Jan. 6, 2008
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Tulsa GMAC Bowl Post-Game Notes
This is the second meeting between Tulsa and Bowling Green. Tulsa leads the series 2-0. In the first meeting, Tulsa won 45-10 in the final regular season game of the 1989 season, the victory made the Hurricane bowl eligible and clinched a spot in the 1989 Independence Bowl.
This is Tulsa's first appearance in the GMAC Bowl and 15th overall Bowl Game. It's the Hurricane's third consecutive Bowl appearance, the first since Tulsa made five straight appearances from 1942-46 and fourth in the last five years. Tulsa has posted a 6-9 record in Bowl games.
Tulsa's 2007 squad became just the sixth team in the 108-year history of Golden Hurricane football to win 10 games. The 1916, 1920, 1942, 1982, 1991 and 2007 teams all won 10 games.
Tulsa became the first team in NCAA history to have a 5,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and three 1,000-yard receivers in a single season. Paul Smith passed for 5,065 yards; Tarrion Adams rushed for 1,225 yards; Brennan Marion had 1,244 yards receiving, Trae Johnson had 1,088 yards receiving and Charles Clay had 1,024 yards receiving.
Tulsa became only the third team in NCAA history to have three receivers over 1,000 yards in a single season. Texas Tech did it 2003 and Hawaii did it this season (Ryan Grice-Mullen, Davone Bess and Jason Rivers).
Tulsa became the NCAA single-season record holder for yardage by a team's top passer and top rusher, surpassing Houston's QB David Klingler and RB Chuck Weatherspoon, who had 6,237 yards in 1990. Smith and Adams combined for 6,290 yards.
Paul Smith's 312 yards passing was his 14th consecutive game with over 300 yards passing, breaking Ty Detmer's NCAA record of 13th straight games.
Fifth-year seniors Paul Smith and Nelson Coleman each made their 40th consecutive start.
Head Coach Todd Graham became the third coach in school history to lead Tulsa to a Bowl Game in his first season. Graham becomes only the second coach to win a Bowl Game in his first season joining Henry Frnka, who won the 1942 Sun Bowl.
This is Paul Smith's fourth career Bowl game. He played in 2003 Humanitarian Bowl as a freshman, the 2005 Liberty Bowl as a red-shirt sophomore and the 2006 Armed Forces Bowl as a red-shirt junior. Smith is the first Tulsa quarterback to play in four Bowl games.
Senior Paul Smith is now 27-13 as the Tulsa starting quarterback. Smith has career totals of 10,936 yards on 808-of-1292 passes for a completion percentage of .625 percent and 84 touchdowns in 48 career games.
Senior Steve Craver forced his second fumble on the season and third of his career. The fumble was recovered by senior Nelson Coleman, his first of the season and fifth of his career.
Junior Paul Jurado's shovel pass to linebacker Chris Chamberlain on fourth and two in the first quarter marked Jurado's his first career passing attempt and completion. The completion went for eight yards for a first down on a fake field goal attempt. Chamberlain's catch was his third of the season and career, with all three catches coming on fourth down. The other two were on fake punts earlier this season.
Junior Tarrion Adams scored his eighth rushing touchdown of the season. This matches his season-high for rushing touchdowns; Adams had eight rushing touchdowns in 2005.
Senior Alain Karatepeyan forced the second fumble of the first half, his first on the season and second of his career. The fumble was recovered by the player that forced the earlier fumble, Steve Craver, his third of the season and career.
Karatepeyan also recorded a tackle for loss when forcing the fumble, thus breaking TU's single-season record for tackles for loss. He now has 22 tackles for -97 yards.
Freshman Trae Johnson scored his 12th receiving touchdown of the year in the first quarter. Johnson has now scored in 10 games this season. Johnson scored his 13th touchdown of the season early in the second half. The 13 touchdowns are tied for fifth most in Tulsa history.
Tulsa recovered its third fumble of the first quarter when senior Cody Madison recovered a muffed punt by Antonio Smith.
Freshman A.J. Whitmore scored on a 19-yard run in the first quarter. Whitmore now has three rushing touchdowns and four total touchdowns.
All of Tulsa's 21 points in the first quarter came off fumbles. The 21 points scored is the most scored in any quarter in TU Bowl history, the previous mark was 17 points against Fresno State in the second quarter of the 2005 Liberty Bowl.
Tarrion Adams' second quarter touchdown reception is his first touchdown reception in a Bowl game. It was his sixth career touchdown reception.
Twenty-eight of Tulsa's 35 first half points came off of fumble recoveries. The 35 points scored in the first half is the most ever scored in the first half by Tulsa in a Bowl Game. The previous mark was 18 points in 1944 Sugar Bowl against Georgia Tech.
Sophomore walk-on Kyle Young saw his first action on defense at defense end, late in the second quarter. Before joining the football team, Young previously played on the basketball team at Tulsa.
This is Tulsa's first shutout in the first half since the 1945 Orange Bowl against Georgia Tech.
Roger Williams of Bowling Green had a 78-yard kickoff return for touchdown, which was the second kickoff return touchdown given up by Tulsa; the first was an 81-yard kickoff return by DeMarco Murray against Oklahoma.
This was the seventh time this season Tulsa scored over 40 points and for the fifth time out of the last six games.
Paul Smith's 2-yard run in the third quarter was his 13th rushing touchdown of the year and 28th of his career.
Paul Smith surpassed 5,000-yards passing on the season with his 28-yard strike to Tarrion Adams with the 0:26 remaining in the third quarter. He becomes only the seventh player in NCAA history to accomplish that feat. The others are BJ Symons (Texas Tech, 2003), Colt Brennan (Hawaii, 2006), Ty Detmer (BYU, 1990), David Klingler (Houston, 1990), Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech, 2002) and Graham Harrell (Texas Tech, 2007).
Tulsa is the fifth team during the 2007-08 Bowl Season to score 50-plus points in a game and the only team to score over 60 points. Its 63 points is the most points scored in a Bowl Game this season bettering Oregon's 56 points in the Sun Bowl.
Paul Smith's six touchdown effort is the sixth time this season Smith has scored five or more touchdowns. Smith's five touchdown passes ties a career-high that he set earlier in the season against Houston, where he also had six total touchdowns.
Tarrion Adams rushed for 112 yards, giving him six 100-yard rushing games this season. Adams' 1,225 rushing yards on the year moves him to fourth on Tulsa's single-season rushing leaders.
Trae Johnson's 1,088 receiving yards on the season moves him to 10th on TU's single-season receiving leaders.
Senior Chris Chamberlain had 17 tackles in his last game. Chamberlain finishes his career fifth on TU's career tackle leaders with 342 tackles, surpassing Don Blackmon (1976, 78-80).
• Chamberlain also set the school record for solo tackles in a season with 101, breaking the mark of 95 set by Robert Tennon in 1979.
New Tulsa Bowl Records
Individual
Pass Completions - 27, Paul Smith (attempted 45) vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Passing Yards - 312, Paul Smith (27 of 45) vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Touchdown Passes - 5, Paul Smith vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Pass Receptions - 11, Charles Clay vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Touchdown Receptions - 2, Trae Johnson vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Touchdowns - 6, Paul Smith vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Points Accounted For - 36, Paul Smith vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Kicking Points - 9, Jarod Tracy vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Most Unassisted Tackles - 12, Chris Chamberlain vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Most Total Tackles - 17, Chris Chamberlain vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Opponent
Longest Kickoff Return - 78, Roger Williams, Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Team
First Downs - 34 vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Touchdown Passes - 5 vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Passing Attempts - 47 vs. Bowling Green (29 completed), 2008 GMAC Bowl
Passing Yards - 324 vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Touchdown Passes - 6 vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Offensive Plays - 86 vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Offensive Yards - 562 vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Points Scored - 63 vs. Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Fumbles Recovered - 4 (tied 1953 Gator Bowl)
Fifth fewest yards allowed: 229, Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Second fewest rush yards allowed: 46, Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl
Tied for second fewest points allowed: 7, Bowling Green, 2008 GMAC Bowl (tied with Mississippi, 1964 Bluebonnet Bowl
