Tulsa World: TU Notebook: Missing

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TU Notebook: Missing

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer
Published: 10/15/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 10/15/2009 6:08 AM

Former Hurricane receiver Brennan Marion was invited to serve as honorary captain, but missed his Tuesday flight from Los Angeles after getting caught in traffic.

Marion is on injured reserve with the Miami Dolphins while recuperating from his second left knee surgery in eight months. He tore his ACL on the last play of the loss to East Carolina in the C-USA title game last December and re-injured the same knee in August while practicing with the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent.

"I was disappointed (about the second injury), but I'm getting a lot of the perks of being a player, so I'm doing OK," he said in a telephone interview.

In two Hurricane seasons, Marion totaled 19 TD receptions and 2,356 receiving yards, ninth on the school's career list. As a junior, he broke a 30-year-old NCAA record by averaging 31.9 yards per catch.

Chief advocate: Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson was carrying the banner for the Broncos, who have an outside chance of qualifying for the BCS championship game, Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif.

"I don't know if they can get to No. 2 (in the BCS standings), but I certainly think they deserve a chance," said Benson, who returned to Tulsa for the first time since TU left the WAC after the 2004 season.

"(The Broncos have) proven that they're not a one-season fluke team (with three unbeaten regular seasons in the last five years), and they proved on Jan. 1, 2007, by beating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl that if given the chance, they're capable of playing on the big stage."

Needing perfection: Finishing 13-0 is probably the only chance the Broncos have of playing in the BCS title game, but it could happen. Only one of their final seven foes has a winning a record.

A look at the Broncos' remaining schedule: At Hawaii (2-3), Oct. 24; San Jose State (1-4), Oct. 31; at Louisiana Tech (2-3), Nov. 6; Idaho (5-1), Nov. 14; at Utah State (1-4), Nov. 20; Nevada (2-3), Nov. 27; New Mexico State (3-3), Dec. 5.

First strike: A.J. Whitmore threw his first collegiate touchdown pass, a 53-yarder to Damaris Johnson on an end-around option play in the first quarter.

Whitmore, a high school quarterback from Nashville, Ark., took a pitch from quarterback G.J. Kinne, rolled right and found Johnson all alone at the Boise 28.

Moving up: Trae Johnson caught his team-leading sixth TD pass of the season in the first quarter. It was the 22nd of his career, tying him for 13th on the Conference USA all-time list with Jeff Moturi of UTEP (2006-08) and Todd Pinkston of Southern Miss (1996-99).

Up next: Tulsa resumes C-USA play at UTEP next Wednesday. Tulsa lost nail biters in El Paso in its last two trips (41-38 in 2005 and 48-47 in 2007).

The Miners are 2-4 overall and only 1-2 in Sun Bowl Stadium this season, but their lone home win was a surprising 58-41 beatdown of Houston, then ranked No. 12, on Oct. 3. Junior running back Donald Buckram ran for 262 yards and four TDs.

For starters: Senior cornerback Kenny D. Sims made his 27th consecutive start Wednesday. Guard Curt Puckett made his 26th consecutive start, and senior linebacker Mike Bryan made his 19th. By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

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