Tulsa’s Comeback Bid Falls Short at Texas, 28-21

Saturday, September 8

Austin, Texas

7:00 PM

Tulsa

1-1

Texas

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tulsa

Texas

Photo by: Brendan Maloney

Tulsa’s Comeback Bid Falls Short at Texas, 28-21

9/8/2018 11:12:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Box Score (.pdf) | Notes | Photo Gallery

AUSTIN, Texas — Tulsa trimmed a 21-point halftime deficit to seven points twice in the fourth quarter, but could not complete the comeback as Texas held on for a 28-21 victory in front of on Saturday night at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Luke Skipper threw for 153 yards and a touchdown, while Shamari Brooks finished with 66 yards and a pair of scores for the Golden Hurricane (1-1). Keylon Stokes also accounted for 110 all-purpose yards with 48 yards on three runs and 62 more off three catches.

Meanwhile, Cristian Williams led the TU defense with 11 tackles as 20 different players had at least one stop.

"Very proud of our football team," head coach Philip Montgomery said. "I thought we came in and battled extremely well. We left a log of things on the field in the first half. Had opportunities to convert some things that we didn't take advantage of, but we've got to be able to do that, especially in big ballgames like this."

Sam Ehlinger led the Longhorns (1-1) with three touchdowns, two passing and another on the ground, and 288 total yards (237 passing, 51 rushing). Lil'Jordan Humphrey was Ehlinger's top target and the junior had seven catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.

After falling behind 21-0 at halftime, Tulsa scored touchdowns on its final three drives of the game to make the home crowd sweat on a muggy night in Austin. The Hurricane scored its three touchdowns all in the final 17 minutes of the contest.

Following a short Texas punt late in the third quarter, Brooks ended the shutout with a four-yard run to the end zone that made it 21-7. TU then wasted no time with its final two touchdown drives of the night, which each lasted just 92 seconds.

A 48-yard pass from Skipper to Stokes set up Brooks' second score, a one-yard plunge with 12:38 to play in the fourth quarter that trimmed the deficit to 21-14.

But the Longhorns, who were limited to just 48 yards in the third quarter, bounced back with a 75-yard scoring drive that ended when Ehlinger found Tre Watson for an 11-yard catch and run to paydirt to extend the lead to 28-14.

Tulsa needed just five plays to answer and again pulled within a score when Skipper fired a 35-yard touchdown to Keenen Johnson.

However, the Longhorns would run out the final 4:53 to hang on for the 28-21 victory.

The Hurricane was plagued by a pair of interceptions and three missed field goals. In the first half to help Texas build its lead. Despite the miscues, Tulsa remained within striking distance for much of the opening half thanks to its defense, which held the Longhorns on a fourth down at the 2-yard line in the first quarter and blocked a punt to set up the offense with good field position in the second quarter.

However, the Tulsa offense saw its best drives stall in Texas territory before missed field goals, including a pair of misses with less than six minutes to go before halftime.

Midway through the third quarter, the Hurricane had another chance to break through when Trevis Gipson forced a fumble that was scooped up by Cooper Edmiston at the Texas 32-yard line. Tulsa drove to the 5-yard line, but the Hurricane was held out of the end zone on fourth down.

Tulsa will be back in action at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15 when it hosts Arkansas State (0-2) at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

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