Tulsa
1-4 , 0-2
Houston
4-1 , 1-0
Houston Rallies to Top Tulsa on Thursday Night, 41-26
10/4/2018 11:01:00 PM | Football
HOUSTON — Tulsa held a 26-17 lead with 13 minutes to play, but Houston scored the game's final 24 points to rally for a 41-26 win on Thursday night in American Athletic Conference play at TDECU Stadium.
Making the first start of his career, redshirt freshman quarterback Seth Boomer threw for 227 yards and a touchdown, while Corey Taylor II had career highs of 33 rushes for 152 yards to go along with a score for the Golden Hurricane (1-4, 0-2).
Boomer's 227 passing yards were the second-most by a freshman making his debut in program history, only behind TJ Rubley's 386 yards against Oklahoma State as a true freshman in 1987.
Nate Walker hit a career-best four field goals (28, 32, 27, 35) and Keenen Johnson finished with five catches for 91 yards and a touchdown to help pace the offence.
The Tulsa defense forced three turnovers in the contest and limited the Cougars (4-1, 1-0) to just seven yards in the third quarter, but Houston exploded for 178 yards and 24 points over the final 13 minutes.
D'Eriq King finished with 282 all-purpose yards (165 passing, 117 rushing) and accounted for three scores through the air and two more on the ground for Houston.
Trailing 17-13 at halftime, the TU defense buckled down and dominated in the third quarter. The Cougars totaled just seven yards and were held scoreless in a quarter for the first time all season.
A balanced attack from the TU offense allowed the visitors to out-gain Houston 174-7 during the period as Tulsa held the ball for 12 minutes. Walker trimmed the Cougars' lead to 17-16 with a field goal and a Taylor II 8-yard touchdown run gave TU a 23-17 lead late in the quarter.
Walker added another field goal from 35-yards out with 13:10 to play that extended the Tulsa lead to 26-17, capping a 13-0 stretch for the Hurricane.
However, King started the avalanche on the next Houston drive with a 61-yard touchdown run. The Cougars added a field goal and two more touchdowns over a 91-second span to put the game away en route to the 41-26 victory.
In the first half, Boomer marched the Hurricane down the field for a touchdown on the team's opening series, going 82 yards for the early lead. The drive was highlighted by a 27-yard pass to Justin Hobbs before Boomer found Johnson for a 33-yard scoring strike.
Cooper Edmiston came up with the first of three first-half turnovers for the Hurricane defense with his third interception of the season that set up a Walker's first field goal for a 10-0 advantage.
However, the Cougars outscored Tulsa 17-3 the rest of the first half for a 17-13 edge at intermission.
Tulsa will return home for a 6 p.m. matchup against USF (4-0, 1-0) on Friday, Oct. 12 at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
WHAT WAS NOTEWORTHY:
• Tulsa's defense forced 3 first-half turnovers, while the most takeaways Tulsa had for an entire game this year was 2 against both UCA and Temple.
• Tulsa held Houston scoreless in the 3rd quarter, marking the first time that the Cougars have been held scoreless in any quarter this season.
• Tulsa's rushing yardage total was the most given up by Houston this season … the previous high was 150 yards by Arizona.
• Sophomore RB Corey Taylor II made his first career start … Taylor had his 2nd 100-yard rushing game this season and the 3rd of his career.
• Taylor had a new career-highs with 152 yards and 33 carries… his previous career highs were 111 yards at Oklahoma State in 2017 and 23 carries at Temple in Tulsa's last game.
• Nate Walker had a season and career-high 4 field goals, beating his previous high of 2 this season vs. Arkansas State … Walker's 4 FGs are the most since Redford Jones had 4 FGs against New Mexico on Sept. 12, 2015.
• Boomer's 227 yards passing was the second-most ever for a Tulsa freshman making their collegiate debut … he is 2nd only to TJ Rubley's 386 yards against Oklahoma State as a true freshman in 1987.
Team Stats
TLS 7, HOU 0
TLS - JOHNSON, K. 33 yd pass from BOOMER, S. (WALKER, N. kick) 9 plays, 82 yards, TOP 2:05
TLS 10, HOU 0
TLS - WALKER, N. 28 yd field goal 4 plays, 2 yards, TOP 1:14
TLS 10, HOU 7
HOU - CORBIN, Keith 32 yd pass from KING, D'Eriq (WITHERSPOON, Da kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:23
TLS 13, HOU 7
TLS - WALKER, N. 32 yd field goal 10 plays, 53 yards, TOP 4:48
TLS 13, HOU 14
HOU - KING, D'Eriq 19 yd run (WITHERSPOON, Da kick), 5 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:34
TLS 13, HOU 17
HOU - WITHERSPOON, Da 40 yd field goal 11 plays, 63 yards, TOP 3:42
TLS 16, HOU 17
TLS - WALKER, N. 27 yd field goal 13 plays, 65 yards, TOP 5:36
TLS 23, HOU 17
TLS - TAYLOR II, C. 8 yd run (WALKER, N. kick), 10 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:39
TLS 26, HOU 17
TLS - WALKER, N. 35 yd field goal 9 plays, 45 yards, TOP 4:37
TLS 26, HOU 24
HOU - KING, D'Eriq 61 yd run (WITHERSPOON, Da kick), 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:40
TLS 26, HOU 27
HOU - WITHERSPOON, Da 33 yd field goal 8 plays, 64 yards, TOP 2:52
TLS 26, HOU 34
HOU - BROOKER, R. 9 yd pass from KING, D'Eriq (WITHERSPOON, Da kick) 1 plays, 9 yards, TOP 0:06
TLS 26, HOU 41
HOU - STEVENSON, Marq 6 yd pass from KING, D'Eriq (WITHERSPOON, Da kick) 2 plays, 23 yards, TOP 0:21
