Tulsa
Arkansas State
Golden Hurricane Clipped By Arkansas State, 21-19
9/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 7, 2002
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) - Antonio Warren ran for 193 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for Arkansas State as the Indians beat Tulsa 21-19 on Saturday night.
Warren, a sophomore who sat out last year, scored on runs of 10 and 2 yards as the Indians (1-2) ended a five-game losing skid and extended Tulsa's losing streak to 12 games - the longest in Division I-A.
While Warren's running revived an Arkansas State ground attack that averaged just 66 yards in its first two games, it was the Indians' defense that saved the night.
Tulsa quarterback Tyler Gooch threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to keep the Golden Hurricane in the game. His last throw, a 19-yarder to Caleb Blankenship, brought Tulsa (0-2) to 21-19 with 6:45 left in the game.
Arkansas State then managed only two first downs and had to punt with 1:55 left. The Indians sacked Gooch on three of the Hurricane's final four plays to hand new coach Steve Roberts his first victory in Jonesboro.
On first down, Courtney Todd and Les Echols collared Gooch for a 4-yard loss. After a 7-yard completion, Williams sacked Gooch for 1 and 11 yards on the final two plays to the delight of the crowd.
Tulsa, after recovering an Arkansas State fumble at midfield, drove for a 27-yard field goal from Brad Devault with 7:58 left in the first half. After a 50-yard kickoff return by James Hickingbotham, the Indians responded with a 49-yard scoring drive capped by Elliot Jacobs' 2-yard run.
Warren rushed for 111 yards in the first half, but the Indians' offensive mistakes kept it at 7-3 score at the half. Arkansas State lost a fumble at the Tulsa 5, turned the ball over on downs at the Tulsa 32, lost a fumble at the Tulsa 40 and had a long field-goal attempt blocked on the final play of the half. Arkansas State punted just once in the half.
The Indians opened the second half with a 63-yard drive finished by a 10-yard scoring run by Warren. With Arkansas State in the shotgun formation, a high snap resulted in a safety and made it 14-5 game with 1:46 left in the third quarter.
The Hurricane followed that with a 49-yard drive that ended with Gooch's 2-yard TD scramble.
Warren again keyed an Arkansas State drive and scored from the 2 with 9:04 left.
Tulsa scored its final TD on the pass to Blankenship.
