Tulsa Overcomes 17-Point Deficit for 40-37 Victory Over Cincinnati

Friday, November 25

H.A. Chapman Stadium

7:30 p.m. (CT)

Tulsa

9-3 , 6-2

Cincinnati

4-8 , 1-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cincinnati

Tulsa

Photo by: Brett Rojo

Tulsa Overcomes 17-Point Deficit for 40-37 Victory Over Cincinnati

11/26/2016 1:42:00 AM | Football

Box Score

By: Don Tomkalski

FINAL STATS PDF I HTML STATS I POST-GAME QUOTES I POST-GAME NOTES I PHOTO GALLERY

James Flanders four-yard touchdown run in overtime capped a 17-point come-from behind victory on Saturday night as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane claimed a 40-37 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats in front of 18,555 fans at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Flanders winning score was the first lead of the game for the Hurricane. Tulsa fell behind early in the first quarter 14-0, trailed in the second quarter 24-7 and with just under six minutes remaining in the contest had a 10-point deficit at 34-24. The Hurricane scored 10 points in the final 3:12 of regulation to send the game to the extra session, and after holding Cincinnati to a field goal, Flanders touchdown sealed Tulsa's undefeated season at home.

Tulsa (9-3, 6-2 AAC) improved its overtime record to 9-5, including 4-0 in the last two seasons under Head Coach Philip Montgomery and finished the year with a 6-0 record at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Cincinnati ended the season with an overall 4-8 record, and finished 1-7 in league play.

The come-from-behind victory was the third such win of the season, as the first two – Fresno State and SMU – also went into overtime.

In the overtime period, the Hurricane defense forced the Bearcats to take the field goal on 4^th-and-1 from the 16-yard line. After gaining zero yards on their first two plays, Tulsa's Dane Evans connected with Josh Atkinson on a 21-yard pass to the four-yard line, setting up Flanders' winning run.

Cincinnati's point total for the game was 11 points more than the Bearcats had totaled in its previous four contests, while totaling 534 yards of total offense. It was takeaways by the Bearcat defense and big plays by the Cincinnati offense that sparked its 24-7 second quarter lead.

Tulsa's offensive attack was as even as it could get, running for 306 yards and passing for another 305 yards for 611 yards of total offense. Flanders rushed for 197 yards en route to surpassing 2,000 career yards, while Evans' 305 yards passing put the senior over 3,000 single-season passing yards for the third straight year.

In running for 197 yards, Flanders became the school's single-season rushing leader with 1,529 yards, surpassing Tarrion Adams (2008) by six yards.

Trailing by 10 points at halftime, Tulsa took the second-half kickoff 65 yards in nine plays as Evans threw the final two yards to Justin Hobbs, cutting the Cincinnati lead to three points at 24-21, with 11:53 on the third quarter clock.

The Bearcats marched to the Tulsa 21-yard line, and on 4^th-and one was stopped by the Hurricane defense turning the ball over to the Tulsa offense, but the Hurricane was forced to punt on the subsequent possession. Cincinnati responded with another big scoring play as Hayden Moore threw 70 yards to Jerron Rollins to take a 31-21 lead at the 4:43 mark of the third period, capping a three-play, 87-yard drive.

Tulsa took its next possession to the UC seven-yard line, but had to settle for a Redford Jones field goal that hit the left upright, ricocheted off the right upright and over the crossbar from 24 yards out. The field goal brought Tulsa to within seven points at 31-24.

Cincinnati added three points at the 5:57 mark for a 34-24 lead as the Hurricane defense held on 3^rd-and-2 from the 19-yard line to force the field goal. Tulsa responded in less than three minutes to cut the UC lead to three points, 34-31 at the 3:12 mark when Evans marched the offense 74 yards in 11 plays, taking just 2:42 off the clock. Evans threw the final five yards to Chris Minter for the touchdown to cut its deficit to three points.

After the Tulsa defense forced Cincinnati to punt with 1:19 on the clock, the Hurricane marched to the Bearcats five-yard line with 0:05 left on the game clock as Evans completed 5-of-7 passes on the drive, and setting up Jones for a 22-yard field goal attempt that tied the score as time expired. Jones connected for his second field goal of the night to send the game into overtime with the score deadlocked at 34, making way for Tulsa's overtime heroics.

Two early Tulsa turnovers turned into a 14-0 lead for Cincinnati with just under eight minutes left on the first-quarter clock. After a Tulsa fumble, Cincinnati marched 62 yards in four plays as Moore threw 38 yards to Thomas Geddis for a touchdown.

On Tulsa's next possession an Evans pass was intercepted by Mike Tyson to put the Bearcats at the Tulsa 29-yard line. It took UC only one play to make the score 14-0, as this time Moore was on the receiving end of the 29-yard pass from Tyler Cogswell.

Tulsa took just 1:36 off the clock to respond for its first score of the game with an 85-yard, six-play drive that saw Keevan Lucas haul in a 47-yard one-handed lunging grab that put the Hurricane at the Cincinnati 35-yard line. Four plays later, Flanders ran five yards for his 16^th touchdown of the season cutting the UC lead to 14-7.

On the subsequent UC possession, the Bearcats marched 76 yards in eight plays, but had to settle for a 23yard field goal to take a 17-7 lead at the 3:06 mark of the first quarter.

The 17 first quarter points by Cincinnati bettered what the Bearcats had totaled in the last three games combined (13 points).

Tulsa went 67 yards in 17 plays to the Cincinnati seven-yard line, but Tulsa's 4^th-and-one attempt was stuffed for a one-yard loss by the Bearcat defense, giving UC possession at their own eight-yard line.

Cincinnati wasted little time in converting its longest play from scrimmage of the season, an 82-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Devin Gray to cap a three-play, 92-yard drive in taking just 1:01 off the clock for a 24-7 lead with 9:56 remaining in the first half.

On Tulsa's subsequent possession, a second interception by UC's Tyson at the 9:44 mark gave Cincinnati the ball at their own 40-yard line, but the Hurricane defense forced a Bearcats punt.

The Hurricane cut its deficit to 10 points with 0:43 left in the first half when Evans connected with Lucas in the right corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown.

At halftime, Cincinnati gained 303 total yards on 33 plays to Tulsa's 259 yards on 50 plays, while the Hurricane held an 18:30 to 11:30 advantage in possession time. All three of the Bearcats touchdown came through the air, while Tulsa had one rushing and one passing TD.