Tulsa takes No. 20 Tulane to the wire, but comes up short
NEW ORLEANS — Tulsa’s valiant comeback effort fell short 24-22 against the nation’s 20th-ranked Tulsan Green Wave Saturday in front of 20,126 fans at Yulman Stadium.
NEW ORLEANS — Tulsa’s valiant comeback effort fell short 24-22 against the nation’s 20th-ranked Tulsan Green Wave Saturday in front of 20,126 fans at Yulman Stadium.
Freshman quarterback Kirk Francis, making only his second game appearance this year, finished with 345 yards and one touchdown by completing 22-of-34 attempts. Francis moved into second place on the school’s freshman passing list, falling just 41 yards shy of T.J. Rubley’s 386 yards in 1987 against Oklahoma State.
Tulsa receivers Kamdyn Benjamin and Carl Chester had career-highs with 157 and 132 yards, respectively. Benjamin also had a career-high two TD receptions to give him four on the year.
The Hurricane run game put up the second-highest total allowed by Tulane’s fourthranked run defense with 122 yards behind Anthony Watkins’ 76 yards.
Tulsa fell to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in The American, while Tulane improved to 9-1 and 5-0 in league play.
Tulsa scored 12 points in the second half and held the Green Wave to 10. After a field goal gave Tulane a 24-16 lead at the 9:21 mark, Tulsa failed on its next possession but a drive later Francis led the Hurricane on a 4-play, 67-yard drive that cut the deficit to two points. Tulsa’s try at tying the game on a twopoint conversion failed, keeping the score at 24-22.
After 14 first-quarter points from the Tulane offense, the Golden Hurricane defense held the Green Wave to three points the remainder of the game on a field goal, as the other Tulane score came on a 100-yard kickoff return.
Tulane jumped out to a 14-0 lead on the last play of the first quarter, but the Hurricane took the momentum into halftime outscoring the Green Wave 10-0 for a 14-10 halftime score.
The Tulane offense put up 169 yards in the first quarter compared to Tulsa’s 50 yards, but the Hurricane turned the tide in the second period with 177 yards of total offense to Tulane’s 60 yards.
Kirk Francis led the Hurricane on its first scoring drive, going 75 yards in five plays, to make the score 14-7. Tulsa added a field goal at the 7:23 mark for its four-point halftime deficit.
Tulsa will close out the home schedule when the North Texas Mean Green come to H.A. Chapman Stadium for a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday afternoon.
