second-half touchdown passes to lead East Carolina to a 30-10 win over Memphis on Saturday.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Pirates (4-3, 2-1 Conference USA). Memphis fell to 3-5 overall, 1-3 in the league.

Kass went 9-of-17 for 167 yards in his first extended action of the season.

East Carolina, which trailed 10-7 at halftime, has outscored its opponents 61-29 in the third quarter this season and outscored Memphis 13-0 to claim a 20-10 lead. Kass, who replaced starter Patrick Pinkney in the first quarter, found Brandon Simmons for a 42-yard touchdown on the Pirates' first second-half series for a 13-10 lead.

A 28-yard scoring pass from Kass to wide receiver Dwayne Harris on the same pass play late in the quarter put East Carolina ahead 20-10. Ben Hartman added a 22-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and Norman Whitley added a 12-yard scoring run with five minutes remaining.

The Tigers lost their first two quarterbacks in the first 11 minutes of the game. Junior Arkelon Hall lasted just six plays before suffering a broken right thumb. He was replaced by senior Will Hudgens, who was in on just six plays before he was hit on his right knee by East Carolina cornerback Darryl Reynolds on a three-yard run around the left end and was carried off the field.

That left junior Brett Toney, who hadn't attempted a pass and played on special teams in his 20 previous games, at quarterback. He completed 11-of-15 passes for 65 yards.

Curtis Steele ran in from four yards to put the Tigers up 7-0 late in the first quarter. East Carolina tied the game midway through the second quarter on Jonathan Williams' career-long 68-yard touchdown run.

Memphis then went on a 16-play, 58-yard scoring drive to close out the half. Vinny Zaccario kicked a 20-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 10-7 halftime lead.