Tulsa Defeats ULM, 34-24

Saturday, October 10

H.A. Chapman Stadium

5:00 pm

Tulsa

3-2

Louisiana-Monroe

1-4

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
ULM	0	7	17	0	24
Tulsa	10	10	0	14	34

Tulsa Defeats ULM, 34-24

10/10/2015 9:17:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Eric Hollier

Final Stats | Notes | Quotes | Photo Gallery

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa scored 14 points in less than three minutes to overcome a fourth-quarter deficit and defeat ULM, 34-24, in front of a crowd of 17,490 Saturday evening at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The Golden Hurricane improved to 3-2, while the Warhawks fell to 1-4 on the season.

Tulsa led 20-7 at the half, but ULM scored 17 straight points to go ahead, 24-20, by the end of the third quarter. The Hurricane then scored two touchdowns in a span of 2:30 to make the score 34-24, and held on for the victory in its final non-conference contest of the season.

The Hurricane ran a school-record 107 plays, totaling 563 yards. Junior quarterback Dane Evans went 28-for-44 passing for 341 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Josh Atkinson was on the receiving end of nine of those passes for a team-high 110 yards. Senior Keyarris Garrett caught eight passes for 89 yards, and redshirt freshman Justin Hobbs had five receptions for 82 yards and his first career touchdown.

Sophomore D'Angelo Brewer rushed 16 times and gained 91 yards, pacing the Tulsa ground attack that totaled 222 yards in the game. Senior Zack Langer gained 69 yards on 28 carries, scoring twice to raise his total to 10 touchdowns on the season. Senior safety Michael Mudoh once again led Tulsa with 11 tackles.

ULM totaled 404 yards, including 231 passing and 173 rushing. Quarterback Garrett Smith went 25-for-48 for 231 yards and a touchdown, and Ajalen Holley caught 11 passes for 113 yards.

"We're continuing to get better. These are the type of games that help you in that process, and so we'll continue to keep striving to get better each and every week," Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery said. "We'll go back and look at this tape just like we do every other one and learn from our mistakes and try to correct them and move on."

After allowing 17 straight points and surrendering the lead, the Golden Hurricane scored 14 points in less than three minutes to regain a 34-24 advantage with just more than six minutes remaining.

Matt Linscott secured the ball for Tulsa with his first career interception at the ULM 29. Brewer then gained all 29 yards in two plays to put the Hurricane ahead, 27-24, with 8:41 left in the game. He gained 14 yards on a run, and then took a pass from Evans and raced the 15 yards to the end zone.

TU recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and took over on the ULM 33. It was the second career forced fumble for junior Matt Hickman, and the second recovery for senior Zik Asiegbu.

The Hurricane covered the 33 yards in eight plays, capped by a one-yard plunge by Langer to extend the lead to 34-24 with 6:16 remaining. The TU defense forced a punt and a turnover on downs on the next two ULM drives to seal the game.

"(The interception) was a changing point of the game. Those two plays were huge momentum swings for us," Montgomery said of the Linscott interception and the fumble recovery after the kickoff. "I thought Linscott showed, again, who he was. Went back to just playing really smart, intelligent football, having his eyes in the right spot, and I think that helped him out all night."

ULM scored on each of its first three possessions of the second half to take a 24-20 lead. A 22-yard field goal by Craig Ford on its first possession made the score 20-10, Tulsa. The Warhawks then scored touchdowns on their next two possessions, each following missed field goals by TU. Smith completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Holley making the score, 20-17. DeVontae McNeal then ran 43 yards for a touchdown on the next drive to give ULM the lead with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter.

Following a turnover on downs and consecutive punts, the TU defense came up with back-to-back turnovers to set up the game-winning scores.

Tulsa started the scoring with a 34-yard field goal by Jones. The kick capped a 13-play, 47-yard drive that took 4:49, and made the score 3-0. A touchdown on the next drive extended the lead to 10-0. Langer scored from the 1 to complete a 72-yard drive that took 11 plays and 3:34.

ULM cut the lead to 10-7 on a three-yard run by Smith with 10:15 left in the second quarter. The scoring drive went 69 yards in 10 plays and took 4:35 off the clock. A 28-yard field goal by Redford Jones with 1:13 remaining in the half made the score 13-7.

TU forced a ULM punt, and raced the 66 yards in just 26 seconds to make its lead 20-7 at the half. Evans connected with Hobbs for a 36-yard score. The Hurricane gained 343 yards on 59 plays in the first half, and Evans had 222 passing yards by the intermission.

Tulsa will be on the road next weekend when it travels to Greenville, N.C. to take on East Carolina at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNews.