Nov. 8, 2008

Ben Hartman's 27-yard field goal in overtime gave East Carolina a 19-16 win over Marshall and sole possession of first place in the East Division. Curtis Steele and Brandon Ross gave Memphis its first pair of 100-yard rushers in a game since 2005 as the Tigers won at SMU, 31-26. Austin Davis tossed two TDs, including one to DeAndre Brown to lead Southern Miss to a 17-6 victory at UCF. Chase Clement threw three touchdowns and ran for another as Rice defeated Army, 38-31.

EAST CAROLINA 19, MARSHALL 16 (OT)
Ben Hartman kicked four field goals, including a 27-yarder in overtime, leading East Carolina to a 19-16 win over Marshall on Saturday.

It was East Carolina's second consecutive overtime victory after defeating UCF 13-10 on another Hartman field goal last week.

Hartman, who also kicked field goals of 31, 51 and 21 yards, missed a 42-yard field goal with 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter after Marshall (4-5, 3-2 Conference USA) tied the game with 1:33 left on Mark Cann's 34-yard touchdown pass to Cody Slate, their second score of the game.

The Pirates (6-3, 4-1) exacted revenge on the Thundering Herd and took sole possession of first place in the Conference USA's East Division. Marshall dashed East Carolina's conference title hopes last year when the Thundering Herd defeated the Pirates 26-7.

The Pirates put themselves in the driver's seat for a chance to play the winner of Conference USA's West Division winner. Tulsa, undefeated in conference play at 5-0, leads the West.

Pat Pinkney, who keyed East Carolina's season-opening upsets of Virginia Tech and West Virginia, returned to the starting quarterback job and went 26-for-37 for 290 yards and one touchdown.

Pinkney's found Davon Drew on a 5-yard touchdown pass to cap a nine-play, 73-yard drive with less than two minutes in the half to take a 13-3 lead.

Marshall's Darius Marshall rushed for 123 yards on 20 carries.

MEMPHIS 31, SMU 26
Curtis Steele ran for 123 yards and a touchdown, and Brandon Ross added 111 more on the ground and another score to lead Memphis to a 31-26 win over SMU on Saturday.

Steele sat out the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury. It was the first time since 2005 that two Memphis players have rushed for over 100 yards in the same game. Maurice Avery and DeAngelo Williams did it in 2005 against Houston.

Memphis (5-5, 3-3 C-USA) rushed for 306 yards and finished with 436 yards of total offense.

Logan Turner, who replaced an injured Bo Levi Mitchell, threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Cole Beasley with 38 seconds left to cut the Tigers lead to 31-26. The Mustangs failed to convert on the two-point conversion and Memphis recovered the Mustangs' onside kick attempt.

SMU (1-9, 0-6 C-USA) has lost 15 consecutive Conference USA games.

Memphis grabbed a 31-20 lead with 1:31 remaining after a 10-play, 77-yard drive which lasted 6:09 ended with a 24-yard field goal by Matt Reagan.

Brett Toney threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Singleton for a 28-20 Memphis lead with 12:59 left. Toney completed 9 of 19 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Turner's 21-yard touchdown pass to Beasley narrowed Memphis' lead to 21-20 with 3:31 left in the third quarter. Turner completed 19 of 31 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns.

Mitchell injured his shoulder early in the second quarter when he attempted to throw a stiff-arm on a quarterback sneak. Mitchell was 5 of 7 for 83 yards.

Steele and Ross each ran for a touchdown in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead.

Mitchell connected with Emmanuel Sanders for a 53-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 left in the first quarter and Thomas Morstead converted on field goal attempts of 38 and 40 yards to narrow Memphis' lead to 14-13 at halftime.

Sanders led all receivers with 107 yards on five receptions.

SOUTHERN MISS 17, UCF 6
Austin Davis' 8-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter sealed Southern Miss' 17-6 victory over UCF on Saturday.

Davis' third-quarter touchdown run capped a Southern Miss drive that included three third-down conversions and took nearly nine minutes.

Davis completed 21 of 34 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown, also rushing for 73 yards and the final score for the Golden Eagles (4-6, 2-4 Conference USA).

Rob Calabrese completed 12 of 30 passes for 141 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for the Golden Knights (2-7, 1-4).

The Golden Eagles outgained the Golden Knights 338-208, and capitalized on a pair of UCF turnovers to seal the victory.

Southern Miss led 7-6 at the half after Davis connected with DeAndre Brown for a 5-yard score. It was Brown's 11th touchdown reception of the year.

UCF scored on its first drive, when Calabrese connected with Khymest Williams for a 3-yard touchdown. The touchdown capped a 91-yard drive, UCF's longest drive of the year.

HOUSTON 42, TULANE 14
Case Keenum threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns to lead Houston to a 42-14 win over Tulane on Saturday night.

Keenum extended his school record with his 10th straight game passing for more than 300 yards, finishing 29 of 40 for 384 yards and one interception. Freshman running back Bryce Beall rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns and caught another score. Bell set a Houston freshman rushing touchdown record with his 10th rushing touchdown of the year.

Houston (5-4, 4-1 Conference USA) finished the game with 394 yards passing and 299 yards rushing for 693 yards of total offense. The Cougars had 30 first downs but committed 12 penalties for 143 yards.

Nathan Austin ran for two touchdowns for the Green Wave (2-7, 1-4 C-USA).

Kevin Moore finished 12-of-27 passing for 142 yards to lead the Green Wave through the air.

Tulane quarterback Joe Kemp left the game with a broken collarbone in the second quarter after getting hit by Houston's Phillip Hunt.

RICE 38, ARMY 31
Chase Clement etched his name in yet another record book as the Rice Owls clinched a berth in their second bowl game in three years, downing Army 38-31 at Rice Stadium on Saturday.

Clement threw for three touchdowns to break Kevin Kolb's C-USA record for career touchdown passes and added a fourth on the ground to tie Paul Smith's conference record for total touchdowns. He threw for 384 yards and rushed for 87 more to become the first player in Rice history to top 10,000 yards in total offense. He topped 300 yards passing for the fourth time in the last five games.

Jarett Dillard caught a pair of touchdown passes, including a career-best, 80-yard strike from Clement and became the 13th player in NCAA history to top 1,000 yards in receiving in three consecutive seasons.

Corbin Smiter topped 100 yards for the first time, finishing with four catches for 104 yards. James Casey added six catches for 61 yards to also top 1,000 yards receiving for the year. The Owls' receiving duo is the 28th tandem to each top 1,000 yards in the same season.

The Owls spotted Army a quick 7-0 lead, then scored 31 straight points and led 31-10 at the half. After Clark Fangmeier nailed a 46-yard field goal, Clement gave the Owls the lead for good by bolting up the middle for a 61-yard touchdown run, the longest run of his career. The scoring jaunt also pushed him over 1,500 yards rushing, making him the 19th player in school history to reach that total.

In the second quarter, Clement and Dillard took advantage to hook up on the longest connection of their incredible career's together, an 80-yard touchdown pass to push the Owls lead to 17-7 and allow Clement to tie the conference TD pass record. Fittingly, the pair combined to set the record later in the quarter on a 10-yard pass.

The two touchdown passes for the duo ran their NCAA record for a passing duo to 48 touchdown passes, while Dillard extended his NCAA record for touchdown receptions to 57.

Clement found Smiter for a 54-yard scoring pass midway through the third quarter to run the lead to 38-17, but Army refused to quit and thanks to 461 rushing yards closed to within seven points with 4:15 left in the game.

UTEP 37, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 24
Trevor Vittatoe threw five touchdown passes to lead UTEP to a 37-24 victory against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday night.

Vittatoe completed 24 of 33 passes for 294 yards and one interception for the Miners (4-5). Terrell Jackson added 105 yards on 14 carries.

Tyrell Fenroy rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, and also added 58 yards on two catches for the Ragin' Cajuns (5-4).

Vittatoe made up for throwing a 55-yard interception for a score to Louisiana-Lafayette's Gerren Blount by connecting on a 16-yard score with Jeff Moturi to tie the game at 7-7 after one quarter.

Tufick Shadrawy caught Vittatoe's next touchdown pass, a 32-yarder, to give UTEP a 16-10 at halftime.

Vittatoe hit Moturi for another 7-yard touchdown, and Kris Adams on tosses of 7 and 23 yards to extend the Miners' lead to 37-17 midway through the fourth.

The Ragin' Cajuns scored at the end of both the third and fourth quarters, including Fenroy's 3-yard score, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the Miners.