News Nuggets, 11.03.03
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...

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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Pirate harrier breaks new ground

Kyle MacKenzie went where no Pirate had gone before. The East Carolina junior finished just ahead of Marquette's Jeremy Williams to win the 2003 Conference USA Individual Men's Cross Country title and Male Athlete of the Year honors.

MacKenzie, from Crystal Lake, Ill., completed the course in a time of 25:07.20. By finishing first, MacKenzie became the first ECU male athlete to win an individual league title in either C-USA or the Pirates' previous conference, the Colonial Athletic Association.

ECU sophomore Caitlin Littlefield earned third-team all-conference honors by finishing 13th in the women's race with a time of 21:48.50.

Read a more detailed story on ECUPirates.com...

College football weekend:
The good, the bad, the ugly

STARS

— Eli Manning, Mississippi, threw for 391 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 20 Mississippi beat South Carolina 43-40.

— Michael Turner, Northern Illinois, had three touchdowns and rushed for 126 yards in No. 21 Northern Illinois' 48-23 victory over Ball State.

— Philip Rivers, North Carolina State, was 29-of-34 for 410 yards and four touchdowns in the Wolfpack's 51-37 victory over Virginia.

COACHING RECORD: John Gagliardi tied Eddie Robinson as college football's career victory leader, guiding Division III St. John's to a 15-12 victory over St. Thomas. Gagliardi is 408-114-11 in 55 years as coach at St. John's and Carroll College.

WORKING OVERTIME: Arkansas' 71-63 seven-overtime win over Kentucky matched the longest game in NCAA history. The Razorbacks also won that game in 2001, beating Mississippi 58-56. Arkansas also played a six-overtime last year, losing to Tennessee, and beat Alabama earlier this year in a two-overtime game. The Razorbacks have played six overtime games, winning five times, since Division I-A adopted the tiebreaker in 1996. Arkansas scored 47 points in overtime, breaking the record of 41 it set against Ole Miss. The 86 combined overtime points also broke the record of 80 set in the 2001 game.

RECORD PLAYER: Texas Tech's Wes Welker set a Division I-A record with his eighth career punt return for a touchdown in the Red Raiders' 26-21 win over Colorado.

LEG UP: Matt Leach became the first Florida kicker to nail a game-winner against Georgia since 1967, hitting a 33-yard field goal with 33 seconds remaining in the Gators' 16-13 win over the Bulldogs.

SLOW NIGHT: B.J. Symons failed to throw for at least 400 yards for the first time in eight games in Texas Tech's 26-21 victory over Colorado. Symons was 30-of-51 for 399 yards and a season-low one touchdown pass. He threw five interceptions.

SHUTOUT: Notre Dame was held scoreless at home for the first time since 1978, losing to Florida State 37-0. The Irish have been shut out twice in a season for first time since 1960.

SNAPPED: No. 10 Virginia Tech snapped No. 2 Miami's 39-game regular season winning streak and its 27-game winning streak in the Big East with a 31-7 victory. The Hurricanes hadn't lost in league play since 1999 against the Hokies. Saturday's win was Virginia Tech's first in 40 games against teams ranked No. 8 or higher. ... Tulsa snapped a 17-game road losing streak, beating Texas-El Paso 56-28. Last season, Tulsa beat UTEP to end a 17-game losing streak.

STREAKING: Mississippi improved to 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference for the first time since 1963 with a 43-40 win over South Carolina.

SLUMPING: Penn State has its first five-game losing streak since Joe Paterno came to State College as an assistant coach in 1950 after a 21-20 loss to No. 8 Ohio State. ... Army extended the longest losing streak in Division I-A to 11 games, losing to UAB 24-9.

STRONG IN DEFEAT: Matt Schaub was 41-of-55 for 393 yards with four TDs in Virginia's 51-37 loss to North Carolina State.

SPEAKING: "I need a hot tub. And we've got one in our apartment." - Chris Perry, who ran for 219 yards and a touchdown on a school-record 51 carries in No. 11 Michigan's 27-20 win over No. 9 Michigan State.

Conference USA standings, scores and schedule

Associated Press writers and USA Today/ESPN coaches polls

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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