TU overwhelms Jacksonville St., 54-17

When things are going well, sometimes they go ridiculously well.

Such was the case with TU, Davis Brin and Keylon Stokes, who were already having outrageous games. But their final play of the game took the cake.

On one of Brin's rare overthrows in the game, the ball bounced off a Jacksonville State defender and popped up backwards, right into Stokes' hands for a 46-yard TD pass.

After that play, the duo took the rest of the game off midway through the third quarter, as TU cruised past Jacksonville State 54-17 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 17,311 at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

"When momentum is on your side, you get some breaks like that," said TU coach Philip Montgomery of that last tipped TD pass. "Really nice play there by Keylon. I've never seen something like that happen and just catch it in stride and roll right through it. So, a little bit lucky on that play, but I'll take lucky any time I can get it."

Brin was particularly impressed by the play Stokes made, as well as his receivers as a whole.

"We'll take those when we get them, no doubt. But, man, I'm just -- Sleep (Stokes) came up with a great play right there and never gave up on it," Brin said of Stokes' catch. "And it turned out fortunate for us.”

Already leading the nation in passing, Brin was on fire against the Gamecocks, completing 25 of 32 passes for 373 yard in the first half alone, taking Tulsa to a 40-3 halftime lead. Brin finished 27 of 35 for 424 yards and 4 TD's.

Stokes and fellow receiver JuanCarlos Santana were on fire as well. Stokes caught 8 for 107 in the first half, finishing with 9 for 153 yards. Santana caught 3 for 137, all in the first half, averaging a whopping 45.7 yards per catch, with a long of 59.

Brin's deep passes to Santana were all perfectly thrown.

Former Arizona, Michigan and West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, in his first year as coach of the Gamecocks, was impressed with Brin.

"He was great," Rodriguez said. "I knew he was great coming in, but they didn’t do a whole lot that we didn’t think they were going to do. They just executed better than we did, and we just let the ball get thrown over our head and give up easy completions, playing too soft at times.

"He did whatever he wanted to do to us."

There were those skeptics who were worried that, when Tulsa got out to a strong, commanding lead, just like last week against Northern Illinois, that the lead might be in jeopardy.

But not this time. There would be no let up.

"We were preaching it the whole time, like don't let up," said Tulsa linebacker Justin Wright. "We're not going to let up. Keep going, you know, as hard as you can."

Montgomery echoed Wright's sentiments.

"It's one of the things that we really preached on this week with our football team about coming out and being able to extend leads," Montgomery said.

Jacksonville State (3-1), although an FCS school, figured to give Tulsa a tough time. Coached by longtime successful coach Rich Rodriguez, and having won at Florida State a year ago, there is no way Tulsa was going to take the future FBS team and C-USA member (starting in 2023) lightly.

Tulsa's opening drive set the tone for the entire game. Converting twice on third and long with laser strikes by Brin to well-covered receivers, Tulsa got out to a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard run by Steven Anderson.

"Those were huge conversions," Brin said of that first drive. "You know, putting ourselves in a third and long isn't great, but being able to get out of them was essential to really keeping the drive going and keeping that rhythm that we found."

When Jacksonville State snapped the ball over the punter's hands into the end zone seats for a safety to give TU a 9-0 lead with 3:17 left in the first quarter, that was a huge boost.

Another boost was Mike linebacker Justin Wright's diving interception on fourth-and-5 early in the second quarter with TU leading 12-0.

"I think he's really matured in the sense of his leadership and the way he's preparing for games," Montgomery said of Wright. "But I thought he has played exceptionally well, as well as a lot of other guys."

When tight end Ethan Hall caught a 20-yarder in heavy traffic down to the 4-yard-line, that was a huge play as well. Tulsa's tight ends usually don't get a lot of receiving opportunities. Anderson's 4-yard run put TU up 19-0.

But remember, TU led 17-0 against Northern Illinois last week.

No matter. Jordan Ford's first Tulsa TD, a 7-yard catch on an impressive juke-out of the Gamecocks' defender, made it 26-0. Then a 31-yard strike to Santana, and it was 33-0. Isaiah Epps' 17-yard touchdown catch with 1:23 left in the half made it 40-3.

This one wasn't going to be close.

Tulsa's defense was nothing less than outstanding. The Golden Hurricane allowed only 71 yards rushing on 20 carries in the first half, and Aaron McLaughlin and Zion Webb to a combined 6 of 13 for 79 yards in the first half.

"The defense did such a good job shutting them down," Brin said. "Made it a lot more comfortable for us. And we were able to go relax and make big plays."

Tulsa (2-1) was able to play some backups. A lot of backups. Redshirt freshman Bill Jackson led Tulsa with 59 yards on 9 carries.

Marquis Shoulders had his first career catch, and his first touchdown catch, an 11-yarder from Braylon Braxton, who also had his first career completion and first TD pass. Roman Fuller completed his first career pass.

It was on overall fun game for the Golden Hurricane.

Next up, at No. 20 Ole Miss next Saturday, and a chance to shock the football big-wigs.

"We're going to have to be more disciplined against that caliber of team," Wright said about playing at Ole Miss.

Tulsa is 3-0 all-time against the Rebels.