Tulsa's Late Comeback Bid Falls Short at UConn 20-14

Saturday, October 21

Storrs, Conn.

11 AM

Tulsa

2-6 , 1-3

UConn

3-4 , 2-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tulsa

UConn

Photo by: Bob Stowell

Tulsa's Late Comeback Bid Falls Short at UConn 20-14

10/21/2017 3:02:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: University of Tulsa copyright

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EAST HARTFORD, Conn. –– Tulsa's comeback attempt fell short as the UConn Huskies held on for a 20-14 win Saturday in front of 24,814 fans at Pratt & Whitney Stadium.

It looked like it might be a miracle finish, but red-shirt freshman Luke Skipper's throw in the end zone with no time remaining was knocked away from Tulsa sophomore receiver Keenen Johnson.

Tulsa fell to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference, while UConn improved to 3-4 and 2-3 in league play.

The Hurricane waited until the final seven minutes of the game to mount any significant sustained offensive production, as Tulsa put together two 70+-yard scoring drives for its 14 points, cutting the UConn lead to six points.

Tulsa scored its first points with 7:09 left as true freshman Shamari Brooks raced the final 8 yards of a 75-yard, 5-play drive. The Hurricane defense stopped UConn in 3 plays, allowing just 6 yards, giving its offense back the ball with 5:36 left on the game clock. Tulsa went 77 yards in 10 plays and scored its 14^th point of the game at the 2:16 mark.

Again, the Hurricane defense stepped up, holding Uconn to just 7 yards in 3 plays.

Tulsa took over possession with 0:51 left, and needing to go 88 yards to tie the score with a touchdown and win it with a PAT. On 4^th-and-1, Brooks converted the first down on a 5-yard run to the their own 26-yard line. Two plays later a pass interference call put the Hurricane at the Tulsa 41-yard line. Skipper then completed a 50-yard pass the Keenen Johnson to the UConn 9-yard line with 0:01 left on the clock.

The Johnson reception set-up the final chance for a Hurricane victory, but as Skipper scrambled and tossed to Johnson in the end zone, the ball was knocked incomplete.

After an uneventful first half that saw the UConn put the only points on the board with a first quarter field goal, UConn took a 17-0 lead within the first 5 minutes of the second half.

The Huskies took the second-half kickoff 79 yards in 12 plays for a 10-0 lead with 10:13 left on the third period clock. On their next possession, UConn used a flee-flicker to complete an 80-yard touchdown pass, Bryan Shirreffs to Hergy Mayala, on first play from scrimmage giving the Huskies a 17-0 lead.

UConn added a field goal with 8:58 left in the game to take a 20-0 lead, and that's when Tulsa totaled 152 yards in the next 15 plays for a 20-14 deficit.

For the game, Tulsa ended up with a 453 to 441-yard advantage in total offense. Brooks ended the game with a career-best 164 yards, while Skipper completed 17-of-27 passes for a career-best 259 yards.

A CLOSER LOOK AT TODAY'S GAME
TRUE FROSH BROOKS GOES FOR 4^TH 100-YARD GAME … True freshman running back Shamari Brooks went over 100 yards rushing for the third straight week and the 4^th time in his freshman season …he had a career-high 164 rushing yards with 2 TDs … he tied Reggie Williams (1995) for the most 10+ rushing games for a freshman (true or red-shirt freshman) … his 3 consecutive 100-yard games is one shy of Reggie Williams (195) for most consecutive 100-yard freshman rushing games.

MISSING … Whereas through the first 7 games it had been the Tulsa defense with players missing starts and games due to injury, today it was the Tulsa offense that had 2 starters out … left tackle Evan Plagg missed the game after starting the last 8 games dating back to last year's season finale … running back D'Angelo Brewer started the fist 7 games this year … Plagg came into the game with 32 career starts, and Brewer with 24.

IN THEIR PLACE … Filling in for Plagg and Brewer were two freshmen making their first career starts … red-shirt freshman Waahid Muhammad made his first career start at left tackle … coming into the game he had played only one snap at left tackle … true freshman Shamari Brooks received his first career start, although he has played in the previous 7 games.

SLOW FIRST QUARTER … Tulsa only had 87 yards on 16 plays in the first quarter, similar to the last 2 weeks when Tulsa gained less than 100 first quarter yards against Tulane (89) and Houston (56) … in the game before that, Tulsa had 169 first quarter yards vs. Navy … Tulsa failed to score any points in the first half today, which was the first time since Oct. 17, 2015, when Tulsa trailed ECU at halftime 20-0.

SMITH SACKS … After turning in 2 sacks for -28 yards last week, Jeremy Smith was back at it today with a 6-yard sack in the 2^nd quarter … he now has 6 sacks on the year for 51 yards.