Tulsa
Rice
Golden Hurricane Beats Rice 23-16
9/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2000
HOUSTON (AP) - Donald Shoals returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown and Tulsa capitalized on three Rice fumbles as the Golden Hurricane beat the Owls 23-16 on Saturday.
Tulsa (1-2, 1-0 Western Athletic) converted the three fumbles into field goals by Chris Earnest to give first-year coach Keith Burns his first victory.
Ashton Farley recovered Corey Evans' fumble at the Rice 18 to set up Earnest's 25-yard field goal with 8:21 remaining in the third quarter.
On Rice's next possession, Keithan McCory recovered a fumble by Gilbert Okoronkwo at the Rice 45. Earnest then kicked a 42-yarder to give Tulsa a 23-6 lead with 5:42 left in the period.
The Owls (1-2, 0-1) managed 10 fourth-quarter points on Derek Crabtree's 33-yard field goal, and Ben Wulf's 12-yard TD pass to Okoronkwo with 1:06 remaining
Tulsa's Corey Brown intercepted a pass at the goal line as the game ended.
A scoreless first quarter ended with Rice failing on a fourth- down-2 situation at the Tulsa 5. The Owls drove 60 yards before fullback Robbie Beck was stopped inches short of a first down.
Rice opened the scoring on Crabtree's 27-yard field goal in the second quarter, and Tulsa tied it on Earnest's 32-yarder after Sean White fumbled on a punt return.
Tulsa took a 10-3 lead on its next possession, with Donte Hart scoring on a 3-yard run. A 44-yard pass from Josh Blakenship to Brown moved the ball to the Rice 10 to set up the touchdown.
Tulsa increased its lead to 17-3 with 1:05 left in the half on Shoals' 71-yard punt return.
Rice cut its deficit to 17-6 at the half on Crabtree's 25-yard field goal.
