Tulsa hands UCF first loss in C-USA play
Win seals home edge for Hurricane
TULSA, Okla. — Cody Green connected with Keyarris Garrett for three touchdown passes Saturday and Tulsa held on to beat UCF 23-21 in a battle of Conference USA division leaders.
The win sealed the West Division title for Tulsa (9-2, 7-0) and gives the Golden Hurricane the upper hand for home-field advantage for the championship game Dec. 1.
Trey Watts ran for 122 yards for Tulsa, and Green finished with 252 yards passing, going 21 for 34 with an interception. The three scoring passes to Garrett went for 70, 20 and 13 yards — the last one making it 23-14 Golden Hurricane with 5:11 left in the third quarter.
UCF (8-3, 6-1) came within two points on Latavius Murray’s 2-yard run with 9:01 to play, but Tulsa ran nearly seven minutes off the clock and the Knights never got another first down.
Blake Bortles was 13 of 31 for 169 yards and a TD for UCF, but was sacked four times.
OTHER GAMES
UTEP 34, Southern Miss 33 at Hattiesburg, Miss.: Autrey Golden returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and the Texas-El Paso defense held when it counted most to propel the Miners past Southern Mississippi.
Southern Mississippi plays the University of Memphis next Saturday at the Liberty Bowl.
After Golden’s big return gave UTEP (3-8, 2-5 the 34-27 lead, the Golden Eagles (0-11, 0-7) responded with an 86-yard drive that cut the lead to one with 2:48 left. Southern Miss coach Ellis Johnson opted for a two-point conversion attempt, but Arsenio Favor’s pass was intercepted by Demarcus Kizzie in the end zone.
Marshall 44, Houston 41
STANDINGS
EAST DIVISION
School Tulsa SMU Houston Rice UTEP Tulane Marshall at East Carolina, 1 p.m.; CBS Sports
C-USA All School W LW L UCF 6183 East Carolina 6 1 7 4 Marshall 4356 Memphis 3438 UAB 2538 So. Miss 0 7 0 11
WEST DIVISION
C-USA All W LW L 7092 4356 3447 3456 2538 2529
FRIDAY’S GAME
Tulsa at SMU, 11 a.m.; FX UAB at UCF, 11 a.m.; FSTN or SportSouth Tulane at Houston, 2:30 p.m.; FSTN or SportSouth Southern Miss at Memphis, 3:30 p.m.; CSS Rice at UTEP, 6 p.m.; Fox College Sports
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Houston’s (4-7, 3- 4) Matt Hogan converted a 28-yarder to tie the game 41-all with 1:18 left to play but Justin Haig capped off an 8-play, 37-yard drive with his third field goal of the day, this time a 45-yarder, to create the final margin with seven seconds showing.
Rice 36, SMU 14 at Houston: Taylor McHargue threw two touchdown passes and Chris Boswell kicked five field goals, three from longer than 50 yards, as Rice beat SMU.
McHargue, who finished with 297 yards passing, ran for another TD for the Owls (5- 6, 3-4 Conference USA), who can qualify for a bowl bid by winning at UTEP next week. McHargue connected with Vance McDonald for a 19yard TD and Donte Moore for a 7-yard score.
Zach Line ran for both touchdowns for the Mustangs (5- 6, 4-3), finishing with 94 yards rushing.
East Carolina 28, Tulane 23 at New Orleans: Shane Carden’s second touchdown pass of the game, with 4: 29 remaining, gave East Carolina some breathing room in a tight victory over Tulane.
The Pirates (7- 4, 6-1), who moved into a firstplace tie with UCF in the league’s East Division, trailed the Green Wave (2-9, 2-5) in the second quarter and never led by more than 12 points.
That 28-16 margin came when Carden found Andrew Bodenheimer from 11 yards out to cap a 79-yard drive that consumed 4:41. Tulane responded with a 31-yard TD pass from Ryan Griffin to Wilson Van Hooser after a 73-yard drive, but ECU ran out the final 1:22.