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GOTU!
The Golden Hurricane football team rallied last Saturday night against the University of North Texas Mean Green Eagles to win big in front of a Homecoming crowd of 22,045.
Coming off of a tough loss to Brigham Young University last week, Tulsa came back to hold the North Texas offense to only 84 total offensive yards. Quarterback Paul Smith, who had a shaky start, settled in and completed 21 of 33 passes for 266 passing yards and 25 yards rushing.
Tulsa’s defense did their job and tackled well, unlike the week before where they allowed 49 points and 467 yards against BYU. Tulsa was able to stop the running game and neutralize the quarterback, pretty much dominating the game.
The Tulsa offense started off slowly, struggling in the first few drives. The Mean Green kept Tulsa at bay by getting their hands on the ball and forcing turnovers. Smith, who threw only six interceptions throughout last season, got picked off twice in his first four passing attempts.
The second North Texas interception resulted in the Eagles’ only points of the game; a 23-yard field goal by Denis Hopavac in the second quarter.
The Golden Hurricane answered with a 96-yard drive that ended in a four yard touchdown pass to Ted Curtis to end the first half. Tulsa converted three fourth-down plays as it marched down the field, and took some chances but was able to punch in seven points.
The drive gave Tulsa confidence and momentum going into half time, and they were on–point from then on.
“I just wanted to continue to try to stimulate the offense, to jump start it a little bit,” said head coach Steve Kragthorpe, “prime the pump, so to speak.”
By the second half, Tulsa held the lead and the momentum, and appeared to be a completely different team. The Hurricane started the half with the ball and played with a confidence that was lacking in the first few drives. It was as if something had clicked and Tulsa was in the groove.
“We had made some errors early in the game, but I thought Paul [Smith] settled down, did a good job of throwing the ball and took what the defense gave him,” said Kragthorpe.
“We took some shots down field. The big play to Idris Moss in the first series of the second half I thought was a big play to get us jump-started.”
Once the Golden Hurricane gets going offensively, they are dangerous.
Whether it was the sheer momentum, the half-time talk, or simple adjustments, Tulsa began to get get the ball across the field with confidence.
Senior wide receivers Moss and Ryan Bugg both had career-best nights for the Hurricane. The duo made some key plays and combined for 10 catches and 157 receiving yards.
Moss, who helped spark the TU offense on a career-best 49-yard reception from Smith late in the second half, had three catches for a career high of 70 yards. Moss made key contributions in the first half and helped ignite the Tulsa offense, despite leaving the game twice due to a tender right ankle.
Bugg reeled in seven passes for a career-best 87 yards and one touchdown reception. He helped lead the Hurricane down the field in the first drive of the third quarter with four receptions including an amazing 34-yard screen pass from Smith for the score.
The Hurricane didn’t let up, driving 70 yards in its next possession to spread the lead to 21-3. Senior Brandon Diles capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run, and also had key 39 and 16-yard receptions.
Diles scored again in the 4th on an eight-yard run following Kinny Spotwood’s fumble recovery, ending scoring in the game 28-3.
The Tulsa defense smashed all hopes of a North Texas win, coming out especially strong in the second half. The Hurricane defense looked immensely better than they did versus BYU.
Tulsa’s defense pressured UNT, forced three turnovers, and made the Mean Green rely on running the ball, which was shut down by the big Tulsa defensive line.
Tulsa held running back Jamario Thomas (who ran for 1,801 yards in 2004) to only 33 yards.
“Obviously Tulsa’s defense deserves a lot of the credit for shutting us down.,” said Darrell Dickey, UNT’s head coach.
“We’ve got to go back and look at the fact that we got manhandled at the point of attack with blocking.”
This Saturday, Sept. 23, at 12:30 pm, The Golden Hurricane will travel to Annapolis, Md., to play the Navy Midshipmen. Tulsa will battle a tough crowd and an undefeated and talented Navy team.
The Navy Midshipmen pose a serious running threat with a boatful of talented backs, and Tulsa will have to be in top form to stop them.
A win on the road would work wonders for Tulsa’s confidence and momentum, but the Hurricane will have to be flawless on offense, defense and special teams.
