Fresno St. Uses Kick to Down Air Force

In a game filled with mistakes, Jeff Hanna made the difference with an infallible foot.

Hanna’s career-long 51-yard field goal broke a fourth-quarter tie, lifting Fresno State to a 20-17 upset of No. 18 Air Force in a Western Athletic Conference game Saturday at Air Force Academy, Colo.

“The wind was with me, but I knew the ball flies here,” said Hanna, who is from Alta Loma and played at Damien High in La Verne.

Hanna’s previous career-best was 28 yards.

Hanna’s field goal was in contrast to Fresno State’s inept punting game. Tim Curry blocked two punts that led to touchdowns for previously unbeaten Air Force, 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the WAC, but the Falcons struggled under sophomore quarterback Cale Bonds.

Bonds, making his first collegiate start in place of injured Blane Morgan, was intercepted on his first and final passes of the game. He finished with three interceptions and fumbled twice.

Michael Pittman ran for 105 yards and Jaime Kimbrough had two touchdowns for Fresno State (3-4, 2-1).

Rice 35, New Mexico 23--The defense helped set up three quick touchdowns and the Owls’ option offense put away previously unbeaten New Mexico with a methodical, rally-killing, fourth-quarter drive in a WAC game at Albuquerque.

Rice (5-2, 3-1) ended New Mexico’s six-game winning streak by building a 28-7 lead, then holding off a second-half New Mexico comeback.

New Mexico (6-1, 4-1), playing before a record crowd of 37,156, struck back with three touchdown passes from Graham Leigh to Pascal Volz to bring the Lobos within 28-23 with 14:13 left to play.

But the Owls went 80 yards in 14 plays, with Michael Perry covering the final four yards with 7:47 left.

Colorado State 14, Wyoming 7--In a defensive struggle at Laramie, Wyo., the big play came with 1:25 left in the first half, when Moses Moreno passed to Corey McCoy for an 18-yard touchdown to give the Rams (5-2, 3-1) the victory over the Cowboys (5-3, 2-1).

Brigham Young 17, Hawaii 3--Brian McKenzie rushed for one touchdown and Jarod Dabney ran back a punt 83 yards for another as the Cougars (4-2, 2-1) beat the Rainbows (1-3, 3-4) in a WAC game at Provo, Utah.

BYU Coach LaVell Edwards moved into a tie for fourth for most wins at an Division I school with Paul “Bear” Bryant. Each has 232 victories.

San Diego State 20, Nevada Las Vegas 17--Nate Tandberg, who missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt late in the fourth quarter, kicked a 24-yarder in overtime as San Diego State (2-5, 1-2) ended a five-game losing streak with the victory at Las Vegas.

UNLV (3-4, 2-2 WAC) had its overtime possession stopped on an interception by linebacker Andy Osborne at the San Diego State two.

OTHER GAMES

Omarr Smith returned a punt 84 yards for San Jose State’s only touchdown and the Spartans (1-5, 1-2) held on for a 10-7 victory over Texas El Paso (2-5, 1-3) at El Paso. . . . . Philip Abode returned a blocked punt 41 yards for a score in leading Tulsa (1-5, 1-2) to a 33-22 victory over Texas Christian (0-6, 0-3) at Fort Worth.