Tulsa 31, East Carolina 10

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Paul Smith rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another to lead Tulsa to a 31-10 win over East Carolina on Saturday.<br/><br/>The Golden Hurricane (5-1, 2-0 Conference USA)

Saturday, October 14th 2006, 7:47 am

By: News On 6

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Paul Smith rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another to lead Tulsa to a 31-10 win over East Carolina on Saturday.

The Golden Hurricane (5-1, 2-0 Conference USA) continued its best start since 1982 and recorded second-best final tally of the season.

Smith finished 15-of-21 through the air for 124 yards with on interception. He also finished with 42 yards on nine rushes.

The Tulsa defense, leading C-USA with only 268 yards allowed per game, gave up 241 total yards to the Pirates (2-4, 1-2).

Tulsa took advantage of a fumble by East Carolina running back Brandon Simmons on the Pirates' second possession of the game. It took five running plays to go 29 yards as the Golden Hurricane jumped to a 7-0 lead with 7:44 left in the first quarter.

East Carolina tied it at 7-7 early in the second quarter when James Pinkney slipped through the middle of the defense to score on a five-yard keeper. Pinkney finished 13 of 27 for 92 yards through the air and with seven carries for 34 yards.

Tulsa retook the lead 14-7 with 28 seconds before halftime after driving 76 yards when Smith scored his second touchdown on five-yard keeper.

The Golden Hurricane went up 17-7 on a 41-yard field goal by Jarod Tracy at 8:30 in the third quarter.

Courtney Tennial, who rushed 22 times for 88 yards and a touchdown to lead Tulsa's ground attack, scored on a one-yard dive to make it 24-7 with 12:56 left in the game as the Golden Hurricane offense took 7:37 to go 91 yards on 17 plays.

East Carolina's second scoring drive was spurred by a 32-yard scramble by Pinkney, which was his career-long rush. Robert Lee hit a 31-yard field goal with 11:19 left in the game to make it 24-10.

Tulsa's final score came on a seven-yard pass from Smith to Ryan Bugg with 5:49 left in the game.