Hurricane gets past USF, 48-42
The past and the future both shined for Tulsa on Senior Night, showing what has been and what can be.
The "old" guys like Deneric Prince and Keylon Stokes had terrific nights, and Braylon Braxton came through with his first win as a starter at quarterback.
The result was a 48-42 Tulsa win over South Florida on Friday night in front of an announced crowd of 13,819 at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
The trio of Braxton, Prince and Stokes became the first in school history to have a player with 300 plus passing yards, 200 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in the same game.
Stokes, Tulsa's career record holder in receiving yards, was terrific as usual, finishing with 145 yards and TD on 6 catches.
Fellow 'old guy' Prince had 220 yards rushing and 2 TD's on 26 carries (8.5 yards per carry). Braxton was 20 of 27 for 302 yards and an interception, with no sacks.
On a freezing, miserable night where there were, at most, approximately 300 people actually sitting in the stands outside at any time in the nearly 4 hour game that ended past midnight, TU overcame the weather and overcame a USF offense that was playing well.
"With the cold, that's just all mental things, so just got to go out there and play the ball, play the game," said Stokes. "The cold is just an excuse, to be honest. Just got to go out there and win the game."
Braxton, who was starting in place of the injured Davis Brin, was thrilled about his first career win as a starter.
"Just a surreal feeling, honestly," Braxton said. "I can't really explain what was going through my mind after I took that second knee. Once that clock hit zero, I just knew I did it, so it was great.
"I had a great group of guys around me, so it was a great team win today. I think it took all of us, but it was a great feeling, for sure."
If fans like offense, this should have been their type of game. Both teams combined for over 1,000 yards of total offense, with Tulsa outgaining USF 573-499.
But in the end, it was turnovers that doomed South Florida. Tulsa recovered two fumbles, and committed zero turnovers.
And the biggest South Florida (1-10, 0-7 AAC) blunder came when its punter dropped a snap on the first play of the fourth quarter, trailing only 38-35. Although USF recovered, it was Tulsa's ball at the USF 18-yard-line.
When Prince's 1-yard TD run upped Tulsa's lead to 45-35, it was a big momentum shifter. But Tulsa couldn't put the game away when it had its chances.
The most frustrating was just after Braxton completed a 44-yard pass to Stokes down to the USF 1-yard-line. It should have been an easy score, and Tulsa should have gone ahead by 17 points with approximately 5 minutes left, making it a three-possession game.
However, a delay of game penalty on first down squandered Tulsa's potential easy TD, and the Golden Hurricane had to settle for a 25-yard field goal, making the score 48-35 with 5:10 remaining.
Of course USF marched down the field and scored easily, and Tulsa's lead was just 48-42 with 2:49 left. With USF out of timeouts, however, a first down would have sealed the game after TU recovered the ensuing onside kick.
But three run plays netted next to nothing, and a punt gave USF the ball with 1:17 remaining at its own 9-yard-line. A chance for the Bulls to win the game with a TD and extra point. USF couldn't get a first down, however, as TU's defense came through, getting the ball back with 43 seconds remaining.
"For them to come up big right there when we know we needed it, just a huge stop by them, and couldn't be more proud of the way they just kept coming back and continued to battle," Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery said of that last defensive series. "That's a great stop for us. Needed it."
A great stop since USF's offense had been on fire, led by third-string, true freshman QB Byrum Brown, who was nearly unstoppable for much of the game in his first collegiate start. Brown completed his first 21 passes for 240 yards with 3 TD passes and no interceptions. He also rushed for 76 yards and a TD on 12 carries.
His first incompletion came with 2:57 left in the game. Fortunately, Brown missed on his last four attempts.
Brian Battie, USF's outstanding, shifty and quick little running back, led USF with 169 yards on 19 carries, putting him at 1,042 yards with an average of 6.6 yard per carry for the season.
Fortunately for Tulsa (4-7, 2-5), Prince had an even batter game, rushing for 220 yards and 2 TD's on 26 carries for an 8.5 average.
After falling behind 10-0 early, TU came storming back for a 28-13 lead in the second quarter, and led 31-20 at half. Tulsa extended the lead to 38-20 after the first series of the half, but couldn't put the Bulls away.
Still, Tulsa was finally able to finish it off.
"Just stuck together. They were resilient and found a way to get it done," Montgomery said. "Guys stepped up and made big plays."
For Stokes, playing in his last game of his 6-year career at home gave him mixed emotions. Getting the win was important.
"It was a big moment for all of us, to be honest," Stokes said. "I wasn't the only senior out there. It's just like, yeah, I'm playing for myself, but also playing for those other seniors out there as well. So it's just like we wanted to make sure we go out and cap it off and go home with a victory."