Tulsa sneaks past East Carolina, 34-30
It was fitting that Tulsa was around to win the game after it looked like it was dead. Twice. On the eve of Halloween with a full moon.
T.K. Wilkerson scored the game winning touchdown with 29 seconds left, and TU held off a last gasp East Carolina Hail Mary attempt to win 34-30 on Friday night in TU's home debut at H.A. Chapman Stadium in front of the maximum allowable 3,900 fans.
Tulsa (3-1, 3-0 AAC) took advantage of three close calls by the refs on the final drive, surviving East Carolina's celebrating what looked like the end for the Golden Hurricane.
But in the end, it was an incredibly gutty performance by TU to pull out a win when inspired underdog ECU was looking like it was going to pull off a major upset.
"We had to battle all the way through it," said TU coach Philip Montgomery. "Those are the type of games you build your team on. I can't be more proud of our players and our coaches for staying together. You've got 60 minutes to play, and it took every second of it."
A loss to ECU would have been devastating in what had started out as a really promising season.
East Carolina (1-4, 1-3) dominated the first half with a 17-3 halftime lead where Tulsa was as flat as a pancake. With Zaven Collins missing almost all of the first half with a leg issue, Tulsa was in big trouble.
However, when Collins returned for the first defensive series in the second half, Tulsa had already roared back to cut the margin to 17-10 on a 25-yard scoring toss from Zach Smith to Keylon Stokes.
Having Collins back helped, for certain. The team had renewed energy.
Still, even when Tulsa came back and got the lead in the fourth quarter, the pesky Pirates wouldn't go away. When ECU took the lead back with 4:38 left, it was do-or-die time for the Golden Hurricane on its final drive.
Getting backed up on third-and-21 from its own 32-yard-line on the final drive had things looking hopeless for TU, but an 11-yard completion from Smith to Josh Johnson set up 4th-and-10. When Smith's pass to Stokes was defended and fell incomplete, it looked like it was over.
But pass interference on ECU from the ref who was deep behind the play gave Tulsa new life with 1:52 remaining. Then Wilkerson made a nice run for a first down at the ECU 37-yard-line, but fumbled, and ECU celebrated again. However, Wilkerson's knee was ruled down, and Tulsa had another life.
A fourth-and-five pass soon after from Smith to Johnson gained 13 yards to the 20-yard-line, but the diving catch was reviewed. Another reprieve.
Then Wilkerson broke through for a 19-yard run to the 1-yard-line, and after a Tulsa used its second timeout, he scored from 1-yard away. On the play, starting defensive linemen Jaxon Player and Tyarise Stevenson were in the backfield plowing the way with 29 seconds left.
"I'm fairly confident they are going to give it a good push," Smith said, laughing, of his two massive blockers leading the way for Wilkerson.
Even then, ECU still almost came back. But a 29-yard Hail Mary attempt in the end zone on the last play of the game fell incomplete, and it was time for TU to savor the win.
Tulsa had finally taken the lead on a brilliant 39-yard catch-and-run by J.C. Santana with 9:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. On the play, Santana caught the pass from Smith and broke tackles at the 20 and 5-yard-lines on the way to the end zone and a 27-23 lead.
Wilkerson finished with 89 yards on 18 carries to lead TU in rushing, and Smith completed 19 of 37 for 253 yards to overcome a rough first half where he only passed for 59 yards and was intercepted twice.
Stokes led Tulsa with six catches for 90 yards, while Santana had four catches for 88 yards.
East Carolina's offense was hard to stop all night, as southpaw quarterback Holton Ahlers was impressive, completing 38 of 50 for 330 yards with three touchdowns and and interception.
True freshmen sensation running back Rahjai Harris had his third consecutive 100-yard game on the ground, finishing with 118 yards on 21 carries, as well as catching the go-ahead 4-yarder from Holton late in the game.
In the end, Tulsa's defense did just enough to hold off the Pirates.
"Wow, what a game. I don't know where to start," Montgomery said. "We've got great leadership. We've got guys who are going to fight for each other and battle for each other.
"We've been in a lot of close ones. It was good to see our team stay confident."