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UTEP
Tulsa Football Falls To UTEP, 40-7
10/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 7, 2000
By KELLY KURT
Associated Press Writer
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Rocky Perez threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and Sherman Austin ran for 131 yards and a TD as Texas-El Paso beat Tulsa 40-7 on Saturday night.
UTEP (4-2, 3-0 Western Athletic) scored on its first five possessions, with two of those drives set up by interceptions.
Tulsa (3-3, 2-1) didn't score until the fourth quarter. Tulsa, which beat UTEP 43-19 last year, never even got close enough to test the kicking game that had given it recent success and left it playing UTEP for first place in the WAC.
The Miners built a 17-0 first-quarter lead and turned Tulsa's turnovers to its advantage.
On the first, Perez ended a 72-yard drive with a 10-yard pass to a wide-open Lee Mays in Tulsa's end zone. It was Mays' 20th touchdown reception of his career, which tied a school record.
After another first-half interception, Austin raced 69 yards unchallenged up the middle for a TD.
UTEP's other points came on drives of eight and nine plays and Ricky Bishop's two field goals.
Tulsa's Josh Blankenship, who had averaged 213 yards passing, completed only 7 of 16 passes for 76 yards before being replaced by Michael Wall just before the half.
Wall didn't fare much better, and Blankenship returned in the fourth quarter and managed a 49-yard pass to Andrew LeCrone that set up Ken Bohanon for a 4-yard touchdown run. Tulsa escaped a shutout but could do little more than that.
Tulsa's defense, which hadn't given up a first-half touchdown in its last three games, allowed UTEP to build a 27-0 first-half lead and gain a total 468 yards on offense.
With the victory, UTEP expanded its winning streak to three games and ended Tulsa's streak at three. The Miners have a winning record through six games for the first time since 1991.
