Tulsa
3-4 , 0-3
Memphis
7-0 , 3-0
Tulsa Falls to No. 17 Memphis, 66-42
10/23/2015 11:38:00 PM | Football
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ESPN Highlight of Hail Mary TD Pass
TULSA, Okla. –– No. 17 Memphis pulled away from Tulsa in the second half to claim a 66-42 American Athletic Conference win Friday night in front of a Homecoming crowd of 20,216 at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
Trailing 42-21 early in the third quarter, the Golden Hurricane (3-4, 0-3 American) scored 14 straight points to close the gap to 42-35 with 9:30 to play in the third quarter. Memphis (7-0, 3-0 American) then scored 17 consecutive points to make the score 59-35 with 12:39 remaining.
"I thought our guys played extremely hard," Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery said. "We have to find ways to win those types of football games. I mean, we got an opportunity right there in the third quarter where we got a couple big plays in there that kind of could have set it on fire. And then we just let it get out of control there a little bit right after that."
Tulsa compiled 534 yards of offense, including 421 passing yards by junior quarterback Dane Evans. He completed 24-of-36 passes and tossed four touchdowns, three of which went to senior receiver Keyarris Garrett. Garrett set an American Athletic Conference record and career-high with 268 yards on 14 catches.
"He was special tonight and we needed him to be special," Montgomery said of Garrett's performance. "I talked to him after last week's game, and just told him, hey, I've got to have more out of you. It's been tough on him with the loss of Keevan. Those two are so close. But I thought tonight, boy, he played inspiring football."
Junior receiver Josh Atkinson had 99 yards on four receptions, including an 80-yard touchdown catch. Redshirt freshman Ramadi Warren rushed 11 times for 42 yards, and sophomore Rowdy Simon ran seven times for a career-high 35 yards, as TU totaled 113 rushing yards.
Memphis totaled 704 offensive yards, including 447 passing by quarterback Paxton Lynch, who completed 32-of-44 passes for 447 yards and four touchdowns. Mose Frazier had 128 receiving yards on 10 catches and Anthony Miller tallied 106 yards on five catches. Doroland Dorceus rushed 32 times for 138 yards, and Jamarius Henderson had 112 yards on 14 carries.
The Hurricane struck at the end of the first half with a 46-yard Hail Mary from Evans to Garrett. The quarterback shed a defender, avoiding a sack, then hurled the ball to the end zone. The receiver stepped through two defenders and reached out one arm to haul in the batted ball just inside the goal line. The touchdown made the score 35-21 at the break.
Memphis scored on its first possession of the third quarter on a Dorceus one-yard run to extend its lead to 42-21. Tulsa then responded with 14 consecutive points to cut the deficit to seven points.
Tulsa put together a four-play, 75-yard drive on its ensuing possession to make the score 42-28. Evans found Garrett from 32 yards out for their third touchdown of the night. TU took over on its own 20 after forcing a Memphis punt, and Evans found Atkinson open over the middle for an 80-yard score. The :12 drive was Tulsa's second-shortest of the year, and the play was its longest touchdown since the opening game of the 2014 season.
Memphis then scored on its next three possessions to extend its lead to 59-35. Lynch ran for a three-yard touchdown, and then Jake Elliott kicked a 30-yard field goal to make it 52-35. Lynch threw a five-yard pass to Tevin Jones that made the score 59-35 with 12:39 to go in the game.
Simon scored his first career touchdown on a four-yard rush with 7:06 remaining to make the score, 59-42. Memphis added a final touchdown on a 20-yard run by Henderson that made the score, 66-42.
The Hurricane kept pace with Memphis early on, tying the score at 14-14 early in the second quarter.
Tulsa forced Memphis into a three-and-out on its first possession, but the Tigers got on the board first with a 58-yard pass from Lynch to Tevin Jones with 9:50 to go in the first quarter. Tulsa tied the score two possessions later on a 36-yard strike from Evans to Garrett. The one-play drive knotted the game, 7-7, with 6:14 left in the first.
Memphis scored on a 45-yard pass from Lynch to Anthony Miller to take a 14-7 lead at the 2:55 mark of the first period. A five-yard lunging score from Warren on the first play of the second period tied the score again, 14-14. The run capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took 3:04. It was the first career touchdown for the Memphis native, Warren.
On the next possession, Henderson scored on a 10-yard run to give the Tigers a 21-14 lead. Memphis extended its lead to 28-14 on a 21-yard pass from Lynch to Henderson with 6:39 to go in the second quarter. The Tigers made it 35-14 on a one-yard run by Dorceus with 0:53 to play in the half.
After the last-second Hail Mary touchdown pass, Evans had 204 passing yards, and Garrett had tallied 142 receiving yards by the intermission.
Tulsa travels to Dallas next weekend for a Halloween afternoon contest against SMU at 3 p.m. at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPNews.
Team Stats
MEM 7, TLS 0
MEM - JONES, Tevin 58 yd pass from LYNCH, Paxton (ELLIOTT, Jake kick) 7 plays, 91 yards, TOP 2:10
MEM 7, TLS 7
TLS - GARRETT, K. 36 yd pass from EVANS, D. (JONES, R. kick) 1 plays, 36 yards, TOP 0:06
MEM 14, TLS 7
MEM - MILLER, Anthony 45 yd pass from LYNCH, Paxton (ELLIOTT, Jake kick) 6 plays, 87 yards, TOP 1:43
MEM 14, TLS 14
TLS - WARREN, R. 5 yd run (JONES, R. kick), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:59
MEM 21, TLS 14
MEM - HENDERSON, J 10 yd run (ELLIOTT, Jake kick), 7 plays, 74 yards, TOP 2:16
MEM 28, TLS 14
MEM - HENDERSON, J 21 yd pass from LYNCH, Paxton (ELLIOTT, Jake kick) 12 plays, 85 yards, TOP 3:50
MEM 35, TLS 14
MEM - DORCEUS, D 1 yd run (ELLIOTT, Jake kick), 7 plays, 44 yards, TOP 2:31
MEM 35, TLS 21
TLS - GARRETT, K. 46 yd pass from EVANS, D. (JONES, R. kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:53
MEM 42, TLS 21
MEM - DORCEUS, D 1 yd run (ELLIOTT, Jake kick), 3 plays, 53 yards, TOP 0:46
MEM 42, TLS 28
TLS - GARRETT, K. 32 yd pass from EVANS, D. (JONES, R. kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:49
MEM 42, TLS 35
TLS - ATKINSON, J. 80 yd pass from EVANS, D. (JONES, R. kick) 1 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:12
MEM 49, TLS 35
MEM - LYNCH, Paxton 3 yd run (ELLIOTT, Jake kick), 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 3:49
MEM 52, TLS 35
MEM - ELLIOTT, Jake 30 yd field goal 11 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:29
MEM 59, TLS 35
MEM - JONES, Tevin 5 yd pass from LYNCH, Paxton (ELLIOTT, Jake kick) 4 plays, 46 yards, TOP 0:43
MEM 59, TLS 42
TLS - SIMON, R. 4 yd run (JONES, R. kick), 5 plays, 85 yards, TOP 1:00
MEM 66, TLS 42
MEM - HENDERSON, J 20 yd run (ELLIOTT, Jake kick), 4 plays, 29 yards, TOP 2:18
