Tulsa Upends No. 11 UCF 34-26 in Orlando

Saturday, October 3

Orlando, Fla.

6:35 PM (CT)

Tulsa

1-1 , 1-0

#11-Ranked UCF

2-1 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tulsa

UCF

Tulsa Upends No. 11 UCF 34-26 in Orlando

10/4/2020 12:50:00 AM | Football

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ORLANDO, Fla. –– Tulsa scored the final 15 points to overcome an 18-point deficit and down the nation's 11th-ranked UCF Knights 34-26 Saturday night at Spectrum Stadium.

The win snapped a 21-game home winning streak for the Knights. The last team to defeat UCF on its home field was the 2016 Tulsa team on Nov. 19, 2016 by a score of 35-20. The victory is also Tulsa's first against a ranked opponent since handing #24 Hawaii a 62-35 loss in the 2010 Hawaii Bowl, and it's the highest-ranked opponent Tulsa has defeated since a 35-34 home win over No. 15 Texas A&M in September 1991. Before that, it was 1971 that Tulsa defeated a higher ranked team with a 21-20 win over #7 Arkansas.

The 18-point comeback is the 13^th come-from-behind win for the Hurricane under Montgomery since his arrival in 2015. It's the second largest comeback victory during that time, second only to a 31-point comeback in 2016 at Fresno State.

Zach Smith - NCAA Football 2020: Tulsa vs Central Florida OCT 03 — Zach Smith threw for 273 yards and 3 TDs.

"It was a great team win. All three phases really contributed. We could not have started off any tougher than what we did with three turnovers and a safety. We put our defense in tough spots. Our team just kept grinding and grinding. The drive right before half really lit us on fire and we were able to come out in the second half and take advantage of that," said Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery.

Tulsa evened its season record to 1-1, while UCF fell to 2-1 on the year and 1-1 in league play.

"We had big plays on special teams. We started the second half with the turnover on special teams with Bryson (Powers). Lachlan (Wilson) getting his punts punched down inside the five were amazing. Zack (Long) hit a big field goal there at the end. I am very proud of our football team and those guys for sticking together. We have always been a gritty, hard-nosed 60-minute football team," added Montgomery.

The Tulsa defense and special teams kept the Hurricane in the contest in the first two quarters until the offense pushed itself into high gear on the final drive of the first 30 minutes.

Tulsa's special teams forced and recovered 2 fumbles, while the defense intercepted one pass, had 10 tackles for -23 yards and 9 pass break-ups. Zaven Collins led the Hurricane defense with 10 tackles, 3.5 TFLs for -11 yards, two pass break-ups and one interception for a 13-yard return. Bryson Powers caused and recovered one fumble, while the other forced fumble came from Daiquain Jackson and was recovered by Josh Stewart.

On offense, Zach Smith finished the game completing 17-of-29 passes for 273 yards and three TDs, while finding eight different receivers. Keylon Stokes caught 6 passes for 95 yards, followed by Sam Crawford's 4 for 74 yards and one TD and Josh Johnson with 2 for 69 yards and one touchdown.

The Tulsa running backs corps was effective with TK Wilkerson leading the way with 86 yards and one TD, Corey Taylor II with 60 and Deneric Prince with 41 yards.

Tulsa took its first lead of the game at 31-26 with 12:56 remaining in the 4^th quarter as Smith hit Stokes in the back of the end zone, capping a 5-play, 61-yard drive in taking just 2:22 off the clock. The two-point pass attempt fell short of receiver Johnson to keep Tulsa 5 points ahead.

Tulsa milked the clock as much as possible in the final 5:35 minutes as the Hurricane took an 8-point lead on a Zack Long 34-yard field goal. UCF took possession

Trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Hurricane special teams got Tulsa off to a solid start in the second half, as Powers made a tremendous play on the kickoff. Powers caused and recovered the fumble in one motion, taking the ball away from returner Jaylon Richardson.

Smith wasted little time in finding Crawford in the end zone for a 34-yard scoring strike on the first play from scrimmage, cutting the Knights lead to 4 points, 23-19.

The Knights took the subsequent possession to the Tulsa 4-yard line, but the Hurricane defense forced UCF to settle for a 26-yard field goal, capping an 11-play, 67-yard drive to take a

Wilkerson capped a 9-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard run to make it a one-point game, but Tulsa failed to tie the score as a Long PAT hit the right upright, keeping the score 26-25.

TK Wilkerson - NCAA Football 2020: Tulsa vs Central Florida OCT 03 — TK Wilkerson rushed for a game-high 86 yards and add one TD.

The first quarter was one to forget for the Hurricane offense as UCF's defense forced three turnovers and a safety, all coming on Tulsa's first four drives. The Tulsa defense kept the

The game started precarious for Tulsa as the Hurricane turned the ball over three times in its first three possessions.

After a Tulsa fumble inside their own 10-yard line, the Knights put the first points on the board at the 10:13 mark of the first period with a 12-yard pass from Dillon Gabriel to Jacob Harris. The drive covered 8 yards in 3 plays for UCF's 7-0 lead.

On Tulsa's subsequent possession, a first-play pass was picked off by UCF's Richie Grant, thus giving UCF the ball at their own 38-yard line. Tulsa's Collins got the ball back for the Hurricane with an interception of his own, giving the Hurricane possession at the Tulsa 40-yard line.

The Hurricane gave the ball right back to the Knights on the first play after Taylor ran 13 yards but fumbled after a stern hit.

After a punt put Tulsa at their own 1-yard line to start the drive, Smith was sacked in the end zone for a safety, thus putting the home team ahead 9-0 at the 7:35 mark of the first quarter.

Otis Anderson raced 49 yards on the second play of the drive to put the Knights ahead 16-0 with 6:58 left in the first quarter.

It was the Tulsa defense that put the Hurricane on the scoreboard first when Collins tackled Anderson in the end zone for 2 points with 2:16 left in the first quarter.

The Hurricane added 3 points on a Long 20-yard field goal that capped a 10-play, 30-yard drive to make the score 16-5 at the 11:41 mark of the second quarter.

UCF crossed the goal line once in the 2^nd quarter, coming on a 4^th-and-1 with 1:39 remaining before intermission to take a 23-5 lead into halftime. The drive covered 96 yards in 13 plays for the Knights.

Tulsa responded quickly with its first offensive TD of the game on a 48-yard TD pass from Smith to Johnson with 0:53 left on the first-half clock, capping a 4-play, 88-yard drive in 4:81.

Tulsa went into halftime trailing 23-12, but with momentum after its late first-half touchdown. At the break, UCF had a 247 to 168-yard edge in total offense.

Tulsa will be off next weekend before hosting its first home game when the No. 14 Cincinnati Bearcats come to town for Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 17. Game time will be announced this Monday.