SMU Has Exorcised the Ghost

The ghost of the NCAA “death penalty” will haunt Southern Methodist a little less now that the Mustangs have managed their first winning season since 1986.

SMU escaped with a 42-41 victory over Tulsa Saturday in a Western Athletic Conference game at Tulsa, Okla., when the Golden Hurricane bobbled an extra-point attempt with 18 seconds left to play.

The Mustangs (6-4, 5-2) have not enjoyed such success since the NCAA-imposed death penalty for the 1987 and ’88 seasons.

SMU, which started 1-4, won its fifth consecutive game.

Tulsa (2-8, 2-5) was trailing, 42-35, when John Fitzgerald passed to Damon Savage for touchdown from the one. But kick holder Kirk Myrick ended up throwing an incomplete pass, trying for a conversion after the snap went awry.

Air Force 14, Wyoming 3--With its bowl hopes on the line, the Falcons (10-2, 6-2) got the big play they needed when cornerback Frank Staine-Pyne returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown with 28 seconds left, preserving a victory over the Cowboys (7-5, 4-3) at Air Force Academy, Colo.

Wyoming, trailing 7-3 but driving for a possible go-ahead score, reached the Air Force 11-yard line before Staine-Pyne’s stepped in front of Kofi Shuck in the flat for the the longest interception return in academy history.

New Mexico 38, Brigham Young 28--Quarterback Graham Leigh passed for three touchdowns and ran for one as the Lobos ended a 16-game losing streak against the Cougars at Albuquerque.

New Mexico (8-2, 5-2), which hasn’t had a bowl bid since 1961, remains tied with SMU for the lead in the WAC’s Mountain Division and needs to beat Tulsa next Saturday to advance to the conference championship game against the Pacific Division winner.

The victory also was only the second for New Mexico over BYU in 26 years and many of the more than 30,000 fans tore down both goalposts in the postgame celebration.

BYU (6-4, 4-3) has won 19 WAC titles since 1972.

San Diego State 20, Fresno State 19--Jonas Lewis rushed for 253 yards and two touchdowns to lead Aztecs (5-6, 4-3) over the Bulldogs (5-6, 4-3) at Fresno.

Fresno State had a 19-7 halftime lead but managed only 18 second-half rushing yards on a muddy field.

San Jose State 38, Hawaii 14--Dan O’Dell threw four touchdown passes, including three to Oliver Newell, as the Spartans (3-7, 3-4) defeated the Rainbows (3-7, 1-7) at San Jose.

San Jose State intercepted six Hawaii passes, with four leading to touchdowns.

Utah 31, Rice 14--Freshman Darnell Arceneaux passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Utes (5-5, 4-3) beat the Owls (6-4, 4-3) at Salt Lake City.

Texas El Paso 24, Texas Christian 17--Quarterback Rocky Perez ran for two touchdowns and TCU’s LaDainian Tomlinson fumbled twice to set up UTEP scores in the second half at El Paso, Texas, as the Miners (4-6, 3-4) beat the Horned Frogs (0-10, 0-7). TCU fumbled six times and lost five.