To say it was an imperfect win for TU would be overstating it, but as much needed wins go, this one will do.

Despite outgaining Arkansas State by over 300 yards at 663-359, and despite having several chances to put the game away, Tulsa kept things interesting.

But in the end, TU did enough things well to hold on for a 41-34 victory over Arkansas State on Saturday in front of a crowd of 14,881 at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

The much-needed first win of the season should give Tulsa (1-3) a boost of confidence going into conference play next week.

The positives far outweigh the negatives in a game that had plenty of both. The most positive aspect of the game is that the Golden Hurricane are not sitting at a depressing 0-4.

"It's good to get that W in the column and understanding how we've got to play and what we've got to do to go out and make that happen," said TU coach Philip Montgomery.

Davis Brin's performance was nearly flawless, with the exception of one bad interception in the end zone. But completing 17 of 25 for 355 yards and three touchdowns was outstanding. In the first half he was 10 of 12 for 255 yards and two touchdowns.

Sam Crawford's 88-yard touchdown pass from Brin that tied the game at 7-7 with 6:05 left in the first quarter was a huge confidence builder. Crawford took an over the middle downfield pass and turned it down the left sideline on a play that looked like it would be a possible 25-yard gain, and ended up outrunning ASU defenders to the end zone.

"Sam's big one there early. What a huge momentum thing for us," Montgomery said. "And to see him finish it on some explosive plays that ended in touchdowns."

Crawford scored on a 17-yard pass early in the third quarter that was mostly brilliant, shifty running along the right sideline that put TU up 31-14. Crawford finished with 105 yards on those two TD catches.

JuanCarlos Santana caught a 34-yard TD pass with 1:55 left in the first half that put TU up 21-14. Santana had 99 yards on five catches. His 15-yard sideline catch with six seconds left in the half set up a 41-yard field goal from Zack Long to end the half with the Golden Hurricane leading 24-14.

Josh Johnson's clutch receiving had him wind up leading TU with 127 yards on nine catches. Shamari Brooks led all rushers with 155 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

Anthony Watkins broke a 75-yarder up the middle for a touchdown, and broke another 59-yarder for a TD that got called back due to a dubious call on a downfield block by Ezra Naylor. Watkins had 115 yards on just seven carries.

Long made a 45-yard field goal, going two for two on field goals for the day, with both over 40 yards.

And finally, Tulsa was able to eat up the final 6:30 of the game clock, converting key third down plays. An ASU (1-3) timeout with the clock already stopped after a ASU timeout with 40 seconds remaining had ASU blow its last timeout with TU facing third-and-goal from the Red Wolves 1-yard-line with TU up 41-34.

"To be able to run the clock out like that in that fashion and then, the deal there at the very end, just understanding, I would love to punch that in," Montgomery said of the final drive.

"It's been a crazy year of football across the country. You can take a knee and the ball game will be over and you win. Love the touchdown, but want the win more than the touchdown."

But now for the bad.

Tulsa had a 78-yard touchdown pass to Santana called back due to holding, making it two long TD's that got called back in the second half.

Tulsa was penalized 10 times for 84 yards, while the Red Wolves were flagged only five times for 35 yards. To say that ticked off Montgomery would be just scratching the surface.

He clearly did not appreciate the disparity in penalty yards between the two teams, to say the very least.

But the most disappointing thing of the game was kick coverage. That has been a recurring issue for TU the last two years. The OSU game was probably lost on a fourth quarter TD off a kick return that took the lead from Tulsa. The Miss. St. bowl game featured several long kick returns against TU.

Tulsa allowed two kick returns for touchdowns against the Red Wolves in what may be the worst coverage TU has ever had. A 63-yard punt return for a TD by Johnnie Lang put Tulsa in an early 7-0 hole. A 93-yard return by Alan Lamar turned a 17-point deficit for ASU into a manageable 10-point hole early in the third quarter.

TU finally got wise on kickoff coverage in the fourth quarter, kicking short to avoid a long return.

"Lets be honest. If you give up two returns on special teams, I would say 99 percent of the time you won't win the game," Montgomery said. "So I give credit to our guys for staying locked in and staying focused and being mature enough and strong enough to overcome that.

"But that being said, that crap can't happen. It should never happen. If you have one a year, okay, somebody got you. But to have two in one game, very disappointed in that part of it. We're going to have to really dive into it and make sure from every aspect of it we've got to get better.

"We've got to look at the personnel we have on the field. We've got to look at schematically what we are doing. But you have to dive deeply into it. Not saying you can overhaul it in one week, but you've got to make big jumps. We've got to make sure we shore that up."

Tulsa had to play most of the second half without stalwart defensive tackle/nose tackle Jaxon Player, who got ejected for a debatable targeting call. Tulsa was up 31-14 at the time, but losing Player helped ASU stay in the game.

For TU, overcoming touchdown's called back due to penalties, and overcoming poor special teams coverage, yet still being able to win shows that this team is maturing. A big test awaits Friday night when TU hosts Houston.