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News Nuggets, 12.26.03
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Leach earns award in losing cause in Blue-Gray game

TROY, Ala — Butchie Wallace wrapped up his college career healthy and happy, good news for the oft-injured and overshadowed Marshall running back.

Wallace rushed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns, lifting the Blue squad to a 31-24 victory in the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic on Thursday in the stadium where he broke his right hand three months earlier.

``I'm just happy to come back down here and get a win,'' said Wallace, injured late in Marshall's 33-24 loss at Troy State in September. ``All my bad memories here — at least most of them — are wiped out. It's something I'm going to cherish forever.''

Long a Christmas Day tradition, the Blue-Gray game was canceled last year because officials couldn't line up a sponsor. It had been held 50 miles north in Montgomery since 1938, matching college seniors from the North (Blue) against those from the South (Gray).

Wallace, who played for Blue offensive coach Bob Pruett at Marshall, was a late addition to the roster and responded with touchdown runs of 3 and 17 yards in a 3:34 span of the fourth quarter. His long list of injuries at Marshall included a sprained ankle, concussion, pulled leg muscles and back problems.

The Blue squad broke a 17-all tie early in the fourth on Wallace's 3-yard score. San Jose State quarterback Scott Rislov was 3-of-3 passing for 62 yards on the drive, including a 34-yarder to Penn State tight end Matt Kranchik to the 3. Wallace rambled into the end zone again on the next drive.

Rislov, who threw for 3,016 yards and only five interceptions this season, was equally efficient in the All-Star game and earned overall MVP honors for the Blue. He was 16-of-24 for 195 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown to Nebraska-Omaha's Ryan Krause in the second quarter.

Derrick Ward of Ottawa College in Kansas was the Blue's offensive MVP with five catches for 59 yards and 38 yards on five rushes. Syracuse linebacker Rich Scanlon won defensive honors with eight tackles.

The Gray's overall MVP was Cody Spencer, a North Texas linebacker who had a game-high 13 tackles. Defensive MVP was Alabama linebacker Derrick Pope (nine tackles), while East Carolina's 253-pound running back, Vonta Leach, plowed in for two short touchdowns to earn the offensive MVP award.

Leach's East Carolina teammates, defensive tackle Damane Duckett and wide receiver Terrance Copper, also played in the game. Copper had three receptions for 33 yards.

Blue-Gray scoring summary and statistics

Team    1   2   3   3   Final
Blue    0  17   0  14     31
Gray    3   7   7   7     24

First Quarter:

Gray — FG Scobee 37, :35.

Second Quarter:

Blue — Krause 35 pass from Rislov (Azar kick), 11:45.
Blue — Croom 3 run (Azar kick), 7:20.
Blue — FG Azar 28, 4:26.
Gray — Leach 1 run (Scobee kick), 2:45.

Third Quarter:

Gray — Leach 3 run (Scobee kick), 3:09.

Fourth Quarter:

Blue — Wallace 3 run (Azar kick), 11:46.
Blue — Wallace 17 run (Azar kick), 8:12.
Gray — Blizzard 14 pass from McCown (Scobee kick), :23.

A — 10,252.

OVERALL STATISTICS

Team                 Blue       Gray
First downs            20         15
Rushes-yards       39-133      32-92
Passing               300        166
Comp-Att-Int      18-31-1    20-33-1
Return Yards           94        162
Punts-Avg.         4-43.8     7-43.3
Fumbles-Lost          0-0        3-0
Penalties-Yards      5-37       7-33
Time of Possession  31:59      28:01

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Blue: Croom 15-48, Ward 5-38, Wallace 7-33, McGrorty 7-20, Rislov 4-(minus 5), team 1-(minus 1); Gray: Kincade 9-44, Leach 5-28, Green 6-15, King 3-10, McCown 7-10, Kent 2-(minus 15).

PASSING — Blue: Rislov 16-24-0-195, Mitchell 2-5-0-105, Ward 0-2-1-0; Gray: McCown 15-24-0-114, Kint 5-9-1-52.

RECEIVING — Blue: Ward 5-59, Johnson 3-75, Kranchick 2-39, Ghent 2-10, McGrorty 2-1, Thurman 1-49, Krause 1-35, Young 1-35, Wallace 1-(minus 3); Gray: King 4-(minus 6), Whittaker 3-68, Cooper 3-33, Leach 3-27, Kincade 2-5, Blizzard 1-14, Fulghum 1-8, Green 1-7, Fletcher 1-6, Owens 1-4.:

Fisticuffs mar spine-tingling finish in Honolulu

HONOLULU — Michael Brewster's 8-yard touchdown run in the third overtime sent Hawaii to a 54-48 victory over Houston in a Hawaii Bowl game that ended with an ugly fight at midfield Thursday night.

Shortly after Hawaii stopped the Cougars on fourth down in the third OT, several scuffles broke out with some players swinging helmets at each other and throwing punches. Coaches and police broke up the brawl after several minutes, and both teams finally headed to their locker rooms.

It was a wild ending to a thrilling game. Houston (7-6) took advantage of a major clock management mistake by Hawaii (9-5) to tie it at 34 with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After the Warriors blew a chance to run out the clock and missed a short field-goal attempt, Houston's Vincent Marshall caught an 81-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Kolb to tie it.

In the first overtime, Hawaii's Timmy Chang completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Britton Komine, and Houston tied it on Anthony Evans' 6-yard run.

Houston went up 48-41 in the second overtime on a 4-yard run by Jackie Battle, but Hawaii answered with an 18-yard pass from Chang to Jason Rivers.

The Cougars nearly got the victory when they partially blocked Hawaii's extra point, but the ball still went through the uprights.

It was the fifth straight bowl loss for the Cougars. Houston, making its first bowl appearance since 1996, hasn't won in the postseason since defeating Navy in the 1980 Garden State Bowl.

Chang, selected the game's MVP, was 26-of-42 passing for 475 yards and five touchdowns after coming off the bench. The junior moved into third place on the NCAA career passing list with 12,814 yards.

Rivers had seven receptions for 143 yards and three touchdowns for the Warriors. Jeremiah Cockheran added five catches for 162 yards.

Hawaii scored 17 straight points and took a 27-20 lead on a 7-yard pass from Chang to Rivers. Chang entered early in the second quarter when starter Jason Whieldon was shaken up on a 5-yard run. On his first play, Chang tossed a 48-yard scoring pass to Herbert to tie it at 10.

Hawaii coach June Jones did not name his starting quarterback until gametime, then opted for Whieldon. Chang started 11 regular-season games and threw for 3,724 yards and 24 TDs, but was benched late in the season for ineffectiveness.

The Cougars jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Hawaii got a first down. Kolb found Chad McCullar streaking down the right sideline for a 34-yard touchdown on Houston's opening drive. Four plays later, McCullar returned Hawaii's punt 60 yards, setting up Dustin Bell's 21-yard field goal.

Houston drove 88 yards in nine plays and scored on Jackie Battle's 2-yard plunge over the pile that gave the Cougars a 17-10 first-half lead. The Cougars went up by 10 on their next possession on a 35-yard field goal by Bell. Houston had a 20-13 lead at halftime.

Chang threw passes of 12 and 64 yards to Cockheran to set up Brewster's 1-yard scoring run that tied it at 20 on the opening series of the third quarter. The 5-play, 80-yard drive took just 1:37.

The Cougars had six sacks. The Warriors didn't allow a sack in their last three regular-season games.

The game was played on a balmy 80-degree Christmas Day in front of 25,551 fans, the smallest crowd at Aloha Stadium this season.

It was the third bowl appearance in five years for the Warriors. Hawaii lost to Tulane 36-28 last year in the inaugural Hawaii Bowl.

Bowl results/TV schedule for C-USA teams

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16
New Orleans Bowl
Memphis 27, North Texas (Sun Belt) 17
(ESPN 2) 7:00 pm

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18
GMAC Bowl
(14) Miami (OH) (MAC) 49, Louisville 28

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23
PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl
(16) Boise State (WAC) 34, (19) Texas Christian 31
(ESPN) 7:30 pm

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Hawaii (WAC) 54, Houston 48 (3 OT)
(ESPN) 8:00 pm

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31
AXA Liberty Bowl
Southern Miss vs. (25) Utah (MWC)
(ESPN) 3:30 pm

All times Eastern.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2003 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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