Pirates slip past Green Wave
BY Associated Press
Sunday, November 18, 2012
11/18/12 at 6:51 AM
Shane Carden's second touchdown pass of the game, with 4:29 remaining, gave East Carolina some breathing room in a tight 28-23 Conference USA victory over Tulane on Saturday in New Orleans.
The Pirates (7-4, 6-1 C-USA), who moved into a first-place tie with Central Florida 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 scoring pass from Ryan Griffin to Wilson Van Hooser after a 73-yard drive, but East Carolina ran out the final 1:22.
Griffin completed 36-of-57 passes for 293 yards two touchdowns, with Ryan Grant making 10 of the receptions for 94 yards.
Cairo Santos kicked three field goals for the Green Wave and is 20-for-20 on the season.
Cato, Marshall hold off Houston 44-41: In Huntington, W.Va., Rakeem Cato threw three touchdowns and ran for another and Marshall held off Houston's furious fourth quarter rally to beat the Cougars.
Cato completed 32-of-50 passes for 377 yards.
Marshall (5-6, 4-3) led 31-10 at halftime behind Cato's three touchdown passes and a 69-yard rushing touchdown from Kevin Grooms.
Cato's 5-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter extended Marshall's lead to 38-17, but Crawford Jones threw three touchdowns - all within a seven-minute span - to tie the game, 38-38, with 10:47 left to play.
Matt Hogan converted a 28-yard field goal for Houston (4-7, 3-4) 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 left.
Jermaine Holmes had 16 tackles for Marshall.
Rice keeps bowl hopes alive: In Houston, Taylor McHargue threw two touchdown passes and Chris Boswell kicked five field goals, three from longer than 50 yards, as Rice beat SMU 36-14.
McHargue, who finished with 297 yards passing, ran for another TD for the Owls (5-6, 3-4), who can qualify for a bowl bid by winning at UTEP next week. McHargue hit Vance McDonald for a 19-yard TD and Donte Moore for a 7-yard score.
Boswell, a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award for the top college kicker, made field goals from 56, 51, 43, 53 and 28 yards. He missed from 44. The junior has five field goals of 50-plus yards this season and 10 in his career.
Zach Line ran for both touchdowns for the Mustangs (5-6, 4-3), finishing with 94 yards rushing. Darius Johnson caught six passes for 153 yards for SMU, which can qualify for a bowl by beating Tulsa next week.
Memphis rips UAB: In Birmingham, Ala., Brandon Hayes ran for 127 yards and three scores and Jacob Karam lobbed three touchdown passes as Memphis routed Alabama-Birmingham 46-9.
Hayes kicked off the scoring just over six minutes in, capping a 66-yard drive with a 7-yard TD run. The Tigers (3-8, 3-4) led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Blazers (3-8, 2-5) managed just 26 yards on the ground and 213 total.
