Tulsa outlasts Wyoming with exciting finish
Cooper Edmiston, Keenen Johnson and company made the type of plays that can define a team. And even completely change a season.
Facing an ominous end to what had been a dominating performance, Tulsa’s players showed they have the fortitude, nerves and guts to make the plays that winners make.
Edmiston got the game-winning strip with Wyoming knocking on the door. Johnson looked like he was jumping out of the stadium to make the do-or-die catch.
The result was an amazing 24-21 Tulsa victory over previously undefeated Wyoming in front of 16,246 fans on Saturday afternoon at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
“I got my hand in there. I honestly didn’t even know he fumbled,” Edmiston said. “I was just trying to make sure he didn’t make it into the end zone.”
TU coach Philip Montgomery talked about Edmiston’s uncanny ability to come up with big turnovers.
“Cooper just has that knack,” Montgomery said. “And a lot of it is because of the way he works, the way he prepares. And his relentless desire on the football field.”
Tulsa (2-2) got a much-needed victory to not only even its record, but just as importantly, give it confidence it can win close games against quality teams. Wyoming (3-1) had won seven consecutive games, including a season-opener against Missouri.
On Edmiston’s game-ending play, he stripped quarterback Sean Chambers of the ball while tackling him, and Reggie Robinson recovered it at the 3-yard-line with 50 seconds remaining. It had looked like Chambers, a dangerous runner, may have had room to score as he escaped around the right side on third-and goal from the 10, but Robinson had made Chambers swerve into the pursuing Edmiston.
Senior defensive end Trevis Gipson, who had two tackles for losses, including a sack, was with Edmiston in willing Tulsa to win the game at the end.
“I looked Cooper Edmiston in the eyes and said 'Bro, we got to win this game’,” Gipson said. “The next play, (Chambers) scrambled out and I saw him and started chasing him. I see the ball pop out, I saw Reggie sort of fall on it and rolled around a little bit. He eventually turned over, got on top of it , and I fell with him.
“And once I saw Reggie had it, I just looked up and I saw Zaven Collins and Brandon Johnson and I said ‘That’s it, that’s us' and I took off running off the field to celebrate it.”
Keenen Johnson had made the previous play of the game on a do-or-die drive on the previous possession. Facing fourth-and-five at the 50, Zach Smith made a laser throw that required Johnson to make a leaping, stretching 16-yard fingertip grab to extend the drive. With a facemask penalty added on to the catch, Tulsa was all of a sudden down to the Wyoming 19.
“I wasn’t really expecting the ball to come my way,” Johnson said. “It was press coverage, and I knew Zach was going to look for something quick because of all the pressure so I was really trying to clear it out for my teammates. But I saw the ball in the air and just made a play.”
And just like that, a pressured and harassed Smith had made another strong throw.
“I didn’t see the catch he made, but I hear it was pretty good,” Smith said. “Big time players make big time plays.”
Montgomery was equally impressed.
“The fourth down catch by (Johnson) was unbelievable right there,” Montgomery said.
On the next play, Shamari Brooks burst through for a 19-yard touchdown run to give Tulsa the 24-21 lead with 3:26 remaining.
Smith’s performance was nothing short of eye-opening, showing why he was a four-star recruit out of high school. He completed 25 of 50 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns. This despite getting sacked seven times and getting hit on countless passing attempts.
It was the first 300-yard passing game by TU since Dane Evans threw for 304 yards in the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl, and the most yards since Evans passed for 369 yards against Navy on November 12 of 2016.
Tulsa’s defense had been beyond stellar for most of the game. After Robinson had blocked a field goal midway through the second quarter with Wyoming leading 7-0, the Golden Hurricane held the Cowboys without a first down for eight consecutive possessions.
Wyoming only got its next first down on a defensive holding penalty on an incomplete pass with Tulsa leading 17-7 with 13:07 left in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Tulsa, that sparked a touchdown drive where Chambers completed a 53-yard score to Ayden Eberhardt for his first catch of the season. It also was Wyoming’s first scoring toss of the season.
After Tulsa failed on fourth-and-four at the Wyoming 41-yard-line with a nine-yard sack of Smith on the next series, the Cowboys went down and took the lead.
A previously ineffective passer all season, Chambers made two amazing throws after returning from being yanked from the game in the third quarter. Chambers, who had passed for 245 yards with a 39.1 completion percentage in Wyoming's first three contests, finished the game nine of 25 for 193 yards (36 percent).
Chambers also rushed 11 times for 83 yards and two touchdowns, including a 12-yarder around the left side to give Wyoming the 21-17 lead with 5:25 remaining. He had a 33-yarder up the middle to open the scoring in the first quarter where no Tulsa defender was within five yards. An outstanding runner and erratic passer, Chambers had previously rushed for 120 yards against Mizzou.
Chambers made some clutch throws, including two for 43 yards to Raghib “The Rocket” Ismail Jr. -- son of the former Notre Dame and Dallas Cowboys star receiver also known as "Rocket".
Tulsa had a frustrating first half, moving the ball but not scoring until Smith hit Keylon Stokes on a 56-yarder with 2:49 left in the second quarter. Sam Crawford then caught a 37-yarder with 1:10 left in the half to give Tulsa a 14-7 halftime lead.
Both scoring tosses were downfield passes over the middle where Stokes and Crawford made outstanding runs after the catch to elude Wyoming defenders. A 29-yard field goal by Jacob Rainey upped Tulsa’s lead to 17-7 with 9:26 left in the third quarter.
Wyoming’s stingy defense had caused Tulsa to have a rare game when it attempts to pass far more than it rushes. Adding the seven sacks to the 50 passing attempts, that made it 57 passing attempts versus 36 rushes. Brooks had 67 rushing yards on 17 carries, while Corey Taylor had 58 yards on 14 attempts.
It was a tough homecoming for Wyoming coach Craig Bohl, who was the TU linebackers coach from 1985-86.
“Well the game was what I thought it would be,” Bohl said. “I thought it’d be a close ball game that would come down to a play of two. It was an unbelievably physical game and competitive.
“That was a hard-fought college football game that was really clean. Congratulations to The University of Tulsa and Coach Montgomery.”
Montgomery compared the game to Tulsa’s three overtime wins in 2016 as far as how important it is to be able to win the tough, close games. He mentioned the Fresno State game where Tulsa trailed 31-0 before winning in overtime.
“I’ve just seen it over the course of my career,” Montgomery said. “You can’t always say, well, it’s going to happen that way. But I’m just saying those type of games, those down to wire, you find a way to win type of games, we had a bunch of them in that season if you remember.”
“You know, those games, the only way to coach that is go through it, and the only way you can be prepared for it is to go through it. Tonight was one of those types of games.”