Tulsa Standard

Tulsa's second-half comeback attempt fell short as the Golden Hurricane fell to the SMU Mustangs 45-34 Saturday afternoon in front of 22,993 fans at H.A. Chapman Stadium

 

The loss dropped Tulsa to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference, while SMU improved to 4-4 and 2-2.

 

Trailing 24-7 at halftime, Tulsa scored 27 second-half points, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Mustangs. For the game, SMU outgained the Hurricane 468 to 398 with 310 through the air and 158 on the ground for the Mustangs. Tulsa rushed for 182 yards and threw for another 216. SMU also held a 35:25 to 24:35 edge in possession time.

 

For Tulsa, Keylon Stokes caught five passes for 122 yards and a 50-yard TD to extend his all-time receiving yardage record to 3,474 yards. Before leaving with an injury on a 21-yard TD run in the third quarter, Davis Brin completed 7-of-16 passes for 96 yards and one score. In subbing for Brin, Braylon Braxton completed 8-of-14 passes for 120 yards and two TDs. Deneric Prince led the ground game with 86 yards and Jordan Ford ran for 78 yards.

 

Tulsa opened the second half with an 8-play, 75-yard scoring drive that saw Braxton run in from one yard out for the touchdown, but the PAT was blocked, making the score 24-13.

 

SMU responded in taking just 2:16 off the clock and going 74 yards in six plays to expand its lead to 31-13 at the 9:32 mark. SMU's Kevin Jennings took over at quarterback middle of the second quarter for the injured starter, Preston Stone, and led the Mustangs to the score.

 

Brin led Tulsa on the subsequent possession with a run of 20 yards on 3rd-and-6 in Tulsa territory and ended it with a 21-yard touchdown run, capping a 75-yard, 7-play drive, bringing the score to 31-20. On the scoring play, Brin appeared to suffer an injury as he took a big hit crossing the goal line

 

The Mustangs responded again to Tulsa's touchdown, going 75 yards in 11 plays as a pass interference call on 3rd-and-7 kept the drive alive and saw SMU score six plays later for a 38-20 lead. A fumble on Tulsa's first play on the subsequent possession was recovered and returned 22 yards by Elijah Chatman for an SMU score and 45-20 lead.

 

Tulsa battled back on the next possession as Braxton, subbing for Brin, hit Stokes on stride for a 50-yard TD connection at the 14:24 mark to cap-of a 4-play, 75-yard drive and make the score 45-27.

 

The Hurricane defense forced a fumble on SMU's next possession, recovered by Brian Johnson, and in 13 plays Tulsa went 57 yards and scored on Braxton's second TD pass of the game, a 9-yarder to Jordan Ford. The touchdown made the score 45-34 with 8:08 remaining in the contest.

 

Again, Tulsa's defense shut down the Mustangs on three plays before the Hurricane offense took possession at the 6:32 mark and moved to the SMU 8-yard line. SMU's defense tallied two stops behind the line and one sack to put the Hurricane back to the 26-yard line, forcing a 44-yard field goal attempt that missed. Tulsa had another chance, starting from their own 23-yard line with 2:52 remaining but failed to move the ball.

 

To start the game, it took SMU only 0:12 to get on the scoreboard for a 7-0 lead, taking its first play of the game 76 yards on a touchdown pass from Stone to Rashee Rice. The Mustangs took its second possession 53 yards to take 14-0 lead at the 10:12 mark of the first quarter.

 

Tulsa responded this time with a 74-yard, 8-play drive to cut its deficit to seven points, 14-7, when Brin connected on a 7-yard pass with Isaiah Epps.

 

SMU totaled 128 yards and 14 points in its first two scoring possessions and at the end of the first period had 203 yards with 163 coming through the air. Despite its 74-yard TD dive, Tulsa had just 60 after one quarter.

 

The Mustangs made it a 21-7 game with its first third quarter possession going 64 yards in 11 plays and capped by a one-yard run. An SMU missed 52-yard field goal gave Tulsa possession at their own 34-yard line, but after a 3-and-out the Mustangs offense went 43yards in 15 plays and taking 8:14 off the clock but settled for a 34-yard field goal to take a 24-7 halftime lead.

 

SMU gained 326 first-half yards for its 17-point lead at intermission, while the Hurricane managed just 110 yards. The Mustangs threw for 222 yards and had 104 yards on the ground, while controlling the clock, 21:10 to 8:50.

 

Tulsa will be back at H.A. Chapman Stadium next Saturday to play host to the No. 23rd-ranked Tulane Green Wave. The game will kick off at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.

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