Southern Mississippi a Giant Killer Again

Southern Mississippi turned perception into reality against No. 16-ranked East Carolina.

Long regarded as one of the giant killers in college football, Southern Mississippi had actually gone 22 consecutive games against ranked opponents without a victory until defeating East Carolina, 39-22, Saturday at Greenville, N.C.

Jeff Kelly threw three touchdown passes and Derrick Nix rushed for 171 yards in 42 carries for Southern Mississippi (3-2, 2-0 in Conference USA). The Golden Eagles had lost to No. 4 Nebraska and No. 13 Texas A&M; this season.

Southern Mississippi’s previous victory over a ranked team was in 1991 at No. 16 Auburn. The Golden Eagles also defeated No. 13 Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1990, and in the 1980s, they defeated three nationally ranked teams and were 10-4 against Mississippi and Mississippi State.

Leo Barnes sealed the victory for Southern Mississippi with a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown with 3:15 left.

East Carolina (5-1, 1-1)--off to its best start in 23 years--was playing at home for the first time since Hurricane Floyd flooded the campus and many portions of eastern North Carolina last month.

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Ryan White set a school record with five field goals for Memphis (2-4, 1-0 in Conference USA) in a 38-14 victory at Alabama Birmingham (2-3, 1-1).

EAST

Michael Vick threw four touchdown passes and ran for another, and No. 5 Virginia Tech (5-0, 1-0 in the Big East Conference) scored touchdowns on seven of its eight first-half possessions in a 58-20 victory over Rutgers (0-5, 0-2) at Piscataway, N.J. . . . Devin Scott, who usually alternates at quarterback with Mac Devito, led Temple (1-5, 1-1 in the Big East) on three consecutive touchdown drives in its 24-14 victory over Boston College (4-1, 1-1) at Philadelphia. The victory was Temple’s first at home since November 1, 1997, when the Owls defeated Rutgers, 49-7. . . . Quarterback Mike Thiessen ran for 108 yards and a touchdown at Landover, Md., as Air Force (4-1) defeated Navy (2-4) for the fifth time in six games, 19-14. James Perry completed an Ivy League-record 42 passes in 62 attempts for 436 yards and three touchdowns for Brown (3-1, 2-1) in a 53-30 victory over Princeton (1-3, 0-2) at Providence, R.I. The 53 points were the most allowed to an Ivy opponent by Princeton. . . . Ricky Rahne threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Keith Ferguson and John McCombs’ extra point was good with 26 seconds left for Cornell (4-0, 3-0) in a 24-23 victory over Harvard (2-2, 1-1) at Ithaca, N.Y.

MIDWEST

Travis Prentice had three touchdowns to move closer to Ricky Williams’ NCAA scoring records in two categories, and Miami of Ohio (4-2, 3-1 in the Mid-American Conference) was a 45-31 winner at Bowling Green (2-4, 1-3). Prentice has 66 rushing touchdowns and 426 points--second in both categories to Williams (72 and 452).

SOUTHWEST

LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 300 yards, including touchdowns of 89 and 74 yards, in 23 carries for Texas Christian (2-3, 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) in a 42-0 victory over San Jose State (1-1, 3-3) at Fort Worth, Texas. San Jose State, which defeated Pac-10 leader Stanford last week, got only seven yards in five carries from Deonce Whitaker, the WAC’s leading rusher. . . . Sam Hairston intercepted a deflected pass to set up Mike Clark’s 18-yard field goal with five seconds remaining for Houston (3-2, 1-1 in Conference USA) in a 23-20 victory over visiting Cincinnati (2-2, 0-1). . . . Paul Smith had 141 yards rushing and three touchdowns to lead Texas El Paso (3-2, 2-1 in the WAC) to a 42-28 victory over visiting Southern Methodist (0-5, 0-2). . . . David Neill threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns for Nevada (2-4, 1-0 in the Big West Conference) in a 23-16 victory over New Mexico State (3-3, 0-2) at Las Cruces, N.M.

WEST

Duane James had a touchdown reception and returned a punt for another score as Nevada Las Vegas (3-3, 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference)--with a 35-32 victory over Wyoming (3-2, 1-1) at Laramie, Wyo.--won its first conference road game since 1994. . . . Derrick Ward had 156 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead Fresno State (4-2) to a 44-13 victory over visiting Colorado State (3-2). . . . Brian Urlacher’s 71-yard return of a fumble for a touchdown with 4:23 left was decisive for New Mexico (2-3, 1-0 in the Mountain West) in a 24-21 victory over San Diego State (2-4, 0-2). . . . Quarterback T.D. Croshaw, replacing injured starter Darnell Arceneaux, threw four touchdown passes to lead Utah (4-1) to a 42-0 victory over Louisiana Monroe (2-4) at Logan, Utah. . . . Demario Brown ran for 225 yards and two touchdowns and went over 3,000 yards rushing in his four-season career for Utah State (2-3, 1-0 in the Big West) in a 20-14 victory over visiting Arkansas State (1-5, 0-1).

SOUTHLAND

Drew Miller completed 25 of 37 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns to lead Montana (4-1, 3-1 in the Big Sky Conference) to a 48-27 victory over Cal State Northridge (2-3, 1-2) at Missoula, Mont. . . . Jerome Peterson returned the opening kickoff 57 yards, and four plays later Ryan Helming threw the first of his three touchdown passes for Northern Iowa (5-1) in a 42-21 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-3) at Cedar Falls, Iowa. . . . Dan Blahy’s touchdown pass with 32 seconds left gave La Verne (4-0) a 15-14 victory over Pomona-Pitzer (4-1) at Claremont.