Tulsa Falls at #10 Oklahoma State 59-24

Thursday, August 31

Stillwater, Okla.

6:30 pm

Tulsa

0-1

Oklahoma State

1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tulsa

Oklahoma State

Photo by: Erik Campos

Tulsa Falls at #10 Oklahoma State 59-24

8/31/2017 11:17:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: The University of Tulsa copyright

Final Stats in PDF l Final Stats in HTML l Season Stats in PDF l Postgame Notes l Postgame Quotes l Photo Gallery

Stillwater, Okla. –– The #10-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys scored on its first three possessions and went on for a 59-24 victory over Tulsa Thursday night in front of 56,790 fans at Boone Pickens Stadium.

The Cowboys took the opening possession 74 yards in eight plays and capped it with a 44-yard touchdown pass, and on their second possession it was a 40-yard pass that resulted in the scoring play. OSU added a three-yard run on its second play from scrimmage on their third possession for a 21-0 lead with 4:08 to play in the first quarter.

Tulsa's defense stopped the Cowboys on its fourth possession, first of the second quarter, forcing a punt. The Hurricane offense managed only 21 yards on three plays, but Tulsa recovered a fumble in the end zone on the subsequent punt for Tulsa's first points of the game making the score 21-7/

It took OSU only two plays again to answer Tulsa's score, as JD King's 71-yard run capped a 75-yard Cowboy scoring drive.

On Tulsa's subsequent possession, with Chad President back at quarterback, the Hurricane put together a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that saw Corey Taylor run the final three yards for the touchdown and a 28-14 score. President played the first two series, followed by two possessions for Luke Skipper before President re-entered and finished out the contest for the Hurricane.

OSU added a 24-yard field goal and a 77-yard touchdown pass on one play to take a 38-14 lead with 2:04 left in the second quarter. Tulsa added a 23-yard Redford Jones field goal as time expired in the first half, making the halftime score 38-17.

The Cowboys added an 80-yard touchdown drive on its first second-half possession and an 82-yard fumble recovery to take a 52-17 lead after three quarters. Following a Tulsa fumble at the Hurricane 20-yard line, OSU scored in two plays for a 59-17 lead with 7:55 left in the game

Tulsa's Corey Taylor rattled off a 55-yard scamper to make the score 59-24.

Tulsa opens the home season next week when the Louisiana Ragin 'Cajuns come to town on Saturday, Sept. 9 for a 3:05 p.m. kickoff.

PRESIDENT GETS THE START
Tulsa had not announced the starting quarterback anytime before the game, so whoever walked on to the field for Tulsa's first possession would be news to everyone in attendance. Sophomore Chad President got the start at quarterback and led the Hurricane on their first two possessions. Red-shirt freshman Luke Skipper came in for the third and fourth offensive possessions for the Hurricane, before President returned for Tulsa's fifth drive. On that drive, President led the Hurricane on a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive as Corey Taylor ran in for the final three years. President stayed in at QB for the remainder of the game.

President ended the game completing 18-of-35 passes for 178 yards, and ran for another 69 yards on eight carries.

NICE DEBUT
Sophomore transfer Thomas Bennett punted for the first time in his collegiate career and turned in a performance where he averaged 44.6 yards on seven punts. His fourth punt of the game sailed 60 yards and over the head of the OSU punt returner, who eventually grabbed the ball but was forced into a fumble that Tulsa recovered in the end zone for its first points of the game.

100-YARD RUSHER
Tulsa reserve running back Corey Taylor, from Tulsa's Holland Hall High School, turned in his first career 100-yard rushing game with 111 yards and 2 TDs on 20 carries. A year ago, Taylor carried only 5 times for 4 yards in six games.

SPECIAL TEAMS MAKES THE PLAY
True freshman deep snapper Adam Higuera, playing in his first career game, was in the right place at the right time as he jumped on the ball when OSU punt returner Jalen McCleskey fumbled the ball into the end zone. Another newcomer, punter Thomas Bennett, forced the ball over McCleskey's head with a 60-yard punt. Senior Rob Riederer knocked the ball out of McCleskey's hands. The fumbled punt for a TD marked the second straight year that the Hurricane had a fumble punt return for a TD in the season opener.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Among the 50 players that saw action today, Tulsa had a total of 23 sophomores, red-shirt freshmen or true freshmen that saw playing time, which amounted to 46-percent. Tulsa had 14 sophomores, 5 red-shirt freshmen and four true freshmen included in that group.

NULLIFIED
In the third quarter, Tulsa's Keenen Johnson hauled in a one-handed catch off a President pass for 41 yards, but the play was nullified due to an ineligible player downfield.

OSU's QUICK SCORES
Four of Oklahoma State's offense touchdowns came under 35-seconds including a 2-play, 52-yard drive; a 2-play, 75-yard drive; a one-play, 77-yard drive; and a 2-play, 20-yard drive. OSU's final two scores came after Tulsa fumbles, one on an 82-yard fumble return and the second on the 2-play 20-yard drive.

SETTLING DOWN
After giving up 453 yards in the first half, the Hurricane defense stiffened in the second half and held the Cowboys to 187 yards in the second 30 minutes. Tulsa's defense gave up only 14 second-half points. Of OSU's 453 first-half yards, 232 of those yards came on four scoring drives –– 44, 40, 71 and 77 yards.

ON WHAT COACH MONTGOMERY LEARNED ABOUT HIS TEAM
"You know, just like the play by McKinley (Whitfield). Those are things we preach about in our program. We're going to fight for 60 minutes and it doesn't matter what the score is or whether we're on top or we're on bottom. I was really proud of the way our guys continued to fight and grind. In some of those explosive plays early, we're actually in pretty good coverage. The first one to Washington, Kerwin (Thomas) was right there. We just have to finish that play. Same thing with Reggie (Robinson II). He's right there, we just have to finish that play. Those explosive plays happen. But you have to move on. But again, OSU is a talented group, a talented quarterback, and we have some guys trying to step up. We have some young guys who got a lot of experience tonight. So, hopefully we can build on that and continue to grow."

STEAD
The Tulsa football team, as every other Golden Hurricane sports team will do this year, wore patches on their jerseys for tonight's game in remembrance of former TU President Steadman Upham. The black "Stead" patch on the front of the jersey recognizes Upham, who served two stints as the president of TU (2004-12; 2012-16) and was a champion of Golden Hurricane Athletics. Upham passed away from complications following surgery on July 30.