Without Brin, Tulsa falls short at No. 16 Ole Miss
Tulsa was the first team to take a lead over No. 16 Ole Miss this season, as the Hurricane raced out to a 14-7 advantage after one quarter. But a 28-point second-quarter outburst by the Rebels, coupled with a first-half injury to Tulsa quarterback Davis Brin, was too much for TU to overcome.
The Hurricane ultimately fell 35-27 in Oxford, Miss., despite keeping Ole Miss scoreless in the second half.
"We had adversity and fought through it," Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery said. "We gave ourselves a chance to win it late."
Before Brin was sidelined with a lower body injury, he led the Hurricane 87 and 75 yards in the opening 12 minutes to take the 14-7 lead. He threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Epps and added a 1-yard touchdown run.
Brin was 7 of 13 passing for 112 yards before exiting in the second quarter. He remained on the sideline in uniform in the second half.
Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart threw 31-yard touchdown passes to Malik Heath and Jonathan Mingo, and Quinshon Judkins had scoring runs of 1 and 4 yards to complete the second-quarter rally and build a 35-14 cushion.
"We harp on consistency and we really executed at a high level in the second quarter," Dart said. "We're a talented team, but we've got to make the next step in consistency because in the second half, we shot ourselves in the foot."
After a field goal, Tulsa was down 35-17 at halftime.
Braylon Braxton replaced Brin and finished 9 of 22 passing for 83 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown pass to Epps to pull Tulsa to 35-27 in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we played a full 60-minute game," Montgomery said. "I'm really proud of our players and our running game was better, but we've still got room to grow."
The Hurricane finished with 457 total yards, including 262 yards on the ground.
Dart finished 13 of 24 passing with 154 yards, adding 116 yards rushing on 13 carries for Ole Miss. The Rebels had 462 yards of total offense, highlighted by 140 yards rushing on 27 carries by Judkins.