WESTERN ATHLETIC ROUNDUP : Faulk Gets ‘Only’ 156 in 49-27 Aztec Win

Winless Texas El Paso brought Marshall Faulk down to earth, only to watch the sky fall in as David Lowery threw for 372 yards and four long touchdowns, including three to Darnay Scott, to lead San Diego State to a 49-27 victory Saturday night at San Diego.

Although Faulk ran for 156 yards and a touchdown in 30 carries, it was his second-lowest total of the year. He was held to 118 yards in 23 carries by UCLA three weeks ago.

The Miners, missing two suspended starters from a defense ranked 77th in the country, couldn’t prevent Faulk’s 11th consecutive 100-yard game, but did prevent him from breaking any of his trademark spectacular runs. His longest of the night was 21 yards. The nation’s rushing and scoring leader has 993 yards and 10 touchdowns this year.

Faulk, who was averaging 209.3 yards and 13.5 points coming in, scored on a four-yard run 45 seconds into the fourth quarter, then added the conversion run.

With UTEP keying on Faulk, Lowery completed 19 of 34 passes. Scott caught 12 for 274, the fifth-highest total in school history, including scoring catches of 71, 50 and 42 yards. Lowery also threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Maxwell.

San Diego State improved to 3-1-1 overall and, with Utah losing, 24-7, to New Mexico, took over the Western Athletic Conference lead at 3-0. UTEP (0-6, 0-4) has lost eight straight games.

Colorado State 32, Air Force 28--It wasn’t a defensive struggle, but Colorado State Coach Earle Bruce credited his defense with the Rams’ WAC victory at Air Force Academy, Colo.

“Our offense gave them two touchdowns,” Bruce said. “We really put our defense in a tough position. Our defense did a great job.”

Backup fullback Geoff Grenier scored on a seven-yard run for the go-ahead score for Colorado State midway through the fourth quarter. Then the defense turned back the Air Force on three consecutive possessions to preserve the victory.

The victory raised Colorado State to 3-4 and 2-2 and dropped Air Force to 5-2 and 3-2.

Grenier, a 232-pound backup fullback, scored the winning touchdown with 8:36 left in the game just three plays after strong safety Raymond Jackson intercepted a pitch by Air Force quarterback Jarvis Baker on the Falcons’ 10-yard-line.

Brigham Young 31, Wyoming 28--The Cowboys showed the emotion and enjoyed the momentum in the first half at Laramie, Wyo., but the Cougars stole both in the second with a come-from-behind WAC victory.

“I was really pleased with the way our team played in the second half,” Cougar Coach LaVell Edwards said after his team overcame a 21-7 halftime deficit to improve to 4-3 and 3-2. “I think the difference was in the emotion and we got our momentum back.

“I wish I could bottle those two things up and sell them.”

Cougar quarterback Ryan Hancock directed his team’s first come-from-behind victory of the season, passing for 408 yards and three touchdowns.

“The first half was a blur,” he said. “We had stuff there, I just don’t know what happened. It was only a 50% effort.”

Wyoming (1-2, 3-4) was almost flawless offensively and defensively in the first half. While Hughes picked apart Brigham Young’s defense with short passes that set up two deep throws to Ryan Yarborough, the Cowboy defense smothered the Cougars’ vaunted running game, allowing only 14 yards while yielding 191 passing yards.

Hughes’ first deep pass to Yarborough, a 40-yard completion down the left sideline, brought Wyoming to the three-yard line. On first-and-goal, Dwight Driver took the ball through the right side of the line for a score that gave the Cowboys a 7-0 lead.

A fumbled pass by Wyoming’s Eric Edmond led to BYU’s only score of the half. The Cougars recovered the ball at Wyoming’s 43-yard line and seven plays later quarterback Hancock threw six yards to Eric Drage for the score.

New Mexico 24, Utah 7--Stoney Case completed 15 of 21 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a fourth-quarter score as the Lobos (2-5, 1-3) upset the Utes (4-2, 2-1), who had won four straight after losing to Nebraska in their season opener.

The Lobos, who had lost fourth-quarter leads to Air Force and Wyoming in recent weeks, did not commit a turnover for the first time since 1988 and came up with a pair of goal-line stands that proved to be the difference.

Utah came into the game averaging 40 points.