Sept. 15, 2012

East Carolina exploded for 21 third quarter points in posting a 24-14 win at Southern Miss. Justin Hardy opened that scoring barrage with a 55-yard TD reception and he finished the game with five catches for 92 yards. UCF defeated FIU, 33-20, as Blake Bortles was 20-of-30 for 251 yards and two TDs. Tulsa rolled over Nicholls State, 66-16 as Ja'terian Douglas ran for 163 yards and a pair of scores.

EAST CAROLINA 24, SOUTHERN MISS 14
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Shane Carden threw for 171 yards and a TD and East Carolina capitalized on three third-quarter turnovers to beat Southern Miss, 24-14 Saturday in the Conference USA opener for both teams.

The Pirates (2-1, 1-0 C-USA) trailed 7-3 at halftime, but forced Southern Miss' (0-2, 0-1) freshman quarterback Anthony Alford into an interception and two fumbles on the first three Golden Eagle drives of the second half. That led to three third-quarter touchdowns.

After an interception early in the second half, East Carolina's defense held on fourth-and-one at its 16-yard line. Carden took over and led the Pirate offense 84 yards in four plays for a 10-7 lead.

A fumble by Alford on the very next drive led to an 8-yard TD run by Carden. Another fumble on the next possession was scooped up by Montese Overton and returned 16 yards for East Carolina's last score.

UCF 33, FIU 20
ORLANDO, Fla. -- UCF jumped out to a 23-0 halftime lead, and then held off a second-half rally to beat FIU, 33-20.

Blake Bortles completed 20-of-30 passes for 251 yards and two TDs for UCF (2-1).

Darian Mallary had 71 yards rushing and scored twice for FIU (1-2).

UCF was up 23-0 at halftime after Bortles threw TD passes of 4 yards to Billy Giovanetti and 16 yards to Rannell Hall. Brynn Harvey added a 4-yard scoring run, and J.J. Worton had a 10-yard scoring reception from Jeff Godfrey for the Knights' only TD in the second half.

FIU, which had only two first downs and 26 yards total offense in the first half, rolled up 280 yards and 20 points in the final two quarters. Mallary scored on runs of 28 and 4 yards and Kedrick Rhodes caught a 5-yard scoring pass from quarterback Jake Medlock.

Most of Douglas' yardage came on two plays: a 67-yard touchdown run to open the scoring and a 73-yard scamper later in the first quarter that set up one of Alex Singleton's two rushing TDs for the Golden Hurricane (2-1). Zach Langer also ran for two scores, and Trey Watts had one.

Green was 10 of 15 for 130 yards, finding Keyarris Garrett and Willie Carter for touchdowns. Tulsa piled up 566 yards of total offense, 333 of them on the ground.

LaQuintin Caston had a 63-yard touchdown run for the Colonels (0-2), and Aldaro Russell caught a 51-yard scoring pass from Landry Klann, who threw for 134 yards.

OHIO 27, MARSHALL 24
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Tyler Tettleton threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns to help Ohio rally and beat Marshall 27-24 Saturday night.

Tettleton, who completed 20 of 35 passes, moved into Ohio's all-time, top five for career passing completions.

With the game tied 24-all with 5 minutes remaining, Rakeem Cato completed a 9-yard pass to Antavious Wilson. However, Wilson fumbled and the Bobcats recovered at their own 21.

From there, Beau Blankenship ran four straight times to drain the clock and Matt Weller converted a 38-yard field goal with 1:37 left to play.

Marshall (1-2) had a chance to rally, driving from its own 25 to the Ohio 27, but Jelani Woseley intercepted a Cato pass to seal the win.

Cato led Marshall with 432 yards and three touchdowns on 44-of-65 passing.

The win marks the Bobcats' first 2-0 start on the road since 1976 and second consecutive season with a 3-0 start.

LOUISIANA TECH 56, RICE 37
RUSTON, La. -- Louisiana Tech rolled up 609 yards of offense to take down Rice 56-37 on Saturday.

The Bulldogs' Colby Cameron passed for 276 yards and four TDs, and Quinton Patton caught seven passes for 119 yards and two scores. Tevin King rushed for 204 yards on 22 carries for Louisiana Tech (2-0), and Kenneth Dixon carried 14 times for 113 yards and three TDs.

Louisiana Tech faced only nine third downs, and they converted six of them.

Louisiana Tech, which beat Houston 56-49 last week, opened the season with two consecutive victories for the first time since 2004.

The Owls (1-2) weren't too bad on offense themselves, rolling up 477 yards -- 277 rushing and 205 passing. Taylor McHargue threw for 205 yards and two TDs and rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns for Rice, which was coming off a 25-24 victory over Kansas.

UTEP 41, NEW MEXICO STATE 28
EL PASO, Texas -- Nick Lamaison threw for 300 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as UTEP defeated New Mexico State 41-28 Saturday night.

The Miners (1-2) scored on each of their first four possessions, jumping out to a 27-0 lead with 10 minutes to play in the second quarter. UTEP led 41-14 before the Aggies (2-1) added two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter.

Lamaison had TD throws of 4, 32, 17 and 36 yards while completing 21 of 32 passes. Jordan Leslie caught one of those touchdowns and finished with seven receptions for a career-high 147 yards. Josh Ball added two short TD runs for the Miners.

New Mexico State's Andrew Manley connected on 20 of 47 passes for 290 yards and three scores. Austin Franklin had two TDs while grabbing seven receptions for 107 yards. Kemonte Bateman had seven catches for 115 yards and a score.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE 48, MEMPHIS 30
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Logan Kilgore threw two touchdown passes and the Middle Tennessee defense forced four Memphis turnovers in a 48-30 win on Saturday night.

Kilgore, who was 22 of 30 for 253 yards, opened the scoring with a 12-yard toss to Christian Collis. The Blue Raiders (2-1) extended their lead to 20-10 after Kevin Byard's 68-yard interception return for a score. Jacob Karam's 10-yard pass to Marcus Rucker pulled the Tigers (0-3) back to within 27-17 just before halftime, but that was as close as they'd get.

Benny Cunningham's 1-yard TD run less than four minutes into the second half, and Drayton Calhoun's 2-yard score nearly five minutes later pushed Middle Tennessee's advantage to 41-17 -the Blue Raiders cruised from there.

Cunningham finished with two touchdowns on 57 yards rushing for Middle Tennessee.

Karam threw for 325 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Rucker had 177 receiving yards and two TDs.

(8) SOUTH CAROLINA 49, UAB 6
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Connor Shaw went 8 of 14 for 107 yards before reinjuring his throwing shoulder and No. 8 South Carolina beat UAB 49-6 on Saturday night.

Shaw left the game after taking a brutal hit just after he released a 20-yard pass to Bruce Ellington late in the first half. Athletics officials said the junior aggravated the bruised right shoulder that kept him out of last week's game.

Sophomore Dylan Thompson took over again, throwing a 95-yard touchdown pass to Damiere Byrd that put South Carolina up 35-6 midway through the third quarter.

Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier picked up his 200th college coaching win, joining Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, Texas' Mack Brown and Nevada's Chris Ault as the only active Division I coaches to reach that mark.

UAB (0-2) gained 267 yards but was kept out of the end zone.

The Gamecocks have seven straight Southeastern Conference games next, starting with Missouri next week. But they may be without a few offensive starters. Along with Shaw, Ellington left the game early in the third quarter with a sprained shoulder after a diving 43-yard catch. The status for either player next week is not known.

Marcus Lattimore carried the ball 12 times for 85 yards. The all-SEC back hasn't topped the 100-yard mark in five of his past seven games. But the junior's 2-yard TD run in the second quarter gave him the school's record for touchdowns at 34 and tied him for all-time rushing TDs at 31. Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers held both those marks previously.

Ellington caught five passes for 98 yards before he left with his injury. Ace Sanders had four receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown and freshman Shaq Roland caught his first TD pass of his career, a 30-yard throw from Thompson in the fourth quarter that put the Gamecocks ahead 42-6.

South Carolina's defense still hasn't allowed a touchdown from the red zone. Jadeveon Clowney had two sacks and two other tackles for loss. D.J. Swearinger returned a fumble by UAB quarterback Jonathan Perry 65 yards for South Carolina's first touchdown. He also had a leaping interception that was negated by a roughing the passer penalty.

By the end of the blowout, Spurrier was putting in his third and fourth string quarterbacks. Adam Yates' miss on a 36-yard field goal with 3:57 to go in the game kept the Head Ball Coach from celebrating his 200th win by hanging half-a-hundred on only the fifth opponent during his eighth season with the Gamecocks.

Spurrier has now won 58 games at South Carolina. He won 122 at Florida and 20 at Duke.

The Gamecocks have won seven in a row for only the third time in school history.

UAB's Jonathan Perry completed 17 of 34 passes for 219 yards before he was pulled late in the third quarter. Austin Brown took over and completed all three of his passes for 21 yards.

Jackie Williams caught five passes for 45 yards for the Blazers, who only rushed for 27 yards.

TEXAS A&M 48, SMU 3
DALLAS -- Quarterback Johnny Manziel accounted for 418 total yards and six touchdowns in three quarters, and Texas A&M overcame a sluggish start to beat SMU 48-3 Saturday.

Manziel threw for four touchdowns and a school-freshman-record 294 yards. He also had 13 carries for 124 yards and a pair of a scoring runs.

Texas A&M (1-1) racked up 605 yards in offense and bounced back after losing its Southeastern Conference opener last week to No. 18 Florida.

SMU (1-2) suffered its most lopsided home loss since 2002, when it dropped a 52-6 contest to Oklahoma State.

Chase Hover kicked a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter for SMU's only points.

Freshman Mike Evans had 123 yards receiving and Uzoma Nwachukwu caught a pair of touchdown passes for the Aggies, who are 11-0-1 against their former Southwest Conference rivals since 1984.

SMU's Zach Line rushed for 104 yards for his 17th career 100-yard game. That is second all-time in school history behind NFL great Eric Dickerson.

Texas A&M running back Christine Michael, who rushed for 899 yards in 2011, and safety Steven Campbell were suspended for the game for violating team rules. The suspensions were made known just before kickoff.

Against Florida, Manziel became the Aggies' first freshman starting quarterback in an opener since 1944.

Texas A&M started slow Saturday after a shaky second half against the Gators. The Aggies punted three times in the first quarter and failed on fourth-and-2 from the SMU 34.

Texas A&M's Taylor Bertolet missed a 23-yard field goal before Manziel and the offense put up 20 straight points to close out the first half.

Manziel found Ryan Swope for a 29-yard touchdown pass midway through second quarter.

The dual-threat quarterback then used his running ability two drives later when he scampered up the middle for a 48-yard TD. On the extra point, SMU's Margus Hunt blocked his 16th career kick -- which is second all-time in NCAA history.

The 6-foot-8 Hunt set the NCAA record last weekend by blocking his ninth career field goal.

The Aggies stretched their lead to 20-0 when Manziel -- who was 20 of 36 passing -- scrambled to his right and hooked up with Nwachukwu for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 1:03 left in the first half.

On Texas A&M's first drive of the second half, Manziel was about to be sacked before he broke free from linebacker Taylor Reed. He scrambled to his left and lofted a pass to Kenric McNeal, who ran in for a 42-yard touchdown.

Manziel added a 15-yard touchdown run and a 12-yard scoring pass to Nwachukwu in the third.

Jameill Showers replaced Manziel on the first drive of the fourth quarter.

Manziel broke the freshman passing record of Kevin Murray, who threw for 280 yards against Rice in 1983.

(22) UCLA 37, HOUSTON 6
PASADENA, Calif. -- No. 22 UCLA showed what it can do on offense in its first two games of the season, rolling up 85 points and 1,299 yards. It was the Bruins' defense that stood out

Redshirt freshman Brett Hundley passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns, and the hard-hitting Bruins held high-scoring Houston in check Saturday night in a 37-6 victory over the Cougars.

"We played outstanding defense tonight except for one play," said first-year coach Jim Mora, referring to an 86-yard run by Houston's David Piland with 4:54 remaining that kept the Cougars from being shut out for the first time in nearly 12 years. "We're still trying to put it all together. But you take a win any time you can get it.

"We're 3-0 going into conference play and that's a real positive."

The Bruins (3-0) face Oregon State (1-0) in the Pac-12 opener for both teams next Saturday at the Rose Bowl, where an enthusiastic crowd of 53,723 watched UCLA dominate Houston from start to finish.

Johnathan Franklin, the nation's leading rusher, gained 110 yards on 25 carries, Sheldon Price tied a school record with three of UCLA's five interceptions, and Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked three field goals.

Hundley completed 27 of 42 passes with two interceptions. Franklin, a senior who averaged 215.5 yards in his team's first two games, moved into second place on UCLA's career rushing list with 3,210 yards. Gaston Green gained 3,731 yards in the 1980s.

The teams combined for 11 turnovers -- six by Houston.

"It's great when you can win a game and have a lot of lessons learned from it," Mora said. "We can't feel bad about it, but we have to realize we have a lot of work to do. That's three weeks in a row we've scored on defense. We'd like to see that trend continue."

UCLA went ahead for good on the game's second play when linebacker Eric Kendricks returned Piland's errant backward pass intended for Ronnie Williams 23 yards for a touchdown. Then Price and his friends went to work.

"You know you're going to have opportunities on the ball," said Price, a senior cornerback. "I had three passes my way and I was able to make the plays."

While the defense might have taken the spotlight on this night, the offense was awfully good as well except for the turnovers. UCLA finished with 29 first downs and 567 yards of total offense and had the ball for 41:14 to just 18:46 for Houston. The Bruins averaged 649.5 yards in total offense in their first two games to rank third in the country.

The Cougars finished with 14 first downs and 388 yards in total offense. They averaged 31 points and 395.5 yards in their first two games.

"This is what we set out to do," said Tevin McDonald, whose 50-yard interception return set up a field goal.

Regarding Price, McDonald said: "He went up and got them all. Coach emphasized all week putting up a complete game. We take every game the same."

Piland completed 28 of 60 passes for 249 yards with the five interceptions. Dewayne Peace caught 10 passes for 103 yards and Kenneth Farrow gained 74 yards on 13 carries for the Cougars.

"I guess I took it upon myself to get out of my element and do more than I did and that's what caused the turnovers and the miscues and everything else," Piland said. "I take responsibility for that."

Playing under first-year coach Tony Levine, the Cougars are off to their first 0-3 start since 2001, when they went 0-11. They were 13-1 last season including a 38-34 season-opening victory over the Bruins, but coach Kevin Sumlin left for Texas A&M and many of their best players moved on as well.

"There were things we did poorly last week we improved on, especially tackling against a great UCLA offense," Levine said. "When you create turnovers, it gives you a chance to win the game. Unfortunately, we turned it over on our end offensively."

The Bruins led 17-0 after a dominant first half. The lead might have been bigger but for three second-quarter turnovers in Houston territory.

The Bruins moved 90 yards on 17 plays on their third possession, scoring on a 7-yard pass from Hundley to Datone Jones to make it 14-0. It was the first career reception for Jones, a fifth-year senior who starts at defensive end.

UCLA appeared on the verge of scoring again before D.J. Hayden picked off Hundley's sideline pass at the Houston 9 on the first play of the second period.

But UCLA forced a punt and Steven Manfro returned it 27 yards to the Cougars 26, setting up a 35-yard field goal by Fairbairn.

Houston was unable to capitalize after recovering fumbles at its 31 and 29 on the next two UCLA possessions. The Cougars crossed midfield for the first time after the second recovery, but Matt Hogan was wide left on a 46-yard field goal.

Damien Thigpen returned the second-half kickoff 55 yards, setting up a 45-yard, six-play scoring drive capped by Hundley's 12-yard pass to Jordan James.

The Bruins committed their fourth turnover midway through the third quarter, but McDonald's interception return two plays later set up a 23-yard field goal by Fairbairn. An interception by Price on Houston's first play following the kickoff set up a 33-yard field goal by Fairbairn that made it 30-0.

Houston reached the UCLA 12-yard line early in the final period before Price made his third interception in the end zone for the Cougars' sixth turnover.

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