COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Far West Roundup : BYU Beats UTEP With Late Score

Backup quarterback Ty Detmer threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Fred Whittingham with 4 minutes left as Brigham Young rallied to defeat Texas El Paso, 31-27, Saturday in a Western Athletic Conference game at Provo, Utah.

The Cougars (2-1, 1-1) led, 17-3, late in the second quarter but UTEP intercepted 2 passes by Sean Covey to take a 24-17 halftime lead.

The Miners (2-1 and 0-1) pulled to within 17-10 on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Pat Hegarty to Reggie Barrett, then Richie Wright tied it, 17-17, with a 72-yard pass interception return for a score.

Covey, who completed 22 of 45 passes for 361 yards and 2 scores, threw his second interception three plays later, setting up a 46-yard scoring pass play from Hegarty to tailback John Harvey.

Detmer, a redshirt freshman who took over in BYU’s 24-14 opening game loss at Wyoming after Covey was injured, came on in the second half and completed 8 of 14 passes for 82 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

Air Force 62, Northwestern 27--Dee Dowis threw for two touchdowns and ran for another and halfback Greg Johnson scored three times as the Falcons flew past the Wildcats at Air Force Academy, Colo.

Dowis completed all 11 of his pass attempts for 295 yards for the Falcons, who are known for their Wishbone running attack. Air Force (2-1) finished with 670 yards in total offense.

Dowis threw scoring passes of 35 yards to Greg Cochran and 40 yards to Trent Van Hulsen, and added a 5-yard touchdown run. Johnson scored on runs of 31, 39 and 2 yards.

Wyoming 38, Louisiana Tech 6--Randy Welniak passed for 367 yards and a touchdown and ran for a second score to lead the Cowboys over NCAA Division I-AA Louisiana Tech at Laramie, Wyo.

Welniak completed 21 of 40 passes and directed the Cowboys (3-0) to 31 first-half points and 582 total yards. Tech (0-3) managed only 140 yards.