Central Florida’s Smith sets four school records

Kevin Smith ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns and set four school records to help Central Florida beat Southern Mississippi, 34-17, Sunday at Hattiesburg, Miss.

Smith, who entered the game as the No. 2 scorer in the nation, led the Knights (5-3, 3-1) back into the Conference USA East Division race. Southern Miss fell to 4-4, 3-2. Smith, a junior, set the school rushing record with 3,372 yards. He also set marks for touchdowns in a season (16), career 100-yard games (16) and had a school-record 43 carries.

Southern Methodist Coach Phil Bennett was fired a day after the 1-7 Mustangs lost, 29-23, at Tulsa. He is 18-48 in six seasons. Bennett, 51, will finish out the season, the school said.

Colt Brennan threw for six touchdowns as Hawaii (8-0, 5-0 Western Athletic Conference) beat visiting New Mexico State (4-5, 1-3), 50-13. Brennan has 119 touchdown passes, two shy of the NCAA record held by Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer.

Arizona State’s victory over California set up an unexpected game of the year at Oregon, where the Sun Devils (8-0, 5-0 Pacific 10) will play the Ducks (7-1, 4-1) Saturday for control of the conference and a possible shot at the national title. Neither team was ranked in the preseason.