Nov. 15, 2008

Case Keenum tied the Conference USA record for touchdown passes with six and ran for another as Houston defeated Tulsa, 70-30, in a West Division showdown. Austin Davis and DeAndre Brown connected on a 97-yard touchdown, the longest in Southern Miss history, as the Golden Eagles defeated East Carolina, 21-3. Joe Webb ran for 130 yards and three TDs to lead UAB to a 41-24 win at Tulane. Brynn Harvey ran for 150 yards and a TD as UCF beat Marshall, 30-14.

HOUSTON 70, TULSA 30
Case Keenum threw a career-high six touchdowns and ran for another score to help Houston defeat No. 25 Tulsa 70-30 on Saturday night.

The Cougars (6-4, 5-1 C-USA) took advantage of Tulsa's miscues to jump out to a 14-0 lead and never trailed.

Keenum threw five TD passes in the first half. Two were to Tyron Carrier, who added a third touchdown on a 93-yard punt return.

Houston sophomore Loyce Means had three interceptions, one of which he returned 69 yards for a touchdown.

It is the second straight loss for Tulsa (8-2, 5-1) after the team started the season with eight straight wins. The Golden Hurricane were uncharacteristically sloppy Saturday and finished with five turnovers.

The win left Houston, Tulsa and Rice tied for the C-USA West Division lead with 6-1 records entering the final two weeks of the regular season.

These two high-powered offenses combined for 1,142 yards of offense and 59 first downs.

Keenum was 24-of-37 for 402 yards, his school-record 11th straight 300-yard passing game. He has thrown a touchdown in 13 straight games and has 60 for his career.

The Cougars led 42-17 at halftime and scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half, adding a fourth on Means' interception return to push the lead to 70-30 early in the fourth quarter.

Keenum had a 6-yard run early in the fourth quarter before he was replaced by Blake Joseph.

Tulsa's David Johnson was 18-of-29 for 271 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Johnson was replaced by Jacob Bower early in the fourth quarter.

Tulsa, which entered the game leading the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense and scoring, looked off from the outset. Two failed fourth down attempts and a fumble in the first quarter kept the Golden Hurricane scoreless in the opening quarter for the first time this season.

Houston's 70 points were the most Tulsa has allowed since an 82-28 loss to Houston in 1988.

Carrier finished with six receptions for 127 yards. Means intercepted a wobbly pass on a fake punt by punter Michael Such to set up that score.

Carrier's punt return just before halftime made it 42-17. He evaded the first wave of defenders before shaking off three tackles and tight roping the sideline for the score.

SOUTHERN MISS 21, EAST CAROLINA 3
Austin Davis threw for two touchdowns, including a school record 97-yarder to DeAndre Brown, and Southern Miss defeated East Carolina 21-3 on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles (5-6, 3-4 Conference USA) won their third consecutive game and ended East Carolina's three-game winning streak. Southern Miss, which lost five straight games earlier this season, needs a win over Southern Methodist in its final regular season game on Nov. 29 to become bowl eligible.

Damion Fletcher, Southern Miss' all-time leading rusher, ran for 121 yards on 23 carries and one touchdown in his first game after missing two games with a hamstring injury.

Davis hit Brown one play after Justin Wilson picked off a pass deep in Golden Eagles territory. The scoring play gave Southern Miss a 21-3 lead with 11:37 to play.

Southern Miss took a 7-3 lead into halftime on Davis' 20-yard touchdown pass to Leroy Banks with 4:35 left in the second quarter.

East Carolina took a 3-0 lead early in the quarter on Ben Hartman's 32-yard field goal. Hartman also missed a pair of field goals in the first half.

Davis was 18 of 30 for 239 yards and two scores. Brown had eight catches for 124 yards and needs just three more receptions to tie the school's single season record of 66.

Wilson picked off another pass late in the game to end any hopes of a comeback. East Carolina's Patrick Pickney had thrown just three interceptions in the first nine games.

UAB 41, TULANE 24
Junior quarterback Joe Webb ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns to lead UAB to a 41-24 win over Conference USA foe Tulane on Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana Superdome.

Webb, who completed 15-of-21 passes for 154 yards, scored on runs of 31, three and one yard for the Blazers (3-7, 2-4 C-USA). Senior cornerback Kevin Sanders had two interceptions on the day for UAB.

J.T. McDonald accounted for three touchdowns, scoring on a three and 13 yard run and caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Moore for Tulane (2-8, 1-5 C-USA).

UAB, which led by three points at halftime, extended its lead to 24-14 on Webb's 3-yard touchdown run with 9:14 left in the third quarter. The score was set up by Sanders' interception and 34-yard return to the Tulane six.

The Green Wave got within 24-21 on McDonald's 13-yard touchdown run with 6:47 left in the third quarter.

The Blazers increased the lead to 31-21 when Webb ran one yard for a touchdown with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

Tulane reduced the lead to 31-24 when Ross Thevenot kicked a 50-yard field goal with 12:10 left in the game.

But Swayze Waters' 29-yard field goal increased UAB's lead to 34-24 with 5:28 left, and Matt Taylor intercepted a Moore pass and ran 36 yards for a touchdown to complete the scoring with 3:34 left.

UAB took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Webb ran 31 yards for a touchdown. Tulane tied the score on the next possession when McDonald ran three yards for a touchdown.

The Blazers took a 14-7 lead when Rashaud Slaughter ran one yard for a touchdown with 9:09 remaining in the second quarter.

The Green Wave tied the score on Moore's 27-yard touchdown pass to McDonald with 6:07 left in the second quarter.

UAB took a 17-14 halftime lead on Waters' 41-yard field goal with 4:05 left in the second quarter.

UCF 30, MARSHALL 14
Freshman running back Brynn Harvey rushed for a career-high 150 yards and a touchdown to lead the UCF football team to a 30-14 victory at Marshall Saturday. The Knights recovered two fumbles and senior defensive back Sha'reff Rashad intercepted a pair of passes in the win, helping improve UCF's record to 3-7 and 2-4 in Conference USA.

Marshall (4-6, 3-3) finished with 145 rushing yards and 84 passing yards against the Black and Gold defense. Meanwhile, UCF's 213 rushing yards were the second most of the year. Along with Harvey's impressive performance, fellow freshman Lativius Murray also had a season-best effort of 46 yards on the ground.

Another freshman, quarterback Rob Calabrese went 4-for-17 for 29 yards and a touchdown. His counterpart, Marshall's Mark Cann, also finished 4-for-17 with 32 yards and a TD, as UCF posted its fourth-straight win over the Thundering Herd.

In the third-coldest game since UCF made the move to FBS in 1996 (42 degrees), the Knights jumped out to a 13-0 lead on a fumble recovery in the end zone by sophomore Jamar Newsome in the first quarter and two field goals by freshman Nick Cattoi. His first field goal ended a 16-play, 68-yard drive in the opening quarter.

Even though Chubb Small's one-yard rush with 5:59 left in the second quarter cut it to 13-7, sophomore tight end John Lubischer recorded his first-career reception, a two-yard TD from Calabrese with 4:16 showing on the clock.

Following the break, Cody Slate hauled in a 15-yard touchdown reception to kick-off the third quarter and keep Marshall in the game. Cattoi then added his third field goal of the night to make it a two-possession game in the third quarter. And as UCF was trying to run down the clock late in the fourth, Harvey found the end zone on a 50-yard run on a 3-and-11 call to seal it with just less than three minutes remaining.

UTEP 36, SMU 10
Trevor Vittatoe threw for 410 yards and connected with Kris Adams for three touchdowns to lead UTEP to a 36-10 victory over SMU on Saturday night.

Vittatoe completed 21-of-31 passes, finishing his evening after just three quarters. Adams caught five of those passes for 145 yards and the three touchdowns. It was a career high for Vittatoe and Adams, both sophomores.

Vittatoe connected with Adams for an 85-yard touchdown pass on UTEP's first play from scrimmage. The Miners (5-5, 4-2 Conference USA) rolled up 544 total yards and never trailed, leading 10-3 after one quarter and 26-3 at the half.

Jose Martinez kicked five field goals in the game, connecting from 34, 48, 26, 31 and 23 yards.

SMU (1-10, 0-7) scored its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter after trailing 36-3. Logan Turner hit Bradley Haynes with a 27-yard pass for the touchdown.