CUSA Team Updates, Week 12
Courtesy of CUSA
November 12, 2007


EAST CAROLINA PIRATES
The Pirates are bowl-eligible for the second straight season following a 56-40 win at Memphis on Saturday. The victory also kept East Carolina in first place in the East Division (5-1 in league play) and in control of its destiny to host the C-USA Championship game on Dec. 1. Senior RB Chris Johnson carried 20 times for 301 yards and four touchdowns. The 301 yards are the second-most
in school history, trailing Scott Harley’s 351-yard performance against N.C. State in 1997. His 408 all-purpose yards (12 receiving, 95 KOR) is a new ECU school-record. The four TD’s gave him 38 in his career, allowing him to break the school record for career touchdowns. Junior QB Patrick Pinkney was 8-of-16 passing for 105 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for a career-high 94 yards. Sophomore WR Jamar Bryant caught a six-yard TD pass in the third quarter to extend his streak of consecutive games with a TD catch to five straight. Sophomore K Ben Hartman connected on a career-high eight PATs and extended his consecutive PATs streak to 48 straight. Junior CB J.J. Milbrook recorded an interception for the second straight week. The 491 rushing yards produced by East Carolina was the most under Skip Holtz and the fifth-highest total in school history. The 641 total yards was the third-most in school history. The Pirates have scored 30 or more points in five straight C-USA games for the first time ever.

HOUSTON COUGARS
The Cougars posted their fourth consecutive victory with a 38-28 win over SMU on Sunday night. Senior RB Anthony Alridge led the way with 154 yards on 31 carries and two touchdowns. Alridge also threw his first career touchdown pass in the second quarter, a 24-yarder to freshman WR Chaz Rodriguez. The nation’s sixth-leading rusher, Alridge has five-straight 100-plus yard rushing games and 10 for his career. Alridge became the first player since Alois Blackwell (Oct. 29-Dec. 3, 1977) to reach triple digits in five straight games. With two touchdowns on the ground, Alridge moved into a tie with Jason Phllips (1988), Antowain Smith (1996) and Jackie Battle (2007) for second place in UH single-season history with 15 TDs. Up next in the UH records book is Manny Hazard who set a UH record with 22 touchdowns scored in 1989. With 116 receiving yards, senior WR Donnie Avery moved past 1,000 yards on the season, becoming the ninth player in school history to reach that milestone. Avery finished the game with 1,097 receiving yards, the first time during his career that he reached the 1,000-yard mark. Avery also moved past Brandon Middleton into third place in UH career history with 2,930 yards. With 264 passing yards, redshirt freshman QB Case Keenum set a personal singlegame high. He completed 19-of-27 passes, including two TD strikes.

MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
The UCF Knights jumped ahead to a 27-3 halftime lead Saturday and never looked back, beating Marshall 47-13. The Thundering Herd was led offensively by senior QB Bernard Morris’ 239 yards passing and sophomore TE Cody Slate, who had 91 yards receiving. Senior DT Ryland Wilson recorded the first interception of his career and set up a 38-yard Anthony Binswanger field goal to get Marshalls first points of the afternoon. The Herd put a touchdown on the board when junior RB Chubb Small broke a 45-yard run for a score. It was the junior’s third rushing touchdown of the year. Marshall’s two-point attempt failed. Morris finished the game with 40 rushing yards to go with his 239 passing yards. Binswanger tallied two field goals (21 yds, 38 yds.) on the day. Junior WR Darius Passmore tallied three catches for 62 yards, while senior WR Shawn Lauzon had two grabs for 29 yards. Junior FS C.J. Spillman led Marshall with a game-high 13 stops and sophomore LB Mario Harvey also notched double-digits with 11.

MEMPHIS TIGERS
Senior QB Martin Hankins set a new school record for passing yards in a game with 416, but it was not enough as the Tigers fell to East Carolina, 56-40. He finished the game 34-of-60, with the 60 attempts tying the school mark that he set in the season opener against Ole Miss. Hankins threw four TD passes, marking the first time a Memphis quarterback has done that since Danny Wimprine in the 2004 GMAC Bowl. Sophomore wide receivers Carlos Singleton and Duke Calhoun both had more than 100-yards receiving, marking the first time since 2003 that a pair of Tigers players had 100-yards in a game. Singleton caught six passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, while Calhoun grabbed eight receptions for 107 yards and one score. Senior RB Joseph Doss ran 12 times for 40 yards, moving him into sixth place on the school’s all-time rushing list with 1,992 yards. Backup quarterback Will Hudgens saw action at fullback for the first time in his career and had a six-yard reception on the Tigers first drive. The ECU game marked the first time that Memphis has scored 40 points since a 59-14 win over Chattanooga on Sept. 10, 2005.

RICE OWLS
Junior QB Chase Clement shattered the Rice school record with 498 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns, leading the Owls to a remarkable 56-48 Homecoming win over UTEP. Rice survived seven turnovers and a pair of successful on-side kicks by UTEP to take their first win at home in 2007 and run their C-USA mark to 2-3. Three times in the comeback, they had to convert fourth-down plays to keep drive and their hopes of victory alive. The win was the first at Rice Stadium for first-year head coach David Bailiff. The 56 points scored by the Rice offense the most since the Owls joined C-USA during the 2005 season, while the 558 yards of total offense was a season-high for Rice and the most since a 634 in 2004. With a career-best 395 yards passing, Clement moved into fourth place on the Owls career passing list. Clement now has 4,416 career passing yards. The 395 passing yards was the third-highest in school history. With six touchdown passes, Clement set a school record, breaking his own mark. He also rushed for 103 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns. He set a Conference USA record for touchdowns responsible for with eight (2 rush, 6 pass). Junior WR Jarett Dillard has recorded at least two catches in 33 consecutive games dating back to the 2005 season. He finished with a season-high 11 catches for a season-best 168 yards. The 11 catches also match a career-best, while the 168 yards are three yards away from matching a career-high. With 168 yards receiving, Dillard now holds the school record for receiving yards with 2,524 career yards.

SMU MUSTANGS
The Mustangs fell at Houston on Sunday night, 37-7. Sophomore QB Justin Willis was 19-of-31 for 351 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing 16 times for a team-high 51 yards and a score. His first TD pass of the night allowed him to become SMU’s all-time leader in touchdown passes. Willis has now thrown 43 TD passes in his first 20 games as a Mustang and he also already moved up to fifth place in career passing yards with 4,339. With three TD passes, he now has eight games with three or more passing TDs in his first 20 games (there were only nine three-plus TD passing games at SMU before Willis arrived). Sophomore WR Emmanuel Sanders had team-highs of five receptions and 76 yards. He now has 57 receptions on the season (tenth-best in school history) and 103 in his career (15th at SMU). Senior WR Zach Sledge had the first multiple-touchdown game of his career with 51 and 21-yard scoring receptions in the third quarter. For the second straight game, freshman DB Tyler Jones registered 15 tackles and he also had his first career fumble recovery.

SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES
Southern Miss improved to 8-0 all-time against UAB with a 37-7 victory over the Blazers on Saturday night, rushing for a season-high 338 yards as a team. Senior QB Jeremy Young made his first start since the Sept. 27th game at Boise State and completed 7-of-16 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 58 yards. Sophomore RB Damion Fletcher had 15 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown. With 2,378 yards over the last two seasons, he has now rushed for more yards in a two-year period than any player in Golden Eagles history, surpassing Ben Garry, who ra for 2,340 in 1976-77. True freshman RB Antwan Easterling saw his first collegiate action, leading the team in rushing with 16 carries for 85 yards. Junior WR Ed Morgan, who entered the game with just seven catches all season, had three receptions for a team-high 47 yards and posted the first multiple-touchdown game of his career. Freshman K Justin Estes connected all three of his field goal attempts, hitting from 40 twice and a career-long 43 yards once. Sophomore LB Gerald McRath led the defense with a strong all-around effort. He finished with four tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and one forced fumble.

TULANE GREEN WAVE
The Green Wave fell to Tulsa on Saturday night, 49-25. Senior RB Matt Forte’ saw his streak of consecutive 200-yard games end at four, but he did reach the 100-yard mark, carrying 26 times for 103 yards. It was his sixth 100-yard game of the season and the 13th of his career, which is now second in Tulane history. Forte’s scored on a two-point conversion, the first time the Wave have converted a two-point attempt since Oct. 1, 2005. Junior WR Brian King posted his third four-catch outing of the day, which ties a season high, and posted a career-best 91 yards – including a 44-yard touchdown from sophomore QB Anthony Scelfo in the second quarter. Sophomore DB Chinonso Echebelem had a career day against Tulsa with 13 tackles (eight solo, five assists) to go along with a forced fumble and an interception. The pick was the first of his career and Echebelem now has three forced fumbles on the season. Senior DT Avery Williams recorded a career high in tackles for the third time this season, posting 11 stops (six solo, five assists), including a personal-best three tackles for loss. Junior FS David Skehan posted a pair of fumble recoveries in the first half – one in the first quarter and another in the second. He now has six take-aways in 2007 with three interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
Tulsa became bowl-eligible for the third straight year and the fourth time in five years with a 49-25 victory at Tulane on Saturday night. Senior QB Paul Smith became the first player in Conference USA history to record nine 300-yard passing games in a season, reaching the 300-yard mark for the ninth game in a row. He finished the evening 18-of-27 for 319 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for two more scores. His 18 completions went to 10 different receivers with junior WR Brennan Marion catching three passes for a game-high 102 yards and a touchdown, while true freshman WR Trae Johnson had four grabs for 49 yards, while scoring his seventh TD of the season. Johnson, who has 47 receptions for 736 yards on the year, is one of only two freshmen (Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree is the other) that rank among the nation’s top 50 for receiving. With two receptions for over 30 yards in the game, Marion has now had 11 of his 20 receptions on the year covering over 30 yards and 13 catches for over 25 yards. Due to an injury to junior RB Tarrion Adams, freshman RB Jamad Williams saw his most extensive action, setting new career highs for rushing attempts (31) and yards (153). Williams added 38 receiving yards and 38 yards on kickoff returns for 229 all-purpose yards.
Junior Ray Roberts had a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on his first-ever kickoff return attempt. The Golden Hurricane generated exactly 600 yards of total offense, the third time it has posted 600 or more yards this season.

UAB BLAZERS
The Blazers fell to Southern Miss on Saturday at Legion Field, 37-7. Junior PK Swayze Waters failed to convert a field goal for the first time this season when he missed his only attempt, a 54- yarder, against the Golden Eagles. Senior FS Will Dunbar had 12 stops against Southern Miss and continues to lead the country in tackles with his 12.7 average per game. Junior LB Joe Henderson recorded a career-high 15 tackles in the game. Junior WR Sylvester Mencer had his best game of the ‘07 season as he had four catches for 65 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown reception from senior QB Sam Hunt. UAB was held under 100 rushing yards for the fourth time this season. UAB is -6 in its turnover margin the past three games after being +4 through the first six games of the season. The Blazers will play their final home game of the season on Saturday against UCF.

UCF KNIGHTS
Knights junior RB Kevin Smith rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns as UCF beat Marshall 47-13 on Saturday in the first Homecoming game at Bright House Networks Stadium. It was the seventh time Smith scored multiple touchdowns and the eighth time he surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark. Smith - the second-leading rusher in the country going into the game - had 29 carries, including a school record 87-yard touchdown run. He also equaled his career-high with four receptions for 48 yards. Senior QB Kyle Israel completed 14 of 21 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns for UCF. Both of his scoring passes went to redshirt freshman WR Brian Watters. Smith’s 87-yard run came on a trap play up the middle. The run gave UCF a 20-0 second-quarter lead and made Smith the only running back in the FBS with two 80-plus yard touchdown runs this season. UCF freshman Darin Baldwin returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown to complete the scoring. That was one of three interceptions for the Knights, all in the second half. The defense also picked up seven sacks and limited the Herd to 88 yards rushing. The 13 points surrendered by the defense were also a season-low by an opponent.

UTEP MINERS
Rice posted a come-from-behind 56-48 victory over UTEP on Saturday in Houston. The Owls trailed 48-28 in the fourth quarter before erupting for 28 unanswered points. It marked the fourth time in Conference USA play that UTEP has been involved in a game where both teams scored over 40 points. The Miners rolled up 442 total yards of offense. Freshman QB Trevor Vittatoe threw for 373 yards to set a UTEP freshman record for passing yardage in a season. Vittatoe completed 30 of 57 attempts, giving him 2,211 passing yards in 2007. Sophomore WR Fred Rouse was the Miners’ leading receiver with five catches for 100 yards. Senior WR/QB Lorne Sam had nine receptions for 86 yards, and sophomore WR Jeff Moturi extended his streak of games with a receiving touchdown to eight. Senior RB Marcus Thomas, the nation’s new scoring leader, had zero yards rushing on 11 carries in the first half and finished with 51 yards on the ground to end his school-record streak of 100-yard games at five. The Miners scored 17 straight points to start the second period in building a 20-14 lead. After Rice went ahead 21-20 at the half, UTEP scored 22 third-quarter points to take a 42-28 lead heading into the final period.