Tulsa Falls to #25 Memphis 42-41

Saturday, October 26

Chapman Stadium

6:00 PM

Tulsa

2-6 , 0-4

Memphis

7-1 , 3-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Memphis

Tulsa

Photo by: Brett Rojo

Tulsa Falls to #25 Memphis 42-41

10/26/2019 11:18:00 PM | Football

Box Score

GAME BOOK I POST-GAME QUOTES I POST-GAME NOTES I PHOTO GALLERY I SEASON STATS

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa fought back from an early 14-point deficit to take a 4^th quarter lead, but the #23-ranked Memphis Tigers (7-1, 3-1 AAC) pulled out a 42-41 victory in front of a Hurricane Homecoming crowd of 17,183 fans Saturday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Tulsa (2-6, 0-4 AAC) had a 29-yard field goal attempt to win the game with 0:02 left on the game clock, but Jacob Rainey's try missed wide left.

"I'm proud of our football team. We really came out and battled," said Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery. "I thought it was a very physical game. We got behind early in the first half, but just continued grinding and making plays, and defense making stops. We put ourselves in a position to win and it just didn't come our way."

Tulsa trailed in the first quarter by 14 points, 14-0; by 11 points at halftime, 28-17; and by 4 points at the end of 3 quarters, 35-31. The Hurricane took its first lead with 9:33 left in the contest when Zach Smith connected with JuanCarlos Santana on a 14-yard pass in the corner of the end zone for a 38-35 lead. Tulsa added a 26-yard field goal following a Memphis turnover to take a 41-35 lead at the 5:14 mark.

On Memphis' subsequent possession, the Tigers took a one-point lead at the 4:26 mark on a touchdown and PAT making the score 42-41. The Tigers scoring drive went 60 yards in 3 plays.

Tulsa took over at its own 25-yard line with 4:26 left in the game. The Hurricane marched to the Memphis 12-yard line in 12 plays before attempting the last second field goal.

For the game, Tulsa gained a season-high 584 yards to Memphis' 498 yards, had 2 takeaways to Memphis' zero and a possession time edge of more than 12 minutes. Zach Smith completed 23-of-40 passes for 309 yards, while Keylon Stokes caught 9 of those for 129 yards. Shamari Brooks gained 156 yards and one TD on the ground for the Hurricane and Corey Taylor II had 85 yards and tied a career-high with 3 touchdowns. Reggie Robinson led the Tulsa defensive effort with 12 tackles.

Memphis' Kenneth Gainwell had 149 rushing yards, Brady White passes for 277 yards and Damonte Coxie had 5 receptions for 112 yards to lead the Tigers.

Tulsa put the first second-half points on the board as Taylor II raced 31 yards on and 4^th-and-2 to cap a 57-yard, 6-play drive, making the score 28-24 with 8:15 on the 3^rd quarter clock.

However, the Tigers wasted little time as the nation's 6^th-ranked rusher Gainwell raced 62 yards on Memphis 2^nd play after Tulsa's score to cap an 80-yard scoring drive to put the Tigers back ahead by 11 at 35-24.

The Hurricane closed the gap again, 35-31, as Tulsa's Taylor II added his 3^rd touchdown run of the game on a 2-yard run that came at the 2:27 mark of the 3^rd quarter. His run up the middle capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive for the Hurricane.

The 3^rd quarter ended with the score 35-31 as the Hurricane out-scored the Tigers 14-7 in the period.

Memphis opened the game with scores on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead with just under 7 minutes gone in the contest. The Tigers took its first possession 71 yards in 8 plays capped by a 20-yard Kenneth Gainwell run. On its second drive, Memphis went 85 yards in 8 plays as Brady White threw 40 yards to Antonio Gibson for the score.

Tulsa's Shamari Brooks put the Hurricane on the scoreboard with a 40-yard run early in the 2^nd quarter to cap a 3-play, 55-yard drive.

On the subsequent kickoff, Mitchell Kulkin recovered a Memphis fumble at the Tigers 23-yard line. However, Tulsa couldn't get any points as the 40-yard field goal attempt went wide left.

Memphis took the next possession 77 yards in 10 plays, and after a pass interference call penalty on a 3^rd- down incompletion, the Tigers scored on a 2-yard run to make the score 21-7 with 9:25 left on the 2^nd quarter clock.

Tulsa took the kickoff 75 yards in 10 plays as Taylor II ran in from one yard out to cut the Memphis lead to 7 points at 21-14 with 4:40 left in the first half.

On a 4^th-down and 10, the Tigers used a fake punt pass for 29 yards to get to the Hurricane 9-yard line, and 2 plays later scored to take a 28-14 lead with 2:22 remaining on the 2^nd quarter clock.

Tulsa took 1:29 off the clock to answer the Memphis score, but settled for 3 points, as Jacob Rainey kicked a 32-yard field goal to make the score 28-17. However, the Tigers marched right back with under 1 minute and getting to the Tulsa 15-yard line, but a 33-yard Tiger field goal hit the upright and bounced away, keeping the score at 28-17 going into halftime.

At intermission, the Tigers put up 319 yards of total offense to Tulsa's 239 yards, while also holding a 15:01 to 14:06 edge in possession time.

Tulsa goes on the road next Saturday to face the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans, Louisiana. Kickoff is set for 3:00 pm from Yulman Stadium. The game will be aired on ESPN2.