SMU rumbles past UConn; Memphis eligible for bowl

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — SMU has all its running backs healthy and the Mustangs may just rush their way into a bowl game.

Ke’Mon Freeman and Xavier Jones each ran for more than 100 yards and combined for five touchdowns as SMU outscored UConn 62-50 on Saturday.

Ben Hicks threw for 276 yards and a score for the Mustangs (5-5, 4-2 American), who are at .500 for the first time this season.

“We told [the defense], W` e got you all’s back,’ ”

Jones said. “We told them, T`hey can’t stop us. If you can’t get them off the field, we’re going to keep scoring, so we’ll just outscore them.’ That’s what we did.”

After an 0-3 start, SMU is now one game away from being bowl-eligible.

“We got hungry,” Jones said. “Every week we got better. We’re one win away from being bowl eligible, but shoot, we’re still planning on playing for the conference championship.”

UConn stayed in the game thanks to quarterback David Pindell. He threw for 215 yards and four touchdowns ran for 181 yards and two others. He becomes first Husky quarterback to ever to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and the first UConn player to do it since tailback Lyle McCombs in 2011.

Kevin Mensah ran the ball 28 times for 184 yards and a score for UConn (1-9, 0-6).

The teams combined for 1,174 yards of offense, 680 on the ground.

SMU’s first five drives ended in scores and the Mustangs led 31-10 at the half. UConn scored 40 points after intermission but could not stop the Mustangs from answering.

“I’m proud of the team because they didn’t give up,” Pindell said. “They kept fighting and they gave us a chance to win.”

Freeman (116 yards) had first-quarter touchdown runs of 39 and 5 yards and added a 3-yard score in the fourth quarter. Jones (133 yards) had second-half touchdown runs of 52 and 43 yards.

The Mustangs also broke out a few trick plays. Receiver Tyler Page took a pitch, then threw a 3-yard TD to tight end Ryan Becker to make it 24-7. A 46-yard flea-flicker and a one-handed catch from James Proche set up a Braeden West rushing touchdown.

UConn, which has given up more than 50 points six times this season and 49 points in two other games, hasn’t beaten an FBS team since October of last year.

Memphis bowl-eligible: Darrell Henderson rushed for 166 yards, going over 3,000 for his career, and two touchdowns and Memphis became bowl-eligible for a school-record fifth straight season with a 47-21 victory over Tulsa.

Brady White was 14 of 20 for 184 yards passing and two touchdowns. John “Pop” Williams, who had one of the TD receptions, capped the Tigers’ scoring with a fourth-quarter punt return in which he started left, then spun around a defender as he headed to the right and down the sideline for a 72-yard score.

Henderson scored on a 1-yard run and a 9-yarder, the latter on a direct snap. He rushed for 100 yards for the 12th time in his last 15 games.

Memphis (6-4, 3-3) had 499 yards offense. On defense, the Tigers had season highs with 11 tackles for loss and five sacks.

Corey Taylor II rushed for 117 yards and two scores for the Golden Hurricane (2-8, 1-5).

Tulane wins: Tulane held off East Carolina 24-18 for its third straight victory.

Tulane (5-5, 4-2), which had never posted three consecutive victories in the American Conference, won three in a row for first time since 2013.

Cincinnati rallies: Michael Warren II ran for three touchdowns and caught a pass for another score Saturday night, leading Cincinnati to a 35-23 victory over South Florida that kept the Bearcats in the chase for the American Athletic title.

The Bearcats (9-1, 5-1) remain a game behind unbeaten UCF for the AAC East lead.

No. 12 UCF beat Navy 35-24 and hosts Cincinnati next Saturday.