Fourth Quarter Rally Leads UTEP Past Tulsa 48-47

Saturday, October 6th 2007, 11:55 pm

By: News On 6

EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ Trevor Vittatoe's 14-yard touchdown pass to Joe West with 58 seconds remaining led Texas-El Paso to a 48-47 come-from-behind victory against Tulsa on Saturday night.

The rally came a week after the Miners (4-2, 2-0 Conference USA) scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tie SMU before winning 48-45 in overtime.

This time, UTEP trailed 37-28 when Thomas scored on a 38-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

On their next possession, the Miners went ahead 41-37 on Lorne Sam's 22-yard pass to Jeff Moturi, who had seven catches for 174 yards. But Tulsa (3-2, 1-1) immediately cut that deficit in half when Nick Henderson picked off the 2-point conversion pass and returned it to give the Golden Hurricane two points instead.

Tulsa went back in front with a nine-play, 72-yard drive capped by quarterback Paul Smith's third 1-yard touchdown plunge of the game. He also ran in the 2-point conversion for a 47-41 lead with 4:34 remaining.

Smith accounted for five touchdowns, finishing 26-of-43 passing for 383 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Vittatoe's winning toss to West came on third-and-11 and capped an 11-play, 76-yard march. Vittatoe was 21-of-27 passing for 319 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Tulsa reached the UTEP 36-yard line in the closing seconds, but Jarod Tracy's 53-yard field goal attempt fell short as time expired.