Monday, September 30, 1996

Former SWC teams take lumps in WAC action
By CHIP BROWN
Associated Press

Texas Christian, Rice and Southern Methodist - newly welcomed Mountain Division members of the Western Athletic Conference - aren't exactly putting fear into their new league.

TCU (1-2) figured to bounce back from a 52-17 loss to Kansas two weeks ago against a New Mexico team picked to finish in the middle of the WAC Mountain Division pack. But the Lobos made big plays offensively and rolled to a 27-7 victory in the Horned Frogs' conference opener on Saturday.

Rice (1-3) also made its WAC debut and got whacked by Air Force 45-17 as the Falcons blew open a close game by scoring 17 unanswered points in the third quarter.

SMU (2-3, 1-2 WAC), which suffered consecutive losses against Utah and Navy late in the game, was never in the game Saturday against Brigham Young, surrendering 545 yards in a 31-3 loss.
Texas-El Paso provided the only victory of the four Texas teams in the WAC Mountain Division.
The Miners' backup quarterback Matt Hickl ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in leading UTEP to a 37-6 victory over Northern Illinois.

TCU, which trailed 24-7 at halftime, simply couldn't stop New Mexico, which gained 471 yards, including 224 on the ground. The Lobos got 111 yards rushing from Lennox Gordon, his third 100-yard effort of the season, and 127 yards on six catches by receiver Larry Brown.

New Mexico quarterback Donald Sellers, a senior from Killeen, was 11 of 15 for 247 yards without an interception and rushed for 85 yards.

The Horned Frogs were led by Basil Mitchell who had 16 carries for 67 yards and receiver Jason Tucker, who had six catches for 153 yards.

"It's my fault," said TCU coach Pat Sullivan. "It's my job to get our kids to execute."
Rice was game for the first half against Air Force, trailing only 14-10 at halftime, but then succumbed to the Falcons' top-ranked rushing attack, which rolled up 373 yards, including TD runs of 41, 80, 16 and 51 yards.

Michael Perry led Rice with 15 carries for 103 yards.

The Mustangs took a 3-0 lead but couldn't stop Cougars' quarterback Steve Sarkisian, who passed for 358 yards, 272 of them in the first half in which BYU scored all its points.

SMU quarterback Ramon Flanigan was hounded all day long, getting sacked six times for 41 yards in losses and being forced to scramble a half dozen other times.

Mustangs' coach Tom Rossley, whose team opened the season with victories against Tulsa and Arkansas, gave credit to BYU.

"We hadn't played BYU in a long time," Rossley said. "We found out where their program is. To me they're the best team in the WAC we've seen, and they're better than any team in the league we just came out of."

UTEP starter Leonard Lilja left the game with a bruised left knee in the first quarter and didn't return. On Hickl's first play, he hit James Polk with a 10-yard scoring pass to give the Miners (2-2) a 7-0 lead.

The Miners gained 292 yards on the ground while holding Northern Illinois to just 11 yards rushing.