Tulsa
Houston (C-USA)
Tulsa Drops Heartbreaker to Houston, 30-23
10/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 1, 2005
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Tulsa, Okla. - The Houston Cougars used a 20-point second quarter to catapult in front of the Hurricane and held off a late Tulsa rally to capture a 30-23 victory in front of 15,580 fans at Skelly Stadium.
The league's second-ranked offense and the nation's 13th-ranked offense gained 476 yards against the Hurricane, while Tulsa's offense managed 360 yards.
Tulsa put a late rally together but as tight end Garrett Mills was heading into the end zone, he was stripped of the ball at the five-yard line, and Houston recovered with 0:42 remaining and ending any hopes for the Hurricane.
Tulsa started the game fast.
Ashlan Davis took the opening kickoff 52 yards, and the Hurricane offense took advantage of the field position with a 45-yard, nine-play drive as Paul Smith threw the final six yards to Garrett Mills for the touchdown.
Houston responded with a 42-yard field goal, capping a 37-yard, nine-play drive, at the 7:06 mark of the first quarter.
With 1:56 remaining in the first quarter, Tulsa's Nick Graham blocked a Houston punt and Kinny Spotwood picked it up and ran 23 yards for the touchdown. Houston blocked the point-after-attempt, giving the Hurricane a 13-3 lead.
The Cougars blocked a Tulsa punt early in the second quarter at the Tulsa 35-yard line, giving Houston the ball at the Tulsa 18-yard line. But, the Hurricane defense held tough, holding the Cougars to a 31-yard field goal attempt that went wide right.
The Hurricane suffered another miscue in its own territory as Paul Smith fumbled at the 12-yard line. The Cougars scored from two yards out, as the drive went 12 yards in four plays to cut the Tulsa lead to three points, 13-10, with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Houston took the lead 17-13 on a 65-yard Kevin Kolb pass completion to Vincent Marshall, capping a two-play, 80-yard drive in just 0:33. The Cougars scored their third unanswered touchdown with a 58-yard Ryan Gilbert run with 2:59 left in the first half.
At halftime, Houston nearly doubled Tulsa's total offense with 263 yards on 33 plays, while the Hurricane had 136 yards on 40 plays. The Hurricane did hold an edge in possession time, 17:23 to 12:37.
On Tulsa's first second half possession, the Hurricane went 45 yards in seven plays but had to settle on a 21-yard Brad DeVault field goal.
Houston took their opening fourth quarter drive 80 yards in eight plays and 2:24 as Gilbert scored on a nine-yard run to give the Cougars a 30-16 lead.
Tulsa cut the lead to seven points with 5:06 left in the game on a 15-yard TD pass from Smith to Ryan Bugg, capping a 68-yard, five-play drive taking just 1:51 off the clock.
For the game, Houston tallied 200 yards on the ground and 276 yards through the air. Tulsa had 283 passing yards and 77 yards on the ground.
