Tulsa
Oklahoma
Tulsa Puts Up a Battle Against 18th-Ranked Oklahoma
9/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 2005
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Norman, Okla. - Tulsa put up a fight against the 18th ranked Oklahoma Sooners, but fell short 31-15 in front of the largest crowd ever for a Tulsa game of 83,877 at Owen Field. Tulsa dropped to 0-2 on the season, losing its games to a Big 10 and Big 12 opponent. Oklahoma evened its record to 1-1.
Tulsa was able to dominate possession time and the ball for most of the game. The Hurricane ended with a 34:41 to 25:19 possession time advantage, as well as an edge in total offense, 344 to 269.
After holding Tulsa on the first possession, Oklahoma went 41 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead with 8:36 remaining in the first quarter.
Tulsa's Brad DeVault put the Hurricane on the board with a career-long 52-yard field goal at the 11:17 mark of the second quarter. DeVault pulled Tulsa to within one point with 0:05 remaining before halftime with a 22-yard field goal.
The teams went into halftime with the Sooners leading 7-6.
At halftime, Tulsa held a 140 to 92-yard advantage in total yards with 94 coming through the air and 46 yards on the ground. It's the first time since in modern history, dating back to 1943, that the Hurricane has out-gained the Sooners in the first half.
DeVault kept busy in the second half as he converted a 19-yard field goal to give the Hurricane a 9-7 lead at the 5:36 mark of the third period. Tulsa took the ball to the Sooners two-yard line, but couldn't push the ball into the end zone on the 13-play, 83-yard drive in 7:14.
It was the first lead in the series against Oklahoma since the 1996 contest, when Tulsa led 31-24, scoring the final points of the game for the victory.
The Sooners didn't let the Hurricane lead last long as OU scored 1:20 later to take the lead at 14-9 at the 4:16 mark. OU scored three more points to take an eight-point lead, 17-9, with 14:19 left in the game.
Tulsa scored its first touchdown of the game on a Paul Smith one-yard plunge with 9:10 left in the game to cut OU's lead to 17-15. TU's passing attempt for the two-point conversion was too high. The score capped a 70-yard, 13-play drive in 5:01.
Oklahoma responded with an 11-play, 91-yard drive that took 6:06 off the clock to take a 24-15 lead. On fourth down and one at the Tulsa 41, Adrian Peterson scored his third TD of the game on a 41-yard TD scamper. With 0:03 left, OU's Clint Ingram intercepted a Tulsa pass and ran 48 yards for a score, as the game ended 31-15.
For the game, quarterback Paul Smith, playing an entire game for the first time in his career, completed 24-of-36 passes for 246 yards. Tight end Garrett Mills established career-highs for receptions and yards with 13 catches for 152 yards.
