Tulsa is too tough for Texas El Paso

Chris Chamberlain thwarted a fake field-goal attempt and returned an interception for a touchdown to help Tulsa overcome a 14-point, second-half deficit for a 30-20 victory over visiting Texas El Paso on Friday night.

Alain Karatepeyan hit UTEP quarterback Jordan Palmer as he tried to throw to Johnnie Lee Higgins Jr. on the first play of the fourth quarter, and Chamberlain ran back the interception 25 yards for his first touchdown.

Courtney Tennial scored from a yard out to stretch Tulsa’s lead to 30-20 with 8:40 to play, and the Golden Hurricane, 7-1 overall, 4-0 in Conference USA, held on to win six consecutive games for the first time since 1991.

Higgins, the No. 4 receiver in the nation entering the game, caught a 69-yard touchdown pass from Palmer early in the third quarter, giving the Miners a 20-6 lead.

Palmer, the younger brother of 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer, completed 21 for 37 for 253 yards, the most this season against Tulsa’s No. 2 passing defense in the nation. Higgins caught 10 passes for 153 yards.

UTEP (4-4, 2-2) had a chance to take control after Marcus Thomas’ 15-yard touchdown run in the second quarter but got only three points off a fumble and an interception on Tulsa’s next two possessions.

Chamberlain tackled kicker Reagan Schneider on a fake field-goal try to end the first drive, and the Miners had to settle for Schneider’s 22-yard field goal after Kedrick Alexander knocked the ball out of Higgins’ hands as he jumped to catch it in the end zone.

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The annual Bayou Classic between Southern and Grambling State will return to the Louisiana Superdome next month, a year after Hurricane Katrina forced the traditional matchup into Texas.

Before Katrina, the Bayou Classic had been played at the Superdome in New Orleans on Thanksgiving weekend since 1976.

Last year’s Southwestern Athletic Conference game in Houston’s Reliant Stadium drew 53,214 fans, who saw Grambling defeat Southern, 50-35.