Tulsa’s Comeback Bid Against No. 16 Oklahoma Falls Short 52-38

Saturday, September 19

Norman, Okla.

11:00 am

Tulsa

2-1

Oklahoma

3-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tulsa

Oklahoma

Tulsa’s Comeback Bid Against No. 16 Oklahoma Falls Short 52-38

9/19/2015 5:20:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Don Tomkalski

Final Stats
Tulsa Post-Game Notes vs. Oklahoma
Tulsa-Oklahoma Post-Game Quotes
Photo Gallery

Tulsa gave the 16^th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners all they can handle in a 52-38 loss Saturday afternoon in front of 85,657 fans at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. It was a game that saw the two offenses combine for 1,376 total yards and 90 points, while 10 of the 12 touchdown drives ended in a scoring play that covered 10 yards or more.

Tulsa put on a scintillating display in the last minutes of the first half. Trailing 31-10 late in the first half, the Golden Hurricane got back into the game with an exciting final three minutes by scoring two touchdowns in the last 13 seconds, thus going into halftime trailing the Sooners by just seven points, 31-24.

In that span, Dane Evans hooked up on a 28-yard pass to Keevan Lucas with 0:13 left on the clock, capping an 80-yard, nine-play drive that took 1:10 off the clock to cut OU's lead to 31-17. On the ensuing kick-off, which Preston Soper dribbled 22 yards, Tulsa's McKinley Whitfield recovered the onside kick, giving the Hurricane the ball at the OU 43-yard line.

With 0:09 left on the first-half clock, Evans threw a 'Hail Mary' pass down the Tulsa sideline into the end zone, where Keyarris Garrett went high in the air to grab the 43-yard throw for the touchdown.

"We practice the 'Hail Mary' pass every day when practice is over. I give all the credit to Dane because he gave me a good ball," said Garrett. "I told him to throw it up and I was going to go get it. He threw it up, and I caught it."

Tulsa surpassed the 600-yard mark for the third straight game with 603 total yards on Saturday, gaining 427 yards passing and 176 yards on the ground. The Sooners set a new opponent total offensive record against the Hurricane with 773 total yards. Despite giving up the 700+ yards, the Tulsa defense was opportunistic with two takeaways that led to touchdowns.

Tulsa's Evans completed 34-of-51 passes for 427 yards and four TDs, while his main target on the day was Garrett, who ended the day with 14 receptions for 189 yards and one TD. Zack Langer had his second straight 100+ rushing game with 161 yards and one touchdown.

For the game, Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield completed 32-of-38 passes for 487 yards and four TDs, while Sterling Shepard had 144 yards on eight catches and Samaje Perine totaled 152 yards on 22 carries.

"I loved the way our guys battled. They never gave up belief and continued to fight until the end," said Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery. "We made some mistakes that we will go back and correct, but I thought our effort was outstanding and we will continue to get better."

After Tulsa forced Oklahoma to punt on the first second-half possession, the Sooners took its second possession 78 yards in nine plays to take a 38-24 lead at the 6:47 mark, capped by a Mayfield 29-yard pass to Jarvis Baxter. The Hurricane responded with a 10-play, 79-yard drive that saw Zack Langer run in from one yard out to cut the OU lead back down to seven points at 38-31.

A nine-play, 74-yard drive put the Sooners back ahead by 14 points, 45-31, with 0:40 left in the third period.

Tulsa's next two drives resulted in just 25 yards in 11 plays, before the Sooners went ahead 52-31 on a Perine 20-yard run with 4:28 left in the game. The Hurricane kept its no-quit attitude tailing by 21 points, and took its next possession 80 yards in four plays for a TD, as Evans connected with Lucas for a 40 yards touchdown, bringing the score to 52-38, in a drive that took only 0:50.

Tulsa's 38 points is the most against the Sooners in the series that dates back to 1914 with a total of 28 games played.

Tulsa opened the game 3-and-out, and Oklahoma marched to the Tulsa one-yard line, where the Hurricane defense held on three downs, forcing a field goal. OU took a 3-0 lead on the 20-yard field goal at the 12:03 mark. Tulsa took its second possession 69 yards in 12 plays and tied the game at 3-3 on a 23-yard Redford Jones field goal. On the Tulsa scoring drive, Garrett had 44 yards on four receptions.

Mayfield's 39-yard run put the Sooners ahead 10-3 on a seven-play, 81-yard drive, taking 3:05 off the clock in the first period.

Oklahoma added seven more first quarter points to take a 17-3 lead on a 10-yard pass from Mayfield to Joe Mixon, capping a 49-yard, six-play drive, with 1:18 left in the first 15 minutes of play.

On the subsequent possession Zack Langer's 46-yard run took the Hurricane to the OU 17-yard line, but Tulsa had to settle for a field goal that was blocked and gave the Sooners the ball at midfield. OU went the remaining 50 yards in four plays, taking just 1:18 off the clock, for a 24-3 lead at the 13:31 mark of the second quarter.

The Hurricane cut its deficit to 14 points, 24-10, on an 18-yard TD pass from Evans to Josh Atkinson with 6:20 left before halftime. After both teams amounted little offense on each of their next series, OU went 78 yards in three plays to move its lead back to 21 points at 31-10 with 3:14 on the first-half clock.

The next three minutes is when the Tulsa offense and kicking team executed to perfection, making the halftime score 31-24.

At the intermission, the two teams combined for 863 yards and 55 points. The Hurricane gained 397 yards of total offense, including 274 passing and 123 rushing. OU totaled 466 first-half yards on 316 passing and 150 yards on the ground.

Tulsa will be off next weekend before opening American Athletic Conference play at H.A. Chapman Stadium on Saturday, October 3 against the Houston Cougars. Game time for the Houston contest will be announced on Monday.