Tulsa Corrals 19th-Ranked SMU Mustangs 28-24 After Trailing by 21 Points

Saturday, November 14

Chapman Stadium

6:00 PM (CT)

Tulsa

4-1 , 4-0

#19-Ranked SMU

7-2 , 4-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SMU

Tulsa

Photo by: BRETT ROJO/For the University of

Tulsa Corrals 19th-Ranked SMU Mustangs 28-24 After Trailing by 21 Points

11/15/2020 12:12:00 AM | Football

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GAME STATS I POST-GAME QUOTES I POST-GAME NOTES I PHOTO GALLERY I SEASON STATS I COACH MONTGOMERY PRESS CONFERENCE I ZAVEN COLLINS PRESS CONFERENCE I ZACH SMITH PRESS CONFERENCE

TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa came back from a 21-point deficit to capture a 28-24 victory over the 19^th-ranked SMU Mustangs Saturday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

The win gives Tulsa its second victory over a top-25 opponent this season, which is the first time in school history that the Golden Hurricane defeated two ranked opponents in the same season. It's also the third come-from-behind victory for the Hurricane this season, coming back from 18 down at UCF, 14 against East Carolina and tonight's 21-point comeback.

Trailing 24-21, Tulsa took possession of the ball at their own 35-yard line with 4:02 left on the game clock. Passes of 12 and 29 yards from Zach Smith to Keylon Stokes put Tulsa at the SMU 24-yard line. Three straight TK Wilkerson runs of 14, 3 and 3 yards put the Hurricane on the 4-yard line setting up a 3^rd-and-goal pass from Smith to tight end James Palmer for the touchdown.

Tulsa's Zaven Collins' interception of a Shane Buechele pass at the 50-yard line with just over one-minute remaining sealed the victory for the Hurricane.

Tulsa tallied 455 yards of total offense for the game on 325 passing yards and 130 yards on the ground, while the Hurricane defense held SMU to 351 yards, 175 yards below the Mustangs' season average of 526 yards per game.

In the second half, the Hurricane offense totaled 314 yards and scored 21 points, while the Tulsa defense held the Mustangs scoreless and to 165 total yards in the final 30 minutes.

Zach Smith threw for a season-highs of 325 yards and 3 touchdowns, while completing 26-of-38 passes. He connected with Stokes and Josh Johnson 8 times each, as Stokes totaled 122 yards and Johnson 101 yards with 2 TDs. Wilkerson ended the game with 94 yards on 21 carries.

SMU took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on two takeaways, the first score coming on an interception return for a touchdown and then a 19-yard drive following a Tulsa fumble. SMU then scored on the first play of the second quarter for a 21-0 lead. After those early SMU scores, Tulsa outscored the Mustangs 28-3 over the final 44 minutes

Tulsa began the second half with a 13-play, 74-yard drive to the SMU 1-yard line, but the Hurricane couldn't push the ball in the end zone on four tries inside the 5-yard line.

After a missed 50-yard field goal attempt by SMU, Tulsa once again went down the field traveling 67 yards in 13 plays, and this time Wilkerson ran the final yard for a Hurricane touchdown making the score 24-14 with 2:51 remaining in the third stanza. While the Hurricane offense totaled 151 third quarter yards, Tulsa's defense limited the potent Mustangs to just 66 third-quarter yards.

Tulsa scored again on its next possession to cut the SMU lead to 3 points, 24-21, with 13:31 remaining on the 4^th quarter clock. The Hurricane went 89 yards in 7 plays as Smith connected with Josh Johnson in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown.

The Tulsa defense shut down the Mustangs on three straight possessions leading up to the game-winning scoring drive.

The Mustangs got on the scoreboard first at the 10:47 mark of the first quarter when an overthrown Smith pass was intercepted and returned 18 yards for a 7-0 lead. A fumble by Smith on Tulsa's second play of the second possession gave the Mustangs the ball at the Tulsa 19-yard line.

SMU's offense scored after the takeaway by going 19 yards in 4 plays as Buechele connected on a 22-yard pass with Kylen Grayson to put the Mustangs ahead 14-0 at the 8:19 mark of the first period.

The Hurricane had a chance to narrow the gap going 58 yards in 14 plays, but a 34-yard field goal attempt missed wide right. SMU took the subsequent possession 80 yards in 9 plays for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead as Ulysses Bentley ran one yard for the score on the first play of the second quarter.

Tulsa finally got on the scoreboard at the 6:15 mark of the second period as the Hurricane went 73 yards in 9 plays, capped by a 20-yard pass from Smith to Josh Johnson, making the score 21-7.

After it looked like the Tulsa defense held and would be getting the ball back for the offense, the Hurricane was called for a roughing the punter, giving the Mustangs the ball back. SMU went 41 yards in 9 plays and got a 45-yard field goal to expand its lead to 24-7 with less than 3 minutes remaining in the first half.

At halftime, SMU held a 195 to 141-yard advantage in total yards, while passing for 118 yards and rushing for another 77 yards. Tulsa managed just 8 yards on the ground and 133 passing yards in the first 30 minutes.

Tulsa will be right back at H.A. Chapman Stadium in five days as the Golden Hurricane hosts the Tulane Green Wave Thursday night in another American Athletic Conference matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Tickets for the Tulsa-Tulane game are available online at TulsaHurricane.com or by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688). Monday-Friday, 8:30-5 p.m.