REGIONAL ROUNDUP : No. 19 Virginia Tech Holds Off East Carolina

Virginia Tech got scoring from its defense and the offense defended a fourth-quarter lead as No. 19-ranked Virginia Tech held off East Carolina, 27-20, on Saturday at Greenville, N.C.

Maurice DeShazo scored the game-winning touchdown on an eight-yard quarterback draw with 57 seconds left in the third quarter, then threw a two-point conversion pass to Jermaine Holmes.

DeShazo engineered a five-minute drive in the fourth quarter that kept the ball from East Carolina.

The Hokies’ defense scored 2:51 into the game when Cornell Brown burst into the East Carolina backfield to disrupt a handoff, causing a fumble that Lawrence Lewis returned 60 yards for a touchdown.

But the Hokies, who have always had trouble with the Pirates in Greenville, trailed, 20-19, after Marcus Crandell tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Larry Shannon with 6:59 left in the third quarter. East Carolina missed a two-point conversion pass.

Virginia Tech (6-1), of the Big East, stymied East Carolina (3-3), an independent, in the second half, preventing the Pirates from converting any third downs.

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In a Western Athletic Conference game that had 1,062 yards of total offense, Fresno State (4-3, 2-1) recorded a 38-24 victory over Wyoming (3-4, 1-2) at Fresno. The Bulldogs held a 24-0 lead with five minutes left in the first half when Wyoming starting quarterback Jeremy Dombek was replaced by backup John Gustin, who finished 20 of 27 for 397 yards and two touchdowns. For Fresno, sophomore Richie Donati completed 13 of 30 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns, both to Charlie Jones, who had seven catches for 235 yards. Fresno’s Jerome Oliver rushed 32 times for 165 yards and one touchdown. Wyoming’s Marcus Harris had 10 catches for 260 yards and one touchdown. . . .

Sophomore quarterback Billy Blanton, starting for the first time this season because Tim Gutierrez suffered a broken collarbone against Utah last week, completed seven of his first eight passes and led San Diego State to a 20-13 victory over New Mexico in a WAC game. San Diego State (3-4, 1-3) snapped a four-game losing streak and a string of seven consecutive WAC losses, the longest in school history. New Mexico (1-6, 1-3) lost to the Aztecs for the 11th year in a row. . . .

Freshman quarterback Heath Graham threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as Southern Mississippi (3-4) ended a three-game losing streak with a 43-20 nonconference victory over Southwestern Louisiana (3-4) of the Big West at Hattiesburg, Miss. Graham, who replaced 30-game starter and senior Tommy Waters a week earlier in a 14-6 loss at Alabama, completed 16 of 25 passes for 182 yards. . . . Matt Wells’ seven-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, along with a last-play fumble at the two by Louisiana Tech quarterback Jason Martin, was all that Utah State (2-4, 1-1) needed for a 7-3 victory over the Bulldogs (1-5, 0-3) in a Big West game at Ruston, La. . . . Jason Jacoby returned a kickoff 100 yards for the touchdown at the end of the first half and Solomon White, who finished with 265 yards, broke loose on a 93-yard run early in the second half to lead Tulsa (2-4) to a 44-22 victory over Nevada Las Vegas (4-3) at Tulsa. . . . Marcus Holliday rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown to lead host Memphis (4-2) to a 15-6 victory over Arkansas State (1-6) of the Big West.

WEST

Mike Maxwell threw for four touchdowns and ran for one to spark Nevada (6-1) to a 45-24 victory over New Mexico State (2-5) before a homecoming crowd of 22,142 in Reno. Although both teams play in the Big West, the game didn’t count in the conference standings. Cody Ledbetter led a second-half comeback that pulled the Aggies to 28-24 with 14:56 to play. But Ledbetter, who completed 26 of 46 passes for 301 yards, went out with a broken thumb and New Mexico State was finished. Ledbetter is expected miss the rest of the season.

SOUTHWEST

Jermaine Williams ran for 215 yards and three touchdowns as Houston (1-5, 1-1) ended a 10-game losing streak with a 39-33 Southwest Conference victory over Southern Methodist (1-6, 0-3) at Dallas. The Cougars finished with 498 rushing yards, the most since Houston gained 776 in a 61-34 victory against Rice in 1992. . . . Max Knake passed for 290 yards and two touchdowns and Michael Reeder kicked three field goals to lead Texas Christian (3-3) to a 30-28 victory over host Tulane (1-5).

BIG EIGHT

Jeff Handy threw three touchdown passes to become Missouri’s career leader in that category and help lead the Tigers to a 24-15 Big Eight victory over Oklahoma State at Stillwater, Okla. Missouri (2-4, 1-1) won for the first time in Stillwater since 1980. Oklahoma State (3-3, 0-2) committed three turnovers and had a punt blocked as its conference winless streak stretched to 13 games. . . . Sophomore Mark Sanders rushed for a career-high 135 yards and two touchdowns in 15 carries and quarterback Asheiki Preston accounted for two scores, leading Kansas (4-2, 1-1) to a 41-23 Big Eight victory over winless Iowa State at Ames, Iowa. Kansas (4-2, 1-1) rediscovered its running game after being held to 70 yards in a 21-13 loss to Kansas State and shredded an Iowa State defense ranked next-to-last nationally against the rush. The Jayhawks ran for 332 yards and finished with 458 total yards in handing Iowa State (0-6, 0-2) its eighth consecutive loss dating to last season.