Pumphrey breaks NCAA record, SDSU wins Las Vegas Bowl

During the week leading up to his final game, Donnel Pumphrey had seemed nowhere near as excited as his San Diego State teammates about the chance to become the NCAA career rushing leader.

Pumphrey finished with 115 yards rushing and a touchdown in San Diego State’s 34-10 victory over Houston in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Pumphrey passed former Wisconsin star Ron Dayne’s mark of 6,397 yards and wrapped up his sensational career in his Nevada hometown with 6,405 yards, earning the game’s most valuable player honors.

Ron Smith returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown, Curtis Anderson caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Christian Chapman, Juwan Washington ran for a touchdown, and John Baron kicked two field goals for the Aztecs (11-3).

Hanses and Sanders hooked up for touchdown strikes of 12, 75 and 17 yards, but the biggest plays of the night came from the Red Wolves’ special teams.

Marcus Cox rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown and Michael Rubino kicked the go-ahead 39-yard field goal to lift Appalachian State to a 31-28 win over Toledo in Montgomery, Ala.

Jarveon Williams ran for 125 yards for the Roadrunners (6-7), who lost in their first bowl appearance in the program’s six-year history.

Hunter Wells fired a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Rader in the end zone as time expired to lift Youngstown State (12-3) to a 40-38 victory over host Eastern Washington to advance to the FCS national title game against James Madison.