Conference USA Football Week Seven Recap - 10/13 - 10/14/06

Pittsburgh 52 - UCF 7 (October 13th)

George O’Leary and his Golden Knights, who were coming off a last second win at Marshall, were seeking to knock off the Big East’s Pitt Panthers. Pitt, who is now 6-1, is off to their best start since 1982 when it started 7-0 under Dan Marino. The Panthers, who were averaging 35 points per game before Friday night, reached their average in the first half by leading the Golden Knights, 38-0, at the break.

Pitt took control of the game from the opening kickoff, literally, as Lowell Robinson returned it 97 yards for a touchdown. Panther senior quarterback Tyler Palko, who had the nation’s second best efficiency rating prior to the game, went 11 of 15 for 172 yards and two touchdowns. LaRod Stephens-Howling rushed 19 times for 135 yards and three touchdowns. In all, the Pitt offense put up 467 yards, while converting an amazing ten of their 12 third down conversion attempts. The Panthers did not punt in the game.

UCF committed turnovers on four of their first six possessions; however, despite the blowout win, Pitt seemed to struggle the most when presented with the short field.

Stephen Moffett went 5 of 10 for 52 yards and a pick, but his back-up Kyle Israel finished 13 of 19 for 158 yards. Star back Kevin Smith ran for 70 yards on 20 carries, while big play receiver Mike Walker caught eight balls for 73 yards.

Tulsa 31 - East Carolina 10

The defending Conference USA champions used a dominating defensive performance and power rushing attack to defeat the fumbling, mistake prone Pirates, 31-10. Tulsa converted three East Carolina fumbles into ten points while wearing down an ECU defense that was on the field for the majority of the second half. The Golden Hurricane possessed the football for nearly 22 of the 30 second half minutes while rushing for 160 yards.

Tulsa (5-1, 2-0) took advantage of an early East Carolina fumble and drove 29 yards to make it 7-0 midway through the first quarter. The Pirates knotted the game at seven a couple minutes into the second quarter after getting the ball at the Golden Hurricane 44-yard line following a short punt. TU took a 14-7 lead right before the half when junior quarterback Paul Smith scored on a very athletic five-yard touchdown run that required him to leap over the ECU defender.

East Carolina had an opportunity to swing the momentum early in the third quarter after recovering a fumble at the Tulsa 47, but fumbled the ball right back to the Golden Hurricane two play later. Tulsa would score on three consecutive possessions to take a commanding 24-7 lead with 12:56 left in the game.

The Pirates answered with a 24-yard Robert Lee field goal with 11:19 left that cut the deficit to 14 at 24-10. However, Tulsa would then go on a nine-play, 56-yard drive that essentially put the game away at 31-10 with just less than six minutes to play.

Pinkney finished the day 13 of 27 for 92 yards, while Fractious led the Pirates’ on the ground with ten rushes for 61 yards. Bobby Good, who caught seven passes for 48 yards, led ECU in receiving for the second straight week.

Southern Miss 31 - Houston 27

Southern Miss had undergone a trying ten days since their last game, which was a 20-6 loss at Tulsa, but they recorded a 31-27 win over Houston on Saturday. UH senior quarterback Kevin Kolb completed 22 of 38 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns, but in the end it was Southern Miss’ Jeremy Young and his Golden Eagles who collected the big conference win at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg.

After being pulled against Tulsa, Young bounced back to complete 17 of 26 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Young, who still isn’t 100 percent according to Golden Eagles’ head coach Jeff Bower, also ran for a couple of key first downs.

Young hooked up with Josh Barnes for a 22-yard touchdown pass with just over four minutes remaining in the second quarter, which gave USM a 14-7 lead headed into the locker room.

The Golden Eagles extended their lead to 17-7 almost halfway through the third quarter when Darren McCaleb hit a 39-yard field goal. UH pulled to 17-14 with just under two left in the third.

After USM had stretched the lead to ten at 24-14, UH pulled back to within three when Kevin Kolb connected with Jeron Harvey for a 74-yard scoring strike with just over nine minutes left.

The Golden Eagles would once again respond, as Young found Nelson for a 16-yard score that would be the game winner. UH would get into the endzone again, but not until time expired.

USM’s Damion Fletcher failed to rush for 100 yards for the first time in several games, finishing with 80 yards on 21 carries. Houston’s problems running the football continued, as they were only able to muster a measly 38 yards on the ground.

Rice 34 - UAB 33

Rice’s Chase Clement found Jarett Dillard for a nine-yard touchdown with only nine seconds left, and the Owls rallied to defeat the Blazers, 34-33. The touchdown reception was Dillard’s third of the game and Clement was involved in all five Rice touchdowns.

Clement amassed 332 total yards in the game, which included completing 21 of 33 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns. He did throw two interceptions. Clement also ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns, while toting it 17 times.

Rice wideout Jarett Dillard had a big game, catching nine balls for 111 yards, which included three scores. Dillard now has 11 touchdown receptions on the season, which makes him the Owls’ all-time single-season record holder.

Blazers’ quarterback Chris Williams performed well in the loss, completing 15 of 28 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns.

Rice jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but UAB responded with 30 and 71-yard touchdown passes to cut the lead to 14-12 halfway through the second quarter. The Blazers missed their first extra-point attempt and then their two-point conversion failed.

The Owls took a 28-19 lead into the fourth quarter, but UAB would score on the first play of the final quarter to trim the lead to two at 28-26. UAB would then take a 33-28 lead with slightly less than four minutes to play when Williams hooked up with Steven Brown for a 49-yard touchdown strike.

UAB had two, 100-yard receiving performances and a 100-yard rusher in the heartbreaking defeat. Willie Edwards caught four balls for 112 yards and a touchdown, while Steven Brown hauled in four for 102 and a score. Dan Burks ran for 121 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, which included a long of 51 yards.

UTEP 34 - Tulane 20

The Miners forced five Green Wave turnovers and Johnnie Lee Higgins Jr. returned a punt for a touchdown for a second consecutive game, as UTEP defeated Tulane 34-20 on Saturday in El Paso.

With the win, UTEP improves to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in CUSA. The Miners only led 3-0 after one quarter, but they exploded for 21-second quarter points. Higgins’ 88-yard punt return for a score gave the Miners a comfortable 24-3 lead at the break.

Higgins would catch a 39-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Palmer in the third quarter, extending the Miner lead to 34-6 after three. Tulane would not give up, as they would score two fourth quarter touchdowns, trimming the margin to 34-20.

Despite trailing by as many as four touchdowns before losing by two, Tulane out gained UTEP, 481-365. The Green Wave’s Achilles heel was not being able to secure the football, as they committed five turnovers as mentioned earlier.

Jordan Palmer was sharp for the Miners, completing 22 of his 29 attempts for 230 yards and three touchdowns without throwing an interception. Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr. caught four balls for 68 yards and a score. Marcus Thomas ran the football 16 times for 79 yards.

Lester Ricard threw for 248 yards, while rushing for 35 in the losing effort. He completed 27 of 49 attempts, but threw two costly interceptions and no touchdowns. Running back Matt Forte carried the ball 17 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns. The Green Wave ran for 192 yards as a team.

Arkansas State 26 - Memphis 23

Most college football fans have probably heard of the “Miracle at Michigan”. Years from now, Arkansas State fans will likely be talking about the “Miracle at Memphis”. Trailing 23-20, ASU quarterback Corey Leonard took the snap with six seconds left and rolled left before heaving the ball into a group of Indians and Tigers in the endzone. Patrick Higgins came out of the crowd with the ball and a 53-yard touchdown reception that resulted in a 26-23 victory.

ASU had been in control and outplayed Memphis for most of the game, but the Tigers had jumped ahead on a double pass for a touchdown. Quarterback Martin Hankins connected with Ryan Scott on the left, who then found Joseph Doss for a 37-yard touchdown with just less than seven minutes remaining.

UM quarterback Martin Hankins was out of sync for most of the day, often overthrowing receivers. He was only 12 of 27. To make matters worse, the Tigers could only manage 127 yards on the ground.

The Indians led 17-6 at the break following 262 yards of offense, including 168 yards rushing. Memphis only had 140 yards in the half, including a mere 49 on the ground.

SMU 31 - Marshall 21

Phil Bennett and his SMU Mustangs won their fourth game in their last five tries on Saturday, as they came back to defeat a struggling Marshall club, 31-21, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.

Justin Willis was nearly perfect for the Mustangs. He completed 20 of 23 attempts for 208 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception. SMU’s rushing attack was by committee as they ran for 135 without any individual running for more than 45.

Emmanuel Sanders caught six balls for 62 yards and a touchdown to lead SMU’s receiving corps.

Marshall was led by the rushing performance of Ahmad Bradshaw, who became the 12 th player in Thundering Herd history to run for more than 2,000 yards in a career. In the game, he finished with 91 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

Thundering Herd quarterback Bernie Morris played well in the first half, but went 7 of 16 in the second half to finish the game 19 of 32 for 192 yards. He threw one touchdown, but three costly interceptions.

Devin Lowery, who grabbed three interceptions, led SMU’s defense. Joe Sturdivant led all tacklers with 12.

Marshall led 21-17 with 12:03 to play, but SMU would score two touchdowns in the next six and a half minutes to take a 31-21 lead that they would not relinquish.