DeGar Casts Magic Arm at OSU
9/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Jimmie Tramel
Tulsa World
September 10, 1995
Listen to the final eight minutes of the game
Troy DeGar overcame a broken left hand and a brief benching to lead Tulsa to perhaps its biggest come-from-behind victory in school history.
DeGar threw three touchdown passes in the final 5:41, capping scoring drives of 60, 58, and 68 yards, as Tulsa erased a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to shock rival Oklahoma State 24-23 before 31,963 fans Saturday night at Skelly Stadium.
TU coach Dave Rader called it the biggest win of his career.
"I'm glad I was able to be a part of it, but all the credit goes to the guys," he said. "They wanted this win badly, and they got it."
"This is one of the toughest losses I have had in my collegiate career," said OSU quarterback Tone Jones. "We played three-and-one-half quarters, but you don't win a game like that. You have to play four."
OSU led 23-3 with 10:36 remaining.
DeGar, a junior right-hander who played with a cast on his left hand, climaxed the comeback with a 7-yard scoring pass to Michael Kedzior with 16 seconds remaining. Ironically, Kedzior was ruled out of the end zone on a final-play reception of TU's 17-10 loss to OSU last season.
"Maybe last year I was an inch out of bounds," said Kedzior. "And maybe this year I was in an inch. Everything went so quick. I didn't know what the call was, but I heard the (celebratory) cannon go off and all the guys were on top of me and I just have to thank the Lord for giving me another chance in the last seconds."
DeGar also threw a 25-yard TD pass to Jeff Utter at 5:41 and, following Levi Gillen's recovery of James Anderson's onside kick, hurled a 19-yard scoring pass to Marshall Gordon at 4:12.
The comeback was highly improbable because Tulsa had done virtually zero offensively. The Golden Hurricane did not score a touchdown in a season-opening loss to Baylor and did not find the end zone until the fourth quarter against Oklahoma State.
In TU's first nine series with DeGar on Saturday night, the offense managed just 90 yards and six first downs. DeGar took a seat for two series in favor of Tad Jones, then re-entered to help the Golden Hurricane (1-1) avoid its first 0-2 start in Rader's eight years as head coach.
It appeared Oklahoma State would get off the canvas following a 64-21 season-opening loss to Nebraska, but the late flurry sent the Cowboys (0-2) back to the mat.
Rader figures the law of averages finally caught up. Tulsa has been throwing in OSU's end zone in the final seconds of each of the last three meetings, but the Cowboys held on each time. TU's victory was the first in the series since 1991 and the outcome was decided by a touchdown or less for the sixth consecutive season.
For the longest time it seemed that Oklahoma State's two-headed tailback was more than enough for Tulsa and its "one-armed" quarterback.
Rotating Cowboy tailbacks David Thompson and Andre Richardson combined for 223 yards on 40 attempts. Thompson carried 27 times for 125 yards and Richardson added 97 on 13 attempts.
But Tulsa's defense, forced to make a key stop, rose to the occasion and forced OSU to punt following a three-and-out series with just under two minutes left. Fullback Geoff Grenier was limited to no gain on a third-and-one dive.
TU took over at its 32 with 1:41 remaining. DeGar was 6 of 10 (including an intentional spike) for 55 yards and scrambled for 13 more on the winning drive.
Tulsa faced third down just once as DeGar hit Utter for 11 yards, Kedzior for 11 (twice) and Gordon for 16. On the winning touchdown, he floated left, then soft-touched a pass to Kedzior running toward the corner of the end zone.
DeGar finished 17 of 38 for 217 yards. He was 11 of 19 for 153 yards in the fourth quarter. Of Tulsa's 308 yards, 180 came in the final quarter.
"I have never been involved in anything like this," said DeGar. "It is the greatest comeback that I have ever been a part of. What a better way to do it than at home against a longtime rival like OSU. We didn't give up, even when things looked grim in the first half. I'm just happy to be a part of it."
The smallest crowd to watch OSU and TU play at Skelly Stadium since 1964 was rewarded with perhaps the most exciting game in an exciting series
But OSU was in the driver's seat for all but the final lap. The Cowboys outrushed Tulsa 257-75 and held the ball 13 minutes longer than the Golden Hurricane.
Though the Cowboys' tailbacks carried the load, junior quarterback Tone Jones picked spots to shine. He threw a 36-yard pass to Kent Luck for the Pokes' first TD and completed a 20-yard third-down pass to tight end Alonzo Mayes to keep a second touchdown drive alive. His 33-yard pass to Terrance Richardson set up OSU's final TD, which Jones scored on a nine-yard keeper.
When TU scored its only pre-fourth quarter points (a 32-yard Anderson field goal), Jones responded by leading OSU on scoring drives of 80 and 82 yards.
Each team botched a field goal attempt in the third, then Jones led a 12-play (11 were runs), 91-yard drive for a 23-3 cushion.
The lengthy drive figured to be the final nail in TU's coffin. Call it a premature burial.
The comeback gives TU a pick-me-up entering next week's game at third-ranked Texas A&M, which owns the nation's longest current home winning streak. The Golden Hurricane avoided its first 0-2 start since 1987.
-- Game story published by The Tulsa World on September 10, 1995. Special thanks to the Tulsa World for permission to reprint this story.
