Oct. 27, 2008

Oct. 27 C-USA Football Notebook

IRVING, Texas - David Johnson threw for 264 yards and a touchdown, ran for two more scores and No. 18 Tulsa downed UCF, 49-19, Sunday night in the Golden Hurricane’s first game in the Top 25 in 17 years. With the win, TU improves to 8-0 on the season, the first time they have began a season 8-0 since starting the 1942 season 10-0.

Damaris Johnson made up for a critical first-half fumble by returning the second-half kickoff 70 yards to set up a go-ahead touchdown. David Johnson later zoomed in from 10 yards out to give Tulsa a 21-19 lead, and he kept the nation’s top-ranked offense in gear from there on out.

Tulsa held UCF to only 187 yards total yards, while racking up 436 yards of its own. The 187 yards given up were a season low for an opponent.

The TU defense registered nine total sacks on the night, a new season high and the mark also tied the NCAA FBS season high for the 2008 season (Stanford).

Tulsa’s six rushing TDs in the win were the most for the team this season after rushing for five scores against UTEP last weekend.

POLLING PLACE
Tulsa became the second Conference USA team to be nationally-ranked this season when the Golden Hurricane jumped into the Oct. 19 polls (East Carolina was as high as No. 14 in September). That marks the first time since 2004 (Louisville and Southern Miss) that C-USA has had two teams ranked in the same season.

TULSA IN BCS RANKINGS
When the newest round of 2008 BCS rankings were released on Oct. 26 and Tulsa appeared at No. 18. The 8-0 Golden Hurricane are listed in the BCS rankings for the first time since Oct. 15, 2006.

GREAT START
Tulsa’s 49-19 win over UCF on Sunday night made the Golden Hurricane just the third Conference USA team to open a season at 8-0. Only the undefeated 1998 Tulane team (12-0) and the 2003 TCU team (10-0 before losing at Southern Miss on Nov. 20, 2003) have started a season better than 8-0 since the league’s inaugural season in 1996.

BEST STARTS IN C-USA HISTORY
12-0 Tulane, 1998
10-0 TCU, 2003
8-0 Tulsa, 2008
5-0 Southern Miss, 2004
5-0 East Carolina, 1999

RECENT RESULTS
Sunday, October 26
(18) Tulsa 49, UCF 19

Saturday, October 25
Rice 42, Tulane 17
Navy 34, SMU 7
Memphis 36, Southern Miss 30

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, October 28
Houston at Marshall (ESPN 2) 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 1
Tulsa at Arkansas 1:00 p.m.
UAB at Southern Miss (CSS) 7:00 p.m.
Tulane at (15) LSU 7:00 p.m.
Rice at UTEP 8:05 p.m.

LAST WEEK’S STARS
Here’s a look at some of the top performers in Conference USA games from Oct. 25-26:

Rushing Attempts
29 Curtis Steele, MEM (178 yds.)
24 Brynn Harvey, UCF (91 yds.)
18 C.J. Ugokwe, Rice (111 yds.)
14 Damion Fletcher, USM (100 yds.)

Rushing Yards
178 Curtis Steele, MEM (29 att.)
121 Austin Davis, USM (8 att.)
111 C.J. Ugokwe, Rice (18 att.)
100 Damion Fletcher, USM (14 att.)

Rushing Touchdowns
2 Curtis Steele, MEM
2 Chase Clement, Rice
2 Courtney Tennial, TLS
2 David Johnson, TLS

Passing Completions
21 Austin Davis, USM (40 att.)
20 Chase Clement, Rice (25 att.)
17 David Johnson, TLS (27 att.)
16 Bo Levi Mitchell, SMU (28 att.)
14 Joe Kemp, TLN (20 att.)

Passing Yards
264 David Johnson, TLS (17-of-27)
201 Joe Kemp, TLN (14-of-20)
186 Austin Davis, USM (21-of-40)
168 Chase Clement, Rice (20-of-25)
157 Bo Levi Mitchell, SMU (16-of-28)

Passing Touchdowns
2 Chase Clement, Rice
2 Austin Davis, USM
2 David Johnson, TLS
2 Rob Calabrese, UCF

Receptions
8 DeAndre Brown, USM
7 Brian King, TLN
7 Brian Watters, UCF
7 Aldrick Robinson, SMU
7 Carlos Singleton, MEM

Receiving Yards
121 Brian Watters, UCF (7 rec.)
110 DeAndre Brown, USM (8 rec.)
103 Brian King, TLN (7 rec.)
99 Trae Johnson, TLS (3 rec.)

Receiving Touchdowns
2 DeAndre Brown, USM
2 Carlos Singleton, MEM
2 James Casey, Rice
2 Brian Watters, UCF

All-Purpose
237 Curtis Steele, MEM (178 rush, 59 rcv.)
183 Damaris Johnson, TLS, (28 rush, 21 rcv., 134 kr.)
140 Joe Burnett, UCF (113 kr., 27 fr.)

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSE
CURTIS STEELE - Memphis
RB, Jr., Franklin, Tenn. (NW Mississippi CC)
Steele rushed for a career high two touchdowns with 178 yards on 29 carries in a 36-30 victory over Southern Miss. Both of his touchdowns came in the fourth quarter to help secure the Tigers’ six-point lead, including an eventual game-winning touchdown carry for 22 yards with 1:24 left in the game. Steele amassed 237 all-purpose yards in the contest, which ranks tied for 12th all-time at Memphis. He also registered 59 yards receiving on a hook-and-ladder play in the first quarter that led to a Memphis touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Steele averaged 6.1 yards per carry en route to his second highest rush total of his career and fourth 100-yard game of the season, which ranks tied for fifth at Memphis.

DEFENSE
JAMES LOCKETT - TULSA
S, Jr., Arlington, Texas (Mansfield Summit)
In Tulsa’s 49-19 win over UCF, Lockett tallied five solo tackles, including three quarterback sacks for –27 yards and forced two fumbles. As a team, Tulsa had a NCAA season-high-tying nine sacks. Lockett’s first forced fumble resulted in Tulsa scoring the first touchdown of the game. His second caused fumble led to a score that put the Golden Hurricane up 28-19 in the third quarter. Lockett is the first TU player to force two fumbles in a game since 2005. He finished the game with five total tackles.

SPECIAL TEAMS
DAMARIS JOHNSON - TULSA
KR/KR, Fr., Norco, La. (Destrehan)
For the second straight week, Johnson went over 100 yards in kickoff returns with four returns for 134 yards and a 33.5 average per return. With Tulsa trailing 19-14 to start the second half, Johnson took the second half kickoff 70 yards to the UCF 29-yard line and three plays later Tulsa scored the go-ahead touchdown. For the game, he had a game-high 183 all-purpose yards. Johnson is the first C-USA player to be named Special Teams Player of the Week in consecutive weeks since 2003.

OFFENSE
S2 Patrick Pinkney, QB, East Carolina
S8 James Casey, WR, Rice
S15 Patrick Pinkney, QB, East Carolina
S22 Darius Passmore, WR, Marshall
David Johnson, QB, Tulsa
S29 Chase Clement, QB, Rice
Jarett Dillard, WR, Rice
O6 Trevor Vittatoe, QB, UTEP
O13 Case Keenum, QB, Houston
O20 Brennan Marion, WR, Tulsa
O27 Curtis Steele, RB, Memphis

DEFENSE S8 Van Eskridge, DB, East Carolina
S15 C.J. Wilson, DL, East Carolina
S22 Charles Davis, DB, Tulsa
S29 Clinton McDonald, DL, Memphis
O6 Un’Tavious Scott, DE, Tulsa
O13 Phillip Hunt, DE, Houston
O20 Joe Henderson, LB, UAB
O27 James Lockett, S, Tulsa

SPECIAL TEAMS
S2 T.J. Lee, WR, East Carolina
S8 Joe Burnett, DB, UCF
S15 Quinten Cotton, LB, East Carolina
S22 Wesley Scourten, WR, Houston
S29 Jose Martinez, PK, UTEP
O6 Vinny Zaccario, PK, Memphis
O13 Swayze Waters, PK/P, UAB
O20 Damaris Johnson, WR/KR, Tulsa
O27 Damaris Johnson, WR/KR, Tulsa

SCORES OF SCORES
Conference USA teams have notched an impressive 25 non-offensive scores so far in 2008, including 10 interceptions that have been returned for TDs. The league also has four fumble recoveries for scores, four kickoff return TDs, two blocked field goals returned for touchdowns, two safeties, a punt return TD and the rare blocked PAT that was returned for two points.

With the safety by UAB against Marshall on Oct. 18, C-USA has put points on the board in every way possible. East Carolina, Rice, UCF and UTEP account for 17 of the 25 scores, with Owls leading the way with five non-offensive scores so far this season.

TD LEADERS
Conference USA quarterbacks are among the NCAA leaders in passing touchdowns (through games of Oct. 26). Tulsa’s David Johnson leads FBS QBs with 31 TD passes. Here’s a look at the leaders.

MOST TOUCHDOWN PASSES IN 2008
32 David Johnson, Tulsa
29 Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
28 Graham Harrell, Texas Tech
25 Tim Hiller, Western Michigan
24 Chase Clement, Rice
23 Case Keenum, Houston

CATCHING ON
Conference USA has two of the top eight leaders in receptions in the FBS (through games of Oct. 26). Rice’s James Casey currently is third in the nation with 67. Here’s a look at the leaders:

MOST RECEPTIONS IN 2008
66 Jamarko Simmons, Western Michigan
78 Casey Fitzgerald, UNT
67 James Casey, Rice
66 Jamarko Simmons, Western Michigan
66 Eric Decker, Minnesota
63 Kerry Meier, Kansas
63 Chase Coffman, Missouri
62 Emmanuel Sanders, SMU

HEY, JOE
UAB’s Joe Webb is currently third among the nation’s quarterbacks with 723 rushing yards, averaging 90.4 yards per game on the ground. Webb ranks fourth in rushing yards per game by quarterbacks. Here’s a look at the nation’s QB rushing leaders (as of Oct. 25):

MOST RUSHING YARDS BY A QB
781 Julian Edelman, Kent State
752 Colin Kaepernick, UNLV
723 Joe Webb, UAB
708 Michael Desormeaux, Louisiana-Lafayette

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
Conference USA is currently ranked second among FBS conferences in total offense, with league teams averaging 410.7 yards per game. Only the Big 12, at 441.8 ypg., is higher. C-USA also trails only the Big 12 in touchdown passes per game, with C-USA teams throwing 2.12 per outing to the Big 12’s 2.32. C-USA has moved up to second among FBS conferences in scoring at 29.3 points per game, trailing only the Big 12 at 36.4 ppg.

PASS HAPPY
Conference USA is the only FBS league that is averaging more passing plays than running plays. C-USA teams average 36.0 pass attempts per game, while averaging 34.1 rushing attempts. C-USA is running more total plays per game (70.1) than any conference other than the Big 12 (70.5).

HIGH POWERED OFFENSE
Tulsa’s 436 yards of total offense against UCF was the fewest for the team this season and the first time since the C-USA Championship Game versus UCF (December 1, 2007) that TU has not reached the 500-yard mark. TU’s previous low this season was 555 yards versus North Texas (September 6, 2008). TU’s six rushing touchdowns were the most this season. The previous high was five rushing TD’s against UTEP (October 18, 2008).

JOHNSON MOVES UP RANKS
Tulsa QB David Johnson’s second rushing touchdown against UCF tied him with Kevin Kolb of Houston (2006) for fourth on C-USA’s season TD responsibility chart with 34 total TDs. His touchdown pass to Damaris Johnson in the fourth quarter tied Jerry Rhome for second-place on Tulsa’s season TD pass chart with 32. He also tied Ronnie Morris (1950-52) and Gus Frerotte (1990-93) for sixth on the school’s career TD passing chart with 32.

SACK MASTERS
Tulsa’s nine total sacks against UCF were the team’s most this season. The previous high was six sacks last week against UTEP. The nine sacks also tied the NCAA FBS season-high (Stanford recorded nine sacks against San Jose State on September 20, 2008). Tulsa only allowed UCF to gain 187 total yards which is the fewest this season for a Hurricane opponent. It also marked the least total yards allowed since TU gave up 152 yards against Tulane (November 3, 2007).

DAMARIS DOES IT
Tulsa WR/KR Damaris Johnson’s went over 100 yards in kickoff returns for the second straight week with four returns for 134 yards and a a 33.5 average per return. With Tulsa trailing 19-14 to start the second half, Johnson took the second half kickoff 70 yards to the UCF 29-yard line and three plays later Tulsa scored the go-ahead touchdown. For the game, he had a game-high 183 all-purpose yards.

LOCKETT UP
In Tulsa’s 49-19 win over UCF, junior James Lockett tallied five solo tackles, including three quarterback sacks for –27 yards and forced two fumbles. As a team, Tulsa had nine sacks. Lockett’s first forced fumble resulted in Tulsa scoring the first TD of the game. His second caused fumbled ended up in the Hurricane offense scoring to go up 28-19 in the third quarter.

QUICK STRIKES
After Rice engineered a 16-play, 94-yard touchdown drive to consumed 8:48 of the first quarter for its first score against Tulane, the Owls would go on to score 21 points in a 2:44 span. QB Chase Clement capped a 4-play, 60-yard rive that consumed 1:26 with a nine-yard touchdown run. Following a Rice fumble recovery by Brandon Tolbert on the ensuing kickoff, the Owls needed just one play - a 17-yard strike from Clement to James Casey - to add to the lead.

WATCH OUT FOR WILLIE
Rice DB Willie Garley had two sacks for 22 lost yards at Tulane. The sophomore more than doubled his season total. He entered the game with 1.5 sacks. In addition to the two sacks, Garley finished the day with eight tackles.

FIELD GOAL BLOCKERS
Chris Jones’ 55-yard touchdown return of a Scott Solomon blocked field goal with two seconds remaining in the first half helped Rice keep Tulane scoreless in the first half and ran the Owls’ lead to 35-0. The opening-half shutout was the first since Rice held Houston scoreless in the 2004 season opener.

Solomon’s block was the Owls’ fourth of the season. Defensive lineman Chris Ptaszek has two on the year while Travis Bradshaw has one.

OWLS GROUNDED
Rice finished the Tulane game with 398 total yards of offense - 230 rushing and 168 passing. The last time Rice rushed for more yards than it passed for in a game came in the 2007 season opener against Nicholls State. Rice had 117 yards rushing and 101 yards passing against NSU. It was the most rushing yardage by a Rice team since the Owls grounded out 238 yards against UTEP in 2006.

DILLARD ADDS TO TOTAL
Rice All-American WR Jarett Dillard has now caught at least two passes in all 44 of his career games. The San Antonio native finished the Tulane game with four receptions for 41 yards.

CLEMENTS CLIMBS CHARTS
Rice QB Chase Clement completed 20-of-25 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns against the Green Wave. He also had eight rushing attempts for 57 yards and two more scores. With four total touchdowns, Clement raised his career total to 99. He is third on the Conference USA all-time list. Tulsa’s Paul Smith had a record 109 during his career (2005-07).

Clement also ran his streak of touchdown passes in a game to 18 consecutive contests and 22 consecutive conference games.

CASEY CATCHES
Rice WR James Casey caught six passes for 51 yards and two touchdowns against Tulane. The game was the 14th straight dating back to the Houston game of 2007 that the sophomore has recorded five or more receptions. Casey now has 113 career receptions and now ranks fifth all-time at Rice in receptions.

TONEY IN CHARGE
Memphis junior Brett Toney started at quarterback against Southern Miss, marking the first start of his career. Toney lettered the last two seasons as a holder for the special teams unit. He was called to action last weekend when Arkelon Hall (thumb) and Will Hudgens (knee) were both injured in the first quarter of the East Carolina game.

Toney threw his first career touchdown pass when he reached WR Carlos Singleton on a 14-yard fade pass into the corner of the endzone with 11:52 remaining in the first quarter and he finished the game 7-of-13 for 102 yards.

LET’S GO STREAKING
Memphis WR Duke Calhoun extended his receiving streak to 33 games with his first reception in the first quarter against Southern Miss. Calhoun holds the school record with the 33-game streak and entered Saturday’s game ranked 11th nationally. Calhoun finished the night with two receptions for 22 yards.

SINGLETON LEADS TIGERS
Memphis WR Carlos Singleton led Memphis’ receiving efforts with seven catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns. Singleton now ranks second all-time with 18 career touchdown receptions. He is one TD away from tying record holder Tavares Gideon who totaled 19 TD receptions in two seasons (2002 & 2004).

MAN OF STEELE
Memphis RB Curtis Steele logged his fourth career game with 100 yards rushing with 178 yards on 29 carries against Southern Miss. His 178 yards was the second-highest rushing total of his career. Steele scored his third touchdown this season off a 10-yard run with 10:42 remaining in the game after receiving the direct snap. He attempted a pass for the two-point conversion and was picked off for Memphis to lead, 29-24. Steele then logged his fourth touchdown of the season on a 22-yard run with 1:24 remaining in the 4th quarter. The multiple touchdown game was the first of his career.

AUSTIN LEADS THEM
Southern Miss QB Austin Davis became the fifth Southern Miss quarterback to throw for over 2,000 yards in a season when he completed an eight-yard TD pass to WR DeAndre Brown in the third quarter. It is the ninth time ever a Golden Eagle has thrown 2,000 yards in a season. Davis and Brown connected for their eighth TD on an eight-yard scoring play in the third quarter. The duo has has combined for seven connections of 36 yards or more this season. Davis recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game with 121 yards.

CAN’T CATCH FLETCH
Southern Miss RB Damion Fletcher moved into second place by himself on the career rushing touchdowns list with 33, moving ahead of Harold Shaw. Fletcher also recorded his school-best 20th career 100-yard game with 100 yards.

McRATH ON THE STOP
Southern Miss LB Gerald McRath tallied his fifth double-digit tackle game against Memphis with 16 stops. The preseason C-USA Defensive Player of the Year now has 18 career 10-plus tackle contests. McRath leads C-USA with 98 tackles in the first eight games of the season.

UH 3-0 IN C-USA
The Cougars have started 3-0 in conference play for only the eighth time in program history. UH had never accomplished the feat in Conference USA before this season. UH began 3-0 five times in the Southwest Conference (1990, 1984, 1979, 1978, 1976) and twice in the Missouri Valley Conference (1956, 1952). The Cougars have won 17 of their last 20 Conference USA games.

CASE IN POINT
With two touchdown passes against SMU, Houston QB Case Keenum has thrown a TD pass in 10 consecutive games awhile posting the 10th multi-touchdown game of his career. Keenum also added a rushing score and now has 47 career TDs responsible for, tying him for fifth on the UH all-time TDs responsible for list.

He finished with a career-high 404 passing yards, the second 400-yard passing game of his career and his eighth consecutive game with at least 300 passing yards. That mark ties the school record held by David Klingler in that category.

HENDERSON BREAKS RECORD
SMU KR Jesse Henderson had three kickoff returns for 58 yards against Navy. He now has 2,729 career KOR yards to become the NCAA active career leader (was Brandon Tate of North Carolina 2,688 – out for rest of the season) and Conference USA career record holder. Henderson has 113 kickoff returns, extending his SMU record and is second in C-USA history.

KICKOFF YARDAGE LEADERS
1. Jessie Henderson, SMU 2,729
2. Chris Johnson, East Carolina 2,715
3. Zek Parker, Louisville 2,558
4. John Eubanks, Southern Miss 2,321
5. Broderick Clark, Louisville 2,111

RECEIVING TANDEM
SMU WRs Aldrick Robinson (1,003) and Emmanuel Sanders (851) now have 1,854 combined receiving yards for the season to extend the SMU record for a tandem. Robinson (11) and Sanders (8) now have 19 combined receiving TDs for the season, which is tied for first at SMU for a tandem (19 by Zack Sledge (10) & Emmanuel Sanders (9), 2007).

ALDRICK THROUGH THE AIR
SMU WR Aldrick Robinson had seven receptions for 94 yards with 1 TD. Robinson now has 1,003 receiving yards on the season, becoming just the third player at SMU to have a 1,000-yard season. He registered a TD catch for the fifth straight game, setting a career-best and is the second-longest streak at SMU. Robinson now has a TD catch in eight of nine games this season His 11 TD catches this year are tied for the the season record at SMU.

DALY’S DRIVE
UCF PK Daren Daly’s 54-yard field goal is UCF’s longest of the Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) era and tied for the second-longest in school history. The record is 55 yards by Ed O’Brien against Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 7, 1985. The previous record in the FBS era was a 53-yard boot by Matt Prater at Penn State on Aug. 31, 2002.

WATTERS FOR 100
UCF WR Brian Watters had his second career two-touchdown receiving game agaisnt Tulsa. He also caught a pair of scores against Marshall last year. He also had his first career 100-yard receiving game tonight.

RECEIVING YARDS GAINED
After 41 yards against Tulane, Rice’s Jarett Dillard moved from third into second place on the all-time receiving yards gained chart. Here is a look at the all-time leaders. Check this section throughout the season to monitor his progress.

3,770 Vincent Marshall, Houston, 2003-06
(272 catches)
3,683 Jarett Dillard, Rice, 2005-present
(262 catches)
3,670 Arnold Jackson, Louisville, 1997-00
(300 catches)

PICKED OFF
UCF’s Joe Burnett recorded his 15th career interception against Tulsa on Oct. 26 to move into a tie for second place on Conference USA’s all-time interception list. Here’s a look at the top interceptors in C-USA history:

18 Anthony Floyd, Louisville, 1999-02
15 Joe Burnett, UCF, 2005-08
15 Quentin Demps, UTEP, 2005-07
14 Lynaris Elpheage, Tulane, 2000-02
14 Rashad Holman, Louisville, 1997-00
13 Will Gulley, Houston, 2002-06
13 Glenn Sumter, Memphis, 1999-01
12 Brandon Sumrall, Southern Miss, 2004-07
12 Blue Adams, Cincinnati, 1998, 00-02
11 several tied with

EAST CAROLINA PIRATES
Junior QB Rob Kass threw a pair of second-half touchdown passes to lead the Pirates to a 30-10 victory over Memphis on Oct. 18 in Greenville. Kass was 9-of-17 for 167 yards in his most 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 sophomore WR Dwayne Harris on the same pass play late in the quarter put ECU ahead, 20-10. Junior K Ben Hartman added a 22-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and sophomore RB Norman Whitley added a 12-yard scoring run with five minutes remaining. ECU had a season-high 180 rushing yards, led by sophomore RB Jonathan Williams who carried 15 times for a career-high 108 yards and Whitley who had a career-best 15 rushes for 64 yards.

HOUSTON COUGARS
Houston QB Case Keenum threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to WR Tyron Carrier with 24 seconds left as the Cougars rallied for its third straight win, beating SMU 44-38 on Oct. 18. Houston trailed 35-23 heading into the fourth quarter before Keenum, who surpassed 300 yards passing for the eighth straight game,directed 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. Keenum also added a rushing score and now has 47 career TDs responsible for, tying him for fifth on the UH all-time TDs responsible for list. RB Bryce Beall rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns and WR/TE Mark Hafner had a career-high 160 yards receiving for the Cougars, who are 3-0 in league play for the first time since 1990 and for the first time ever as a member of Conference USA. It was also Hafner’s second 100-yard receiving game of the season and third of his career. With his sack in the second quarter, senior Phillip Hunt recorded his 9th sack of the season and now has 28.5 in his career.

MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
The Thundering Herd suffered its first loss of the season in league play, losing at UAB on Oct. 18, 23-21. Marshall did have an opportunity to take a late lead, but junior K Craig Ratanamorn’s 37-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right with 2:37 remaining. Junior QB Mark Cann finished the day 16-of-26 for 237 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Senior WR Darius Passmore caught six passes for a career-high 165 yards, including a 71-yard scoring reception in the second quarter. Junior TE Cody Slate was held to just three catches, but one of them was a 20-yard touchdown reception in the opening quarter. Junior LB Mario Harvey led the Herd with 11 total tackles, including eight solo stops. He recorded a sack for a loss of nine yards, two tackles for loss and scored on a 62-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter.

MEMPHIS TIGERS
Junior Curtis Steele ran for 178 yards and two TDs to help Memphis beat Southern Miss, 36-30, on Saturday night. The Tigers racked up 285 yards rushing and 516 total yards on offense. Starting QB Arkelon Hall and backup Will Hudgens were injured last week against East Carolina. Fourth-stringer Tyler Bass, who shared time with Brett Toney, was injured in the third period on Saturday night, leaving Toney as the lone quarterback. Toney lettered the last two seasons as a holder for the special teams unit and threw his first career touchdown pass when he reached junior WR Carlos Singleton on a 14-yard fade pass into the corner of the endzone with 11:52 remaining in the first quarter. Toney finished the game 7-of-13 for 102 yards. The Golden Eagles had a chance to drive for a winning touchdown, but an interception by junior LB Josh Weaver set up a Steele 22-yard touchdown to give Memphis a 36-24 lead. Steele took a direct snap for the score.

RICE OWLS
The Owls improved to 4-1 in C-USA and 5-3 overall with a 42-17 win at Tulane on Saturday. With the victory, Rice has now won 13 of its last 20 conference games. Senior QB Chase Clement was 20-of-25 for 168 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing eight times for 57 yards and two scores. Sophomore TE James Casey caught both of Clements’s passing scores, catching six balls for 51 yards. Senior WR Jarett Dillard was held to four receptions for 41 yards, but did move into second place on Conference USA’s all-time receiving yardage list with 3,683 career yards. His streak of 11 consecutive games with at least one touchdown was snapped. Junior RB C.J. Ugowke had 18 carries for a career-high 11 yards and a touchdown. Junior K Clark Fangmeier was 6-for-6 on points after attempts, breaking the Rice school record for career PATs with 124. Rice finished the game with 230 yards rushing and 168 yards passing, the first time that it has run for more yards than it passed for since the 2007 season opener against Nicholls State.

SMU MUSTANGS
Playing in wind and rain the entire game, the Mustangs fell at Navy on Saturday, 34-7. Sophomore WR Aldrick Robinson tied the SMU single-season record for touchdowns with his 11th scoring reception of the year midway through the third quarter. Robinson finished with a game-high seven receptions for 94 yards, moving him over 1,000 yards (1,003) on the season. Included was a 56-yard reception, his fourth play of 50 yards or longer this season. Senior Jessie Henderson became the NCAA’s active career leader in kickoff return yards and became C-USA’s all-time leader in that category, passing East Carolina’s Chris Johnson, who set the mark last season. Henderson now has an SMU record 2,728 yards on 113 returns, just two why of the conference mark for most returns. Sophomore LB Pete Fleps recorded 23 tackles, the fourth-highest single-game total in Conference USA history and the most by an FBA player this season. Freshman FS Chris Banjo added a season-high 13 stops.

SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES
The Golden Eagles dropped a 36-30 decision at Mempnis on Saturday. The Golden Eagles had a chance to drive for a potential winning touchdown, but an interception by Josh Weaver set up a 22-yard touchdown to give Memphis a 36-24 lead. True freshman WR DeAndre Brown caught a 2-yard touchdown from freshman QB Austin Davis as time expired for Southern Miss. Davis completed 21-of-40 for 186 yards and two touchdowns on the night. He also rushed for 121 yards. RB Damion Fletcher had 100 yards on 14 carries for the Golden Eagles. It was the second time this season the Golden Eagles had two rushers go over the 100-yard mark. The other time came against UL Lafayette in the season opener. The loss was the fifth straight for the Golden Eagles, and marked the first time they have lost four conference games in C-USA. Junior LB Gerald McRath tallied his fifth double-digit tackle game with 16 stops. The preseason C-USA Defensive Player of the Year now has 18 career 10-plus tackle contests.

TULANE GREEN WAVE
The Green Wave fell to Rice on Saturday at the Louisiana Superdome, 42-17. Redshirt freshman QB Joe Kemp took over the reins in the second half, taking more snaps than he had combined in his two previous appearances. Kemp completed 14-of-20, for 201 yards with two TDs, all career-highs. Freshman RB Nathan Austin’s 49-yard screen pass was his longest reception of his career. He finished with 73 yards receiving on five catches and 25 yards rushing on 13 carries. Freshman RB Albert Williams caught his first career touchdown on just the second reception of his career, taking an 18-yard screen pass in for six in the fourth quarter. Junior RB Andre Anderson’s season total for rushing yards of 864 yards moves him into 11th on Tulane’s single-season rushing leaders, passing Matt Forte’ (2006, 859) and Marvin Lewis (1981, 860). He rushed for 12 yards on four carries in the first quarter and did not return.

TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
The Golden Hurricane scored 35 unanswered points in the second half to erase a five-point halftime deficit and defeat UCF, 49-19 on Sunday night. Tulsa ran for a season-high six touchdowns, with senior RB Courtney Tennial and senior QB David Johnson each rushing for two. Tennial has carried the ball just 20 times this season, but seven have gone for touchdowns. Johnson was 17-of-27 passing for 264 yards, including a TD pass to freshman WR Damaris Johnson in the fourth quarter that moved him into a tie with Jerry Rhome for second-place on Tulsa’s season TD pass chart with 32. Tulsa’s nine sacks were the most this season and the total also ties the NCAA season-high (Stanford recorded nine sacks against San Jose State on September 20). The Hurricane only allowed UCF to gain 187 total yards, which is the fewest this season for a TU opponent. Junior LB Mike Bryan led the defense with a career-high 14 tackles, including three TFL’s and two sacks.

UAB BLAZERS
The Blazers posted their first Conference USA win of the season with a 23-21 victory over UAB on Oct. 18 at Legion Field. Once again, it was junior QB Joe Webb starring for the Blazers, posting 352 yards of total offense, rushing for 117 yards and passing for 235. It was Webb’s third 100-yard rushing game of the season as he set a new C-USA single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 723. Sophomore RB Rashaud Slaughter added 13 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown as UAB ran for 215 yards as a team. Senior LB Joe Henderson had 13 tackles, including four tackles for loss. The Blazers defense limited Marshall to 82 yards rushing on 30 attempts, held them scoreless for the final 42 minutes of the game and also produced a safety on the first offensive play of the game, two points that proved to be the winning margin for UAB.

UCF KNIGHTS
The Knights led 19-14 at halftime before falling at Tulsa on Sunday night, 49-19. Sophomore WR Brian Watters had the first 100-yard receiving day by a UCF player since Oct. 6, 2007, catching seven passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. It was the second multiple-touchdown game of Watters career, matching the two scores he had against Marshall last season. Senior CB Joe Burnett recorded his 15th career interception, moving him into a tie for second place on Conference USA’s all-time list, just three shy of the record of 18 held by Louisville’s Anthony Floyd. It also marked the 15th consecutive game that the Knights have intercepted at least one pass. Senior Daren Daly’s 54-yard field goal was the longest in UCF history since moving to the FBS level and the second-longest in school history (55 yards by Ed O’Brien vs. Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 7, 1985). The 19 points that the Knights scored in the second quarter at Tulsa was its highest total since last season’s championship game.

UTEP MINERS
UTEP had its three-game winning streak snapped as it lost to Tulsa, 77-35, on Oct. 18. QB Trevor Vittatoe went 21-of-34 for 306 yards and tossed four touchdowns to four different receivers for the Miners. WR Kris Adams tallied five receptions for 126 yards for his second 100-yard game of the season. UTEP kept pace with Tulsa early and the score was tied 28-28 after the first quarter, but the Golden Hurricane used blitzes to rattle Vittatoe and take control of the game in the second quarter. Sophomore P Kyle Petersen averaged 45.1 yards on eight punts, pinning two inside the 20-yard line.