Tulsa Notes vs. UL-Monroe
8/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Captains for TU were Chris Chamberlain, Nelson Coleman, Steve Craver, Kyle Grooms and Paul Smith
Nelson Coleman and Paul Smith started their 27th straight game
Tulsa's offense saw five players see their first collegiate start- Dion Toliver, Cameron Clemons, Rod Thomas, Curt Puckett and Jacob Frank. The defense also had George Clinkscale and Charles Davis make their first collegiate starts.
Cameron Clemons surpassed last season's reception and yardage total by the third quarter. In 2006, Clemons caught one pass for four yards. During TU's first offensive series of the second half, Clemons caught a two passes for 14 yards. On the game Clemons caught five passes for 55 yards.
Senior Paul Smith threw his 37th career touchdown pass to move into sole possession of third place on the TU all-time chart. Entering the contest Smith was tied with former James Kilian with 36 career touchdown passes.
Freshman Charles Clay caught six passes in the first quarter for 84 yards. For the game, Clay caught eight passes for 92 yards.
Junior Tarrion Adams scored his fourth receiving career touchdown and 11th rushing career touchdown, with a pair of TDs in the first quarter. It was his fifth career multiple touchdown game. As a freshman, he had two rushing TDs against East Carolina, in addition to a rushing and a receiving touchdown against Tulane. In the 2005 Conference USA Championship Game against UCF, he recorded a pair of rushing touchdowns and a receiving score. In 2006, Adams posted a rushing and a receiving talley against Stephen F. Austin in the season opener.
Since Tulsa has been a member of Conference USA in 2005, the Golden Hurricane has played before a national television audience 11 times. It was the seventh time to play on the ESPN networks.
True freshman A.J. Whitmore made the most of his first collegiate catch. The 15-yard reception for a touchdown gave TU a 21-17 lead with 9:41 left in the third quarter.
True freshman Trae Johnson made the most of his second collegiate play. The Grand Prairie, Texas native caught a 41-yard touchdown pass with 6:24 left in the third quarter to give TU a 28-17 lead.
Tulsa's youth movement made a big impact on the game. True freshmen Charles Clay, Trae Johnson, A.J. Whitmore and red-shirt freshman Jamad Williams accounted for 213 of Tulsa's 523 yards on offense or 41-percent. Williams also recorded 74 return yards on three kick off returns.
Senior Paul Smith's three touchdown performance is his fifth career game with three TD passes. It is his 11th career game with two or more passing touchdowns. His 307 yards passing is his second-best performance of his career. Last season against Rice, Smith threw for a career-high 308 yards.
Senior Paul Smith punted twice on the night for 85 yards. Both kicks were downed inside the 10-yard line. His first kick, in the first quarter, went for 43 yards and was downed at the ULM seven yard line. In the fourth quarter, Smith punted a 42-yard kick that was downed at the ULM four yard line. Last season, three of his four punts were down inside the opponent's 20-yard line as well.
Junior Tarrion Adams went over a 1,000 yards career rushing with 129 yards on 28 carries against the Warhawks. He now has 1,032 yard career yards rushing. It was his third game with over 100-yards rushing as well. The 129 yards also set a new single-game career mark for Adams.
Senior Steve Craver was put in charge of handling The Rock during the weekend. He responded with a team-high eight tackles.
