El Paso Times du lieu suivant : El Paso, Texas • 36

Sunday, Oct 7. 2007 elpaSQtimes.COfn Read all about Miner sports at www.elpasotimes.comminersmania Conference USA Roundup Late interception dooms Houston Mm Brandon Brinkley picked off Wilson, and the Cougars drove to the Alabama 15 with 5 seconds remaining. Facing fourth-and-3, Case Keenum scrambled away from pressure and threw a rainbow into a crowd on the left side of the end zone. Castille came down with the ball to preserve the win and was mobbed by teammates. Alabama built its lead to 30-10 on Glen Coffee's run, which was set up by a fumbled punt, but things got tight for the Tide after that.

Mississippi St 30, UAB 13: At Starkville, Anthony Dixon, who lost his starting job this week, rushed for 152 yards and three second-half touchdowns Saturday as Mississippi State beat over, but Ross Thevenot's 34-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, missing the upright by a few feet East Carolina 52, UCF 38: At Greenville, N.C, Chris Johnson returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to spark a 28-point third quarter as East Carolina rallied against Central Florida and ran away to a 52-38 Conference USA victory Saturday night ECU (3-3, 2-1 C-USA) trailed 28-17 at halftime before the defense, offense and special teams took charge with a 28-3 run. The defense forced five turnovers in the third quarter to take control away from the Knights (3-2, 1-1 C-USA). The Pirates converted three of the turnovers into scores. The win gives the Bulldogs (4-2) four victories in a season for the first time since 2000. UAB (1-4) led 13-9 after three quarters.

But the Blazers, who rank 115th in the NCAA in total defense, could not get a fourth-quarter stop. Army 20, Tulane 17 (OT): At West Point, N.Y, Army completed an improbable comeback Saturday night, beating Tulane in overtime on Owen Tolson's 25-yard field goal. The Black Knights tied it as time expired on a deflected 36-yard pass to Mike Wright from backup Kevin Dunn. Tolson kicked the winning field goal from the left hash on Army's fifth play of overtime. The Green Wave then took Associated Press TUSCALOOSA, Ala.

John Parker Wilson threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third Saturday, but it took a big defensive play by Simeon Castille for Alabama to put away Houston 30-24 on the final play. Faced with criticism from fans after the Crimson Tide lost to Georgia and Florida State, Wilson responded with a pair of 23-yard touchdown passes to Nikita Stover and Mike McCoy and a 1-yard sneak to give Alabama (4-2) a 23-0 lead after one quarter. But Houston's unorthodox no-huddle offense finally broke through, and the Cougars (2-3) found themselves with a chance to tie the game on the final play. Butch Dill Associated Press Houston quarterback Blake Joseph (15) was sacked in the end zone for a safety Saturday by Alabama's Wallace Gilberry in Tuscaloosa, Ala. UTEP 48 Tulsa 47 hi nn rv If Jdl.

.1 -ti 3 Jfik I J. V5 fSX Til t. A 'f 'Stir 1 By Matt Johnson El Paso Times The Miners showed the same heart, the same fighting spirit, on Saturday against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane that they showed last week against SMU. What made their 49-47 victory against Tulsa even sweeter than last week's win was the fact that the Miners came from behind not just once, but twice in the fourth quarter, and then did just enough defensively to hold off one of the most explosive offenses in Conference USA. Tulsa's Paul Smith threw for 383 yards and the Golden Hurricane racked up 648 yards of offense, but the UTEP defense stepped up at the end to limit the Golden Hurricane to a missed 53-yard field goal try.

UTEP's big players stepped up just as they need to do for the Miners to win big games. Mar-' cus Thomas ran for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Trevor Vittatoe threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Lome Sam nabbed the first receiving touchdown of his ca- reer, and threw another touchdown, while rushing for 94 yards on just six carries. He did all the things a star player is supposed to do convert on third down, lead his team down the field.

Make the big plays. And in a game in which two teams combined for more than L200 yards, the best defensive stands are the ones that occur in the fourth quarter and that's all it took for UTEP to hold off Tulsa. Art s- If Texas Roundup Wyoming holds off TCU rally in fourth quarter LARAMIE, Wyo. Hoost Marsh caught two touchdowns, and Devin Moore and Wynel Seldon combined for 235 yards rushing as Wyoming beat TCU 24-21 on Saturday. The Horned Frogs (3-3.

1-2 Mountain West Conference) scored back-to-back touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but that wasn't enough to erase an 18-point gap Wyoming (4-L 1-0) created on two touchdowns and a field goal earlier in the half. Seldon finished with 100 yards rushing; Moore had 135. Billy Vinnedge kicked a 23-yard field goal for a 24-6 Cowboys lead in the fourth quarter. But TCU fought back, scoring the final 15 points. Central Arkansas 35, Sam Houston St 14: At Hunstville, Texas, Nathan Brown threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns to lead Central Arkansas past Sam Houston State.

Marquez Branson had five catches for 68 yards and a touchdown for the Bears (2-3, 1-1 Southland), who had 14 players with at least one reception. Brown was 28-of-37 for 308 yards and no interceptions. Brent Grimes ran 19 times for 69 yards and another score for Central Arkansas. Brown outplayed Sam Houston quarterback Rhett Bomar, who was dismissed at Oklahoma before last season for violating NCAA rules by taking money for work he didn't perform at a car dealership. Bomar completed 22 of 38 passes for 241 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Catron Houston caught seven passes for 90 yards for Sam Houston (2-3, 0-1), and Chris Poullard ran 14 times for 72 yards. McNeese State 41, Texas State 20: At San Marcos, Texas, Derrick Fourroux threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead McNeese State to a win over Texas State. The Cowboys (5-0, 1-0 Southland) had two 100-yard receivers for the first time since 2004. Carlese Franklin had four catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Quinten Lawrence caught five balls for 104 yards and a score.

Fourroux was 10-of-14 with an interception and two TDs. He ran six times for 44 yards 37 on a second-quarter touchdown that gave the Cowboys a 13-10 lead. He followed that with a 51-yard scoring pass to Lawrence before half-time and a 36-yard TD pass to Franklin in the third. Bradley George was 18-of-33 for 180 yards, a touchdown and an interception for Texas State (1-4, 0-1). Karrington Bush led the Bobcats in rushing (17 carries for 82 yards) and receiving (four catches for 42 yards).

Louisiana-Lafayette 38, North Texas 29: At Lafayette, Michael Desormeaux had four touchdowns to lead Louisiana-Lafayette to its first victory of the year over still-winless North Texas. Desormeaux scored on runs of 73 and 4 yards, and on passes of 14 and 3 yards for the Ragin' Cajuns (1-5, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference). He finished with 18 carries for 150 yards and 10-of-20 passing for 114 yards. The Cajuns scored first and never trailed, but the teams traded scores the entire game. Louisiana-Lafayette led 14-12 at halftime, and North Texas (0-5, 0-2) got within two points twice after that.

Jamario Thomas led North Texas with 60 yards on 13 carries. SE Louisiana 21, Stephen F. Austin 3: At Hammond, Jay Lucas rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns as Southeastern Louisiana defeated Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference opener for both teams. Southeastern (2-3, 1-0) took a 14-0 first-quarter lead, forced three turnovers and held SFA (0-5, 0-1) to 289 total yards while gaining 382.

Southeastern's Brian Babin completed 18 of 30 passes for 179 yards. Southeastern sacked Danny Southall three times before he was pulled early in the fourth quarter, finishing 5-for-12 and 51 yards. Backup Jeremy Moses was 6-for-13 for 57 yards with two interceptions. Southeastern's Tommy Connors finished with eight tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble return for a touchdown. Prairie View 17, Alcorn St.

7: At Lorman, Ben Boyd rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown as Prairie View beat Alcorn State. Boyd scored on a 23-yard run to tie the score 7-7 early in the third quarter and also set up Brady Faggard's 24-yard game-clinching field goal with a 79-yard run late in the fourth-quarter. Boyd averaged 20.6 yards per if 'tr -s'JZ Mark Lambie El Paso Times UTEP running back Marcus Thomas broke a tackle on his way to UTEP's first touchdown Satuday against Tulsa at the Sun Bowl. i ri MINERNOTES UTEP came out and handed the ball to Thomas up the middle, but Tulsa called its own timeout moments before the ball was snapped. After that timeout, Trevor Vitta-toe faked a handoff, then kept the ball on a quarterback sweep.

He gained 8 yards and UTEP improved to one-of-three this season when needing fewer than five yards on fourth dowa Big game: One of the bright spots for the beleagured UTEP defense was Braxton Amy, who has been moving between linebacker and safety all season. Playing more defensive back in this game, he had an interception, a pass breakup and a tackle for loss. Five: Sophomore Jeff Moturi now has touchdown catches in five consecutive games after his 78-yard reception in the third quarter. That marked UTEP's longest play from scrimmage this year. He almost had a 52-yard scoring catch on UTEP first possession but barely stepped out of bounds on the 25-yard line.

Seeing red: Since a late goal-line fumble against Texas Tech, UTEP has converted its last 14 trips into the red zone, scoring 13 touchdowns and one field goal. Eye in the sky: in the last two games, UTEP has had three touch Thomas sets record for rushing touchdowns Early in the week, Tulsa coach Todd Graham said two things that UTEP coach Mike Price took as a challenge: Tulsa wanted to hold UTEP to under 100 yards rushing, and Graham didn't feel the Sun Bowl crowd could slow down his offense. The Golden Hurricanes were l-for-2. UTEP reached the 100-yard mark on Marcus Thomas' 11-yard touchdown run with 12:10 left in the second quarter. That touchdown his second of the game was Thomas' 10th of the season, moving him up to eighth on the UTEP single-season list, just halfway into a campaign that began with him missing the opener.

Thomas scored again later in the game, giving him multiple-touchdown games in three straight contests and four of the five he has played in this year. He also became the first player in school history to rush for three touchdowns in consecutive games. National leader: Quintin Demps' 15th career interception moved him into the national lead among active Division 1-A players. He is now alone in third in UTEP career interceptions, four behind leader Charlie West (1965-67). downs reviewed, and all stood.

Thomas' 3-yard run to open the scoring against Tulsa was reviewed and upheld. Tulsa also had a touchdown upheld, as Trae Johnson did an outstanding job of dragging a foot in the corner of the end zone on a fourth-down play with 22 seconds left in the first half. It was a wash: One of the stranger plays of the season came the first time Tulsa lined up in punt formation. On fourth-and-8 from its own 39, Tulsa perfectly executed a fake to a wide open Chris Chamberlain, who rumbled downfield for a 26-yard gaine until Jake Sears forced a fumble. The ball then took one perfect hop straight into the arms of the return man Demps.

After a 10-yard holding penalty on Demps' return, Tulsa ended up with the equivalent of a 34-yard net punt. Tulsa didn't punt until the 6:31 mark of the third quarter, the fourth time they faced a fourth down in the game. Triple threat: Lome Sam's 29-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was the first scoring catch of his career and marked the third way he's been involved in a touchdown. He previously has scored on rushes and he has one touchdown pass as a Miner. Thomas is the other UTEP play- er to score rushing, receiving and passing in his career.

Brief return: Tim McCul-louch, who was injured in the opener against New Mexico, got his first significant playing time since then, but it didn't last long. He was injured defending a pass late in the first quarter and did not return. Better: After spending the week bemoaning his team's kick-offs, Graham had to be more pleased with that aspect. Heading into the game, Tulsa's average kickoff reached the 14, but their first four all made it inside the UTEP 4. The Hurricanes covered three of those well, but Demps did break one to his own 45 to set up the drive that put UTEP ahead 21-10.

Still streaking: For the fifth time in their five-game season, the Hurricanes scored a touchdown on their first drive of the second half. The drive was extended on a controversial fourth-down pass interference call on Cornelius Brown as he defended a jump ball. That drive covered 80 yards in 13 plays and took 4:55, marking Tulsa's third longest touchdown drive of the year in terms of time. Tulsa's longest is 5:22. Bret Bloomquist Mark Lambie El Paso Times UTEP's Lome Sam celebrated his touchdown Saturday against Tulsa at the Sun Bowl.

w- Cat and mouse: it didn't affect the game much, but a daring UTEP gamble in the middle stages of the second quarter resulted in both teams taking timeouts. Facing a fourth-and-inches from their own 42, the Miners started to send in a punt team over the objections of the offensive players, and they ended up taking a timeout. Miners elpasotimes.com to take the lead on Tarrion Adams' 1-yard plunge with 4:34 left. That gave UTEP one last gasp to reprise the SMU game, and it was plenty. UTEP moved to the 14, then Vittatoe calmly found Moturi.

Moturi finished with seven catches for 174 yards. Sam ended up with 83 yards rushing and 94 receiving, as UTEP managed 570 yards of offense to Tulsa's 634. An first half broke Tulsa's way in the final 22 seconds, as a daring fourth-down gamble paid off when Trae Johnson drug a foot on a 4-yard reception in the back corner of the end zone. The play held up after review, as it appeared Johnson had about an inch to spare, and Tulsa led 23-21 at the half. That marked the Golden Hurricanes only lead of a half that was, as expected, dominated by the offenses.

The teams combined for 612 yards and 29 first downs in the first two quarters. UTEP grabbed a 21-10 lead on Thomas' second touchdown run of the game with 12:10 left in the first half. But Tulsa answered with a pair of typically quick 80-yard touchdown drives, needing 2:04 and 2:24 on those drives. Bret Bloomquist may reached at bbloomqulstelpasotimes.coni 546-6359. Continued from 1C 73 yards for a go-ahead score.

The key play was the third of the drive when, facing third-and-17, Smith calmly evaded trouble and found Trae Johnson for a 28-yard gain. From there, Tulsa had little troub' covering the final 52 yards Listen to or download a UTEP football podcast. See additional photos. Win prizes In College Football Pick 'em. Read UTEP sports blogs and discussions.

ji carry in the game. Associated Press.