Tulsa holds off SMU, 27-24, in season finale
It was a glimpse of the future and a look back at the past. And in doing so, Tulsa ended the season the way it should have finished games all year.
Youngsters Seth Boomer and Keylon Stokes combined with senior Justin Hobbs to help knock SMU out of bowl eligibility in Tulsa’s 27-24 victory on an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 17,159 at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
“I think what we’re building is going to be strong,” said TU coach Philip Montgomery of a young TU squad that will return seven starters on offense and nine starters on defense. “Really, really proud of the way those guys continue to stay together, hang tight, fight. We knew it was going to be a war tonight.”
Boomer finished his redshirt freshman season with a career high of 251 yards passing, completing 20 of 27 passes (74 percent), compared to his 47.4 completion percentage coming into the game. Stokes had his first career hundred yard game as a sophomore, catching six passes for 140 yards.
And Hobbs finished his career with a highlight reel clutch catch the was featured on ESPN. The catch was not only visually stunning, but essentially put Tulsa over the top in finishing off an opponent. He wound up with five catches for 60 yards.
Coincidentally, the last 100-yard game by a Tulsa receiver was by Hobbs in week nine last year at SMU when Hobbs caught three passes for 141 yards in a 38-35 loss. Today’s game for Hobbs was a satisfying way to end his career, and was fitting to get a win when he was robbed of a touchdown last year at SMU due to an overzealous ref who called back a score because he took one high step before going into the end zone.
The key play Hobbs made for TU came with Tulsa leading 24-17 and facing a third-and-11 situation from the SMU 36-yard-line. Get a first down, and Tulsa can run off clock, force SMU to use its timeouts, and Tulsa can at least get a field goal that would make it a two-possession game.
On the play, Boomer lofted a perfect sideline pass to a well-covered Hobbs, who reached out with one hand and snagged the pass and remarkably get a foot down before going out of bounds. The 31-yard gainer gave Tulsa a first down at the SMU 6-yard-line.
“It was a great moment,” said Hobbs of the catch. “The play, when the ball was in the air, all I though was just attack the ball. It was a great throw by Seth.
“It feels great just to end with a win. It meant a lot to me and all the rest of the seniors.”
Although Tulsa couldn’t punch the ball in from there, SMU used all three timeouts before John Parker Romo’s 22-yard field goal made the score 27-17 with 3:28 remaining.
From there, SMU did score, but the clock was milked down to 1:31 remaining when SMU quarterback Ben Hicks connected with James Proche for an 11-yard score. The only hope for the Mustangs at that point was an onside kick.
When the onside kick went out of bounds, Tulsa could take a knee and then celebrate.
Tulsa (3-9, 2-6 AAC) obviously didn’t have the year everyone at TU expected, but it was a great way to end the season. And listening to TU coach Philip Montgomery trying not to tear up while talking about Hobbs was a touching moment.
“Really, really happy for Justin,” Montgomery said. “Hadn’t had the year he wanted to have, but wow, what a big catch. So proud of him.”
As for Stokes, he showed playmaking ability that should make him the featured receiver next season, and showed some of what his older brother, Keevan Lucas, did in his standout career at Tulsa. As it is, Stokes finished the season as Tulsa's leading receiver, catching 41 passes for 575 yards.
“The last four or five weeks, that guy has continued to step up his game,” Montgomery said of Stokes. “He can be electric with his hands. I thought he made some huge plays tonight.”
According to Montgomery, the sky is the limit for Stokes.
“Now it's about growing up and being the player I know he can be for the next two years, being that guy that scares people, that you’ve got to pay attention to,” Montgomery said. “He’s a guy that can take over a game if you let him.”
Boomer’s throws to Stokes and Hobbs displayed downfield zip and poise that showed marked improvement from when he took over as the starter in week five. He showed ability that can fire TU fans' optimism, whether it is Boomer or Baylor transfer Zach Smith at the helm next season. But regardless of if he starts next season, Boomer has shown he can be a quarterback of the future.
“I thought he made some really, really key throws tonight,” Montgomery said of Boomer. “He anticipated some things. Really, I’ve taken more reins off of him every week. He just continues to keep getting better. He’s a guy that is very competitive, very hungry. He’s very smart.”
Boomer and Tulsa started off the game extremely strong, getting out to a 21-0 lead. He completed 10 of his first 11 passes (91 percent) for 141 yards.
An interception by Tulsa middle linebacker Cooper Edmiston was his fourth interception of the season and set up TU‘s first score. Edmiston, who leads the Golden Hurricane with four interceptions as well as in tackles, benefited from a tip by linebacker Zaven Collins.
Edmiston’s interception set up a 15-yard touchdown run by Shamari Brooks on Tulsa’s second possession. A 70-yard catch and run by Stokes set up a 2-yard touchdown catch on third down by Keenen Johnson that made the score 14-0. A 1-yard run midway through the second quarter by Corey Taylor made the score 21-0.
SMU (5-7, 4-4) was able to cut the lead to 21-7 at halftime, but Tulsa looked poised to extend that lead when Romo lined up for a 42-yard field goal attempt early in the third quarter. But the kick was blocked by Rodney Clemons, who scooped up the ball and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown.
So what should have been a 24-7 lead turned into a 21-14 nail biter. But Romo was able to make his first two field goals of the year later in the game to extend the lead.
Tulsa’s defense did a great job in limiting SMU school record-setting passer Ben Hicks. TU not only sacked Hicks five times for 64 yards, including two each by Trevis Gipson and Cullen Wick, but the Golden Hurricane also intercepted him twice. And senior Myles Mouton also recorded his first career sack.
A McKinley Whitfield interception in the end zone when SMU had advanced to the TU 27-yard-line thwarted SMU’s attempt to tie the game midway through the third quarter.
Hicks did finish with 319 yard passing, completing 26 of 46 passes. But 75 of those yards came on the final drive when Tulsa was trying to get SMU to eat up the clock.
Tulsa’s defense finished the season allowing no teams to get a 500-yard game. Tulsa outgained SMU 409-380.
With SMU’s loss knocking the Mustangs out of a bowl game, first-year head coach Sonny Dykes was clearly not pleased with his team.
“I told our players after the game we got exactly what we deserved,” Dykes said. “We deserved to get our ass kicked. We didn’t have a very good frame of mind coming in here. We just went through the motions in the first half and dug ourselves a big hole, and then decided to play a little in the second half. It was too big of a hole to dig ourselves out of.”
For Trevis Gipson, the season ended just the way it needed to end.
“Honestly, it feels really, really good,” he said. “We had our ups and our downs. To end the season with a good taste in our mouth, especially going against our rival, SMU, keeping them out of a bowl game, that really gives us a good feeling."