News Nuggets, 11.24.04
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NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
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Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
Bowl-bound UTEP eyes winning
exit from WAC
PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
11.23.04: Fox
snatches up BCS rights for $320 million ... Brawl scratches
bowl trips for Clemson, South Carolina ... BCS football
rankings ... AP basketball poll ...
More... |
11.22.04: Cincinnati-Louisville
game to air on ESPN2 ... C-USA standings, scoreboard,
schedule & TV ... Associated Press college football poll ...
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11.21.04: Utah
rout of old nemesis BYU forces BCS hand ... College football
weekend: stars & storylines ...
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11.20.04: ABC TV
backing out of BCS sweepstakes? ... Former Louisville hoops
star dead at 48 ...
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11.19.04: Holtz
paves way for ascension of Spurrier at South Carolina ...
Mountain West Conference bonanza rides on Utah-BYU game ...
More... |
11.18.04: No
separate divisions planned for future Big East ... Old
nemesis stands in Utes' path to BCS bid ...
More... |
11.17.04: National
talent hunt lands 12 diamond prospects for ECU ... BCA
tourney takes on distinct Wolfpack flare ...
More... |
11.16.04: Badiane
joins Heels' Felton on one-game suspension ... BCS football
rankings ... AP college basketball poll ...
More... |
11.15.04: C-USA
standings, scoreboard, schedule & TV ... Utes close in on
BCS berth ... AP football poll ...
More... |
11.14.04: Cancer-stricken
USF basketball player to miss season ... College football
weekend: stars & storylines ...
More... |
11.13.04: Herrion
seals the deal with New Jersey prep target ... Tigers tune
up for Pirates with win over USM ...
More... |
11.12.04: Cook,
Badiane fuel ECU win in final preseason test ... Hard-luck
Louisville big man lost for season ...
More... |
11.11.04: Spurrier
signals desire for warm weather college job ... LeFors leads
Louisville rout of Horned Frogs ...
More... |
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With a new conference on the horizon
and a remarkable resurrection of a previously downtrodden program almost in
the books, Mike Price can be given credit for boosting Texas-El Paso's
football reputation while helping his own.
Already guaranteed a bowl appearance,
Price and the Miners end the regular season when they visit Tulsa in a
Western Athletic Conference matchup Saturday.
Among the objectives of both teams will
be to bid adieu to the WAC on a victorious note. It will be the Miners' and
the Golden Hurricane's final football game in that league before migrating
to Conference USA next season.
While UTEP knows where its home will be
in 2005, the team's 2004 postseason destination has yet to be determined —
an unknown that Price is happy to live with.
``It really doesn't matter what bowl we
go to; we're happy to go to any bowl that takes us,'' Price said after No.
24 UTEP (8-2, 6-1) beat Southern Methodist 57-27 on Saturday.
The victory clinched second place in
the WAC for the Miners, guaranteeing them their third bowl appearance since
1967. It'll be the first bowl since 2000 for UTEP, which is wrapping up just
its fourth winning season since 1970. Saturday's victory was UTEP's seventh
in a row, which ties the school record set in 2000.
Players credit the turnaround to Price,
who took Washington State to five bowl games during 14 seasons there before
being fired by Alabama without ever coaching a game for the Crimson Tide.
UTEP lost eight times by 28 or more points last season before bringing
Price, who lost the Alabama job and tarnished his reputation with one
drunken night at a strip club last year.
``This is a totally different feeling
than last year,'' said running back Howard Jackson, who rushed for 99 yards
on 17 carries Saturday. ``Coach Price has changed the atmosphere and the
attitude here. We're a bunch of winners now.''
Jackson's 99-yard game gives him 1,017
for the season, his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. Jayson Boyd had
122 yards receiving and a touchdown and Higgins caught four passes for 78
yards and two touchdowns for the Miners.
Jordan Palmer was 20-of-27 for 339
yards with two touchdowns and an interception against Southern Methodist.
Palmer, brother of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, has passed
for 2,178 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Tulsa (3-8, 2-5) and UTEP aren't the
only teams playing their final game in the WAC. They will be joined in C-USA
next season by fellow league members Rice and Southern Methodist.
Tulsa wants to go out a winner in a
season that's been a disappointment after last season's second-place
conference finish. Tulsa was picked to finish fourth in the preseason.
The Golden Hurricane, though, have come
up just a few points short of having three more victories. They lost to
Nevada and Southern Methodist in overtime on the road, and then-No. 21 Boise
State beat Tulsa on a 46-yard field goal with three seconds left.
After beating San Jose State 34-24 last
weekend behind Uril Parrish's 229 yards and two touchdowns on 30 rushes, a
win over UTEP would help springboard Tulsa into the new league.
Parrish needs 77 yards Saturday to
become the 11th running back in school history and the first in seven years
to surpass 1,000 yards in a season. Charlie Higgins gained 1,043 yards in
1997.
Tulsa leads the all-time series 7-5.
MAC to sub for Pac-10 in
Silicon Valley Bowl
SAN JOSE, CA — The Mid-American
Conference agreed Tuesday to send a team to the Silicon Valley Football
Classic bowl game on Dec. 30.
The MAC team will take the spot
contractually reserved for the Pac-10's seventh-place team to face a Western
Athletic Conference team. The Pac-10 won't have enough bowl-eligible teams
to fill its spot.
Fresno State has represented the WAC in
all four of the previous Silicon Valley bowl games, and the Bulldogs could
return this season. Miami of Ohio, Akron, Bowling Green, Marshall, Northern
Illinois and Toledo are the current bowl-eligible MAC teams.
News Nuggets are
compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data
published by ECU, Conference USA and its member
schools; and reports from Associated Press and
other sources. Copyright 2004
Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be
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