UTEP 26, Tulsa 10

<br>EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ Wesley Phillips was 20-of-30 for 249 yards and ran for a touchdown as Texas-El Paso beat Tulsa 26-10 on Saturday night. <br><br>Phillips, the son of former Buffalo Bills coach

Sunday, September 30th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ Wesley Phillips was 20-of-30 for 249 yards and ran for a touchdown as Texas-El Paso beat Tulsa 26-10 on Saturday night.

Phillips, the son of former Buffalo Bills coach Wade Phillips and grandson of former NFL coach Bum Phillips, set a career high for yards passing and his rushing TD was the first of his career.

UTEP (2-2, 1-1 WAC), the defending WAC co-champions, outgained Tulsa (1-2, 0-2) 457 yards to 318, picked up 25 first downs to the Golden Hurricane's 11 and led in time of possession 37:48 to 22:12.

Phillips' favorite target was Lee Mays, who caught seven passes for 91 yards.

UTEP took control of the game early, scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions and held a 14-0 lead just 6:57 into the first quarter.

Chris Porter scored on a 22-yard run on the Miners' opening drive and Sherman Austin added a 19-yard TD run on the second possession. Austin led the Miners with 129 yards on 31 carries.

The Golden Hurricane scored the game's next 10 points on Josh Blankenship's 37-yard pass to Donald Shoals, and Chris Earnest's 41-yard field goal.

Phillips scored on a 3-yard run late in the second quarter to give the Miners a 20-10 halftime lead.

UTEP's Keith Robinson provided all the scoring in the second half with a pair of field goals.

Tulsa's Tyler Gooch was 6-of-14 for 136 yards and rushed for 49 more yards. Blankenship was 6-of-10 for 82 yards and an interception.

Shoals led Tulsa with seven receptions for 162 yards.

Tulsa lost rushing leader Eric Richardson at the end of the first quarter with a neck injury. Richardson, who had been averaging 97 yards, gained 4 yards on six carries.