W. Virginia Relies on Defense, Zereoue to Crush Tulsa, 44-21

Instead of worrying about being upset by upstart Tulsa, No. 19 West Virginia decided to let Amos Zereoue run wild Saturday at Morgantown, W.Va.

Zereoue rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns and the Mountaineers (2-1) forced six turnovers as they handed Tulsa its first defeat of the season, 44-21.

“Tulsa is a pesky bunch of guys. Their offense will give you headaches. We’re awful happy to have won this game, that’s for sure,” West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen said.

EAST

Keion Carpenter had three interceptions, including one returned for a fourth-quarter touchdown, and No. 21 Virginia Tech defeated Pittsburgh, 27-7, at Blacksburg, Va. Virginia Tech (4-0, 2-0 Big East) had to use Nick Sorenson, a safety and former quarterback, because starting quarterback Al Clark was injured last week and backup Dave Meyer suffered a shoulder separation on the first play of the second half against Pittsburgh (1-2, 0-1). . . . Mike McMahon ran for a touchdown and set up two scoring runs by Gary Fauntleroy with long passes in leading Rutgers (2-2) to a nonconference 27-15 victory over Army (1-2) at Piscataway, N.J.

SOUTH

Chris Redman passed for 362 yards and a school-record five touchdowns to lead Louisville (2-2) to an upset 52-28 victory over Boston College (3-1) in a nonconference game at Louisville. . . . Joe Hamilton threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns to lead Georgia Tech (2-1, 1-0) to a 43-21 Atlantic Coast Conference win over North Carolina (0-3, 0-1)at Chapel Hill, N.C. . . . LaMont Jordan ran for a career-high 138 yards and two touchdowns and Maryland (2-2) scored twice in a three-minute span of the fourth quarter to pull away to a 30-20 nonconference victory over Temple at College Park, Md. . . . Brian Kuklick threw for 251 yards and two second-half touchdowns as Wake Forest (2-1, 1-0) beat Clemson (1-3, 0-2) for the first time in five years, 29-19, at Clemson, S.C. . . . Shaun King passed for four touchdowns and ran for one to lead Tulane (3-0) to a 42-24 nonconference victory over Navy (1-2) at New Orleans. . . . Lee Roberts threw a school-record five touchdown passes, three in the first half to Sherrod Gideon, to lead Southern Mississippi (1-2) to a 55-0 win over Southwestern Louisiana (0-4) at Hattiesburg, Miss.

MIDWEST

Billy Malashevich kicked a 22-yard field goal with 1:10 to play to give Marshall (4-0, 2-0) a 26-23 victory over Eastern Michigan (1-3, 1-1) in a Mid-American Conference game at Ypsilanti, Mich. . . . Travis Prentice ran for 227 yards in 37 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead Miami of Ohio (3-0, 1-0) to a 28-14 victory over Toledo (2-2, 1-1) in a Mid-American game at Oxford, Ohio. . . . Eric Flowers rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns as Central Michigan (2-1, 1-0) defeated Kent (2-1, 0-1) in a Mid-American game at Mount Pleasant, Mich. . . . Daunte Culpepper led Central Florida (3-1) from a halftime deficit by throwing three second-half touchdown passes as the Golden Knights beat Bowling Green (0-3), 38-31, in a nonconference game at Bowling Green, Ohio.

SOUTHWEST

LaDainian Tomlinson scored his second of two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to propel Texas Christian (2-1, 1-0) to a 35-34 win over No. 23 Air Force (2-1, 1-0) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Fort Worth, Texas. . . . Julian Hooker caught two touchdown passes and Jay Stoner passed for 303 yards to lead Wyoming (2-1) to a 31-19 nonconference win over Louisiana Tech (2-3) at Laramie, Wyo. . . . Kevin McDougal ran for 117 yards and a touchdown and backup quarterback Matt Newton threw for three scores to give Colorado State (3-2, 1-1) a 38-16 WAC win over Nevada Las Vegas (0-4, 0-2) at Fort Collins, Colo. . . . Kevin Feterik and Drew Miller threw for a combined 313 yards and two touchdowns as Brigham Young (2-2) routed Division I-AA Murray State (3-1) in a nonconference game, 43-9, at Provo, Utah. . . . Backup quarterback Nate Sparks’ 11-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Smith with 45 seconds to play capped a 99-yard drive and gave Boise State (3-1) a 31-28 win over Utah (3-1) in a nonconference game at Salt Lake City, Utah. . . . Deonce Whitaker ran for 142 yards in the second half as San Jose State (2-2, 1-0) rallied for a 37-20 Big West victory over New Mexico (2-2, 0-1) at San Jose.

SOUTHLAND

Jimmy Greninger caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Brady with 8:01 remaining to lift Cal State Northridge (2-1) to a 38-35 victory over Eastern Washington (0-3) at Northridge. . . . Mark Kevern kicked a 29-yard field goal and Fredrik Nanhed ran 43 yards for a touchdown in the final 4:36 to lead Cal Lutheran (2-2) to a 26-13 win over San Diego (1-3) at Thousand Oaks. . . . Bill Poe threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns to rally Hardin-Simmons (2-1) from a 17-point deficit to a 30-17 win over Azusa Pacific (2-2) at Abilene, Texas.