Game Three
#12 #5
Game Notes
--- After finding little fight in what turned out to be an overmatched Utah squad, it was now time our first and biggest test of the season. The #5 Oklahoma Sooners. Going up against the #4 defense in college football was going to be a massive challenge for our young squad, and even tougher by being on the road. We were going to find out quickly how well prepared our boys were. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.
A 25 yard kickoff return, and the game was underway as Oklahoma began at their 23 yard line. It was quick moving for the Sooners, as Tony Moore picked up 5 yards on the ground, followed by an 11 yard pass from C.J. Cannon to Brian Bowen for a first down at the 39 yard line. Bowen was tackled on the next play for a loss of three yards, followed by a 7 yard rush by Ryan Washington to leave Oklahoma with third and 7. A 13 yard pass to Scott Tidwell and the Sooners had a new set of downs at our 45. An 8 yard rush by Cannon was followed with a pass to Alfred Barnes for a gain of 23 yards and first down at our 14 yard line. The defense would stiffen up and hold Oklahoma there, as three straight incomplete passes forced the Sooners to kick a 31 yard field goal, making it 3-0 with 6:59 left in the quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff and we were on the field at our 25 for our first drive of the game. Our offensive line was no match for the high rated Oklahoma defense, as Kiel Fletcher was quickly brought down for no gain on first down. Going into the air, Brandon Booth was able to sling a pass just past the outstretched arms of the defender and into the hands of Conner Jefferson for a 23 yard gain and first down at our 48 yard line. A first down pass to Eric Silva went for a gain of 8 yards. Going back to the ground, it was no go for Fletcher, as the defensive tackle fought through the block and tackled Fletcher for a loss of two yards. A blitz on third down left our offense no chance, as Booth was sacked for a 9 yard loss before having any chance to get rid of the ball. Left with fourth and 13 from our 45 yard, Carlos Wilcox’s punt sailed 41 yards, going unreturned to give Oklahoma the ball at their 14 yard line. It was into the air for the Sooners right out of the gate, as Cannon hit Jay Riley for a gain of 6 yards, followed by a 10 yard pass to Bowen for first down at the 30 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Washington gained 7 yards on the ground, leaving the Sooners with third and three from their 37. The defense would rise to the occasion once again, tackling Washington for a loss of one yard to bring about fourth down. A 52 yard punt was returned for 5 yards by Fletcher and our offense was back on the field at our 17 yard line, 3:53 left in the first quarter.
Thanks in part to an outside rush by the Sooners, Fletcher was left with a gap up the middle, picking up 9 yards to set up second and one. Despite what looked like a promising gain, the blitzing middle linebacker blew through on the opposite side of the center, diving at Fletcher’s legs and bringing him down for no gain, leaving us with third and one at the 26. Roy Strong would get the job done on the next play, busting it up the middle for a gain of 10 yards and first down at our 36 yard line. Trying to catch the defense sleeping with a speed option, Booth was able to pick up four yards on the first down play. Fletcher never had a chance on second down, as the defense broke through, tackling him for a loss of three yards to leave us with third and 9. Booth’s pass on third down to Jefferson went for a 10 yard gain over the middle, just getting the first down and keeping our drive breathing at the 47 yard line. The defense continued to have their way with Booth, sacking him for a loss of 10 yards on the first down pass attempt to leave us with second and 20. Just getting the pass off before being hit, Booth found Mark Thompson for a gain of 13 yards, leaving us third and 6 at the Oklahoma 49. Booth’s pass to Strong wasn't enough, only picking up four yards to leave us with fourth and two at the 45. The final seconds would tick off the clock and the first quarter would come to an end, Oklahoma leading 3-0.
Punting on fourth down to start the second quarter, it was an absolute shank by Wilcox, going only 15 yards before going out of bounds, giving Oklahoma the ball at their 30 yard line. The Sooners would come up short on the drive, as two incomplete passes and an 8 yard pass to Moore left Oklahoma with fourth and two. The 49 yard punt was returned for 8 yards by Fletcher and we were back on the field at our 22.
Fletcher got us moving on first down, finding a small hole up the middle and fighting forward for an 11 yard gain. Oklahoma seemed to suddenly forget how to defend the run, as Fletcher broke another run for a gain of 13 yards and a first down at our 45 yard line, nobody managing to touch Fletcher until the safety brought him down. A 5 yard rush by Fletcher was followed with a gain of four yards by Strong and we were left with third and inches at the Oklahoma 45 yard line. Despite the outside linebacker blitzing in late, Fletcher was able to just barely fall forward over the line of scrimmage for a one yard gain and a first down at the 44 yard line. Fletcher continued to pound it against the Sooners defense, picking up a gain of 9 yards on first down and exposing a weakness against the run game in that previously impenetrable armor of the Oklahoma defense. A gain of three yards by Fletcher gave us first down at the 32 yard line. Fighting off of a tackle attempt, Fletcher was able to continue pushing forward for a three yard gain before finally being brought down. Left with second and 7, Booth went into the air, his pass attempt off his back foot falling woefully incomplete, leaving us with third down and 3:42 left in the first half. The third down pass attempt to Thompson went for a big gain, as Thompson rolled his way out of two consecutive tackle attempts before being pushed out of bounds at the three yard line, a 25 yard gain in all to give us first and goal, our first real chance of the game to put points on the board. Fletcher would find the end zone on the next play, pushing off of a tackle attempt and racing the Oklahoma defense to the far corner for the three yard touchdown rush and a 7-3 lead with 3:03 left in the first half.
A touchback on the kickoff left Oklahoma starting on their 25 yard line, 2:55 left to work their magic. Our defense showed its might on first down, tackling Washington for a loss of four yards, before a 9 yard pass from Cannon to Eric Green left Oklahoma with third and four. Washington would return with a vengeance, picking up 6 yards on the ground and giving Oklahoma a first down at their 37. A pair of rushes by Cannon for no gain and a pickup of 6 yards, Oklahoma was left facing third and four. Cannon would go to the air on the next play, finding Barnes for a gain of 12 yard and first down at our 45 yard line, 1:45 left to go in the half. Another pass, this time to Moore for a 13 yard gain, Oklahoma had a first down at our 32. After a pass to Alfred Reid for 7 yards, an incomplete pass intended for Moore left Oklahoma with third and three from our 25 yard line. Cannon would pick up the first down himself, rushing for three yards to our 22 yard line with 1:18 left on the clock. A 16 yard pass to Washington gave Oklahoma first and goal at our 6 yard line. A gain of 5 yards on the ground by Washington, and Oklahoma had second and goal from our one yard line, 1:04 left to go. The Sooners would find the end zone on the next play as Cannon punched it in himself from one yard out, the PAT giving Oklahoma a 10-7 lead with 53 seconds left to play.
A 21 yard kickoff return by Jefferson left us starting on our 20 yard line with 42 seconds to go, all three timeouts still in the bag. Booth’s pass on first down, intended for Thompson fell incomplete, leaving us second down. A misalignment by the defense left Fletcher wide open on the next play, hauling it in for a 53 yard gain before being tripped up by the safety at the Oklahoma 27 yard line. A timeout stopped the clock with 32 seconds to go. A pass to Eric Hayden went for a gain of 11 yards to the Oklahoma 16. An incomplete pass on first down left us second down with 23 seconds to go in the half, still two timeouts to use. Booth’s second down pass to Hayden went for a gain of only four yards, leaving us third and 6 from the 12 yard line, our second timeout stopping play with 18 seconds to go. A pass from Booth to Strong on third down went for a gain of 6 yards, the chain measurement giving us the first down by just a couple inches, setting us up with first and goal at the 6 yard line, 13 seconds left on the clock. Rushing to the line, the first down pass intended for Jefferson was knocked incomplete, leaving us second and goal with 10 seconds to go. Another incomplete pass, intended for Hayden left us third and goal, just 6 seconds remaining. Calling quick slants, the pass from Booth to Jefferson was broken up and left with fourth and goal and three seconds to go, we were forced to settle for a 23 yard field goal. With the clock expired, we headed into halftime all tied up at 10-10.
Receiving the kickoff to open up the second half, Jefferson returned the ball for 24 yards, getting our offense started at the 28 yard line. The Oklahoma defense seemed ready for our run game to start the half, as Fletcher was quickly brought down for no gain on the first down rush. Another rush, Fletcher was able to gain only two yards, leaving us with third and 8 from our 30. Booth’s pass to Hayden was completed, but Hayden was tackled for a gain of only four yards, and left facing fourth and three, our punt team came out. A fair catch on the 46 yard punt gave Oklahoma the ball to start at their 19 yard line. It was a short drive also for Oklahoma, as the Sooners started with a pass for no gain from Cannon to Washington, before Washington was tackled for a loss of two yards, followed by an 8 yard rush to leave Oklahoma with fourth and four at their 25. The 43 yard punt was returned for 8 yards by Fletcher and we took over on our 39 yard line.
Fletcher got us moving to start our drive, picking up 6 yards on first down. A gain of only one yard by Fletcher on the next play, and we were left facing third and three. A third down pass play to Silva turned into a huge gain, as all three linebackers blitzed, leaving the middle wide open for Silva to catch the ball and pick up 23 yards before the safeties brought him down at the Oklahoma 31 yard line. Strong took the ball on the ground on the next play, managing only a gain of one yard to the 30. The first turnover of the game would take place on the next play, as Booth tried to thread the needle to Jefferson, but outside linebacker Sam Vogel grabbed the ball out of the air for the interception, being immediately tacked by the tight end at the Sooners 24 yard line, 3:51 left to go in the third quarter. The Sooners got moving quickly, as Washington picked up 5 yards on the ground, followed by a 12 yard pass to Green for a first down at the 42 yard line. The defense fought back on first down, sacking Cannon for a 5 yard loss. A dropped pass on second down was followed with a 13 yard strike to Green, leaving Oklahoma with fourth and two at midfield. The Sooners would go for it on fourth down, Washington picking up three yards on the ground to give Oklahoma first down at our 47 yard line. Three straight incomplete passes would bring Oklahoma’s drive to an end. The 41 yard punt went unreturned, leaving our offense to start its next drive from the 6 yard line, 2:16 left in the quarter.
We quickly got out of the shadows of our end zone, as Hayden took advantage of a blitzing defense, hauling in a quick pass from Booth for a gain of 25 yards and a first down at the 31 yard line. Our drive nearly turned calamitous on the next play, as Fletcher was quickly wrapped up, the ball being knocked loose. Fletcher would end up owning a big fat steak to left guard Daniel Peters, who jumped on the ball to recover the fumble, leaving us with second and 8. The booth would challenge the fumble, and after review, it was determined that Fletcher had been down by contact before the ball came out, resulting in second and 10 instead of second and 8. Fletcher took it off left tackle on the next play, gaining 5 yards to leave us third and 5. After being forced to take a timeout to avoid delay of game, Booth’s third down pass intended for Thompson went wide incomplete, and with 38 seconds left in the quarter, we were forced to punt away. A fair catch on the 50 yard punt gave Oklahoma the ball at their 14 yard line. Cannon picked up four yards on first down to get Oklahoma started, before the defense struck back, tackling Washington for a loss of three yards, leaving the Sooners with third and 9 from the 15. Cannon would hit Barnes for a 7 yard gain, leaving Oklahoma with fourth and two from their 22 yard line, where the final couple seconds would tick off and the third quarter would come to an end, still all tied up at 10-10.
Oklahoma got the fourth quarter started with a 49 yard punt, returned 7 yards by Fletcher to start our offense at our 35 yard line. Breaking off a tackle, Fletcher rushed ahead for a gain of 6 yards on first down. The defense was more than ready on second down, tackling Fletcher for a loss of one yard to leave us with third and 5 at our 40. Thompson would come through with a huge gain on third down, hauling in a pass from Booth for a gain of 22 yards and a first down at the Oklahoma 37 yard line. The defense refused to let our running game get going again, as the defense brought Fletcher down for a loss of one yard on the first down play, leaving us second and 11 from the 38. We continued going backwards, as Booth’s pass to Silva went for a loss of one yard as well, leaving us facing third and 12 at the 39. The third down pass intended for Jefferson was broken up by the safety, leaving us with fourth and 12. Coach Ludwig would take a chance at the long shot, but the 56 yard field goal attempt by Alphonso Pratt was no good, and Oklahoma took over at their 39 yard line, 5:35 left to go in the game.
Washington started the drive with a four yard rush, before a 15 yard strike from Cannon to Barnes gave Oklahoma a first down at our 42 yard line. An 11 yard rush by Washington set up a 16 yard pass from Cannon to Moore and Oklahoma had a first down at our 15 yard line. After a two yard rush by Cannon, Oklahoma would take the lead, as Washington broke a rush off the right tackle, taking it 12 yards to the house for the 17-10 lead with 4:15 left in the game. Only four minutes left to go, a 21 yard kickoff return by Fletcher got our drive starting at our 22 yard line. The first down pass to Hayden was dropped and we were left with second down. Thompson would get us a first down, hauling in a pass from Booth for a gain of 14 yard out to our 37 yard line. Booth’s first down pass fell incomplete, again leaving us second down, 3:31 left on the clock. The dagger would be plunged into our heart on the next play, as Booth was intercepted by Brett Flowers, who took it 43 yards to the house for the interception return, giving Oklahoma a 24-10 lead with 3:23 to go.
A touchback on the kickoff got us started at our 25, only 3:15 now remaining. A first down pass to Hayden went for a gain of 17 yards and a first down at the 42. Booth’s first down pass intended for Thompson sailed wide and we were left with second down. A pair of 7 yards passes to Hayden and Silva kept our drive alive, giving us first down at the Oklahoma 44 yard line, 2:39 left on the clock. Three straight incomplete passes left us facing fourth and 10. Fletcher would keep the drive alive, hauling In a 22 yard pass from Booth, giving us a first down at the 23 yard line, 2:16 to go in the game. A 15 yard pass to Antoine Banks on the next play gave us first and goal at the 8 yard line, 2:02 left. Jefferson would get us in the end zone on the next play, hauling in the 8 yard touchdown pass from Booth to make it 24-17 with 1:52 left on the clock.
Oklahoma would recover the onside kick, giving the Sooners the ball at our 40 yard line with 1:49 left to play, only two timeouts left for our defense to stop the clock. An 8 yard rush by Washington got Oklahoma to our 32 yard line, our timeout stopping play with 1:43 left. Washington would pick up 5 yards on the next play for the first down at our 27, 1:38 left to play after our final timeout. Washington would keep pounding it ahead, picking up 7 yards to set up second and three, 1:26 remaining. Washington would get brought down for a loss of one yard on the next play, leaving Oklahoma with third and four, 44 seconds left to play. A loss of one yard by Tidwell and Oklahoma had fourth and 6 at our 23 yard line with 30 seconds to remaining. Trying to make it look better on paper, Oklahoma attempted a 40 yard field goal with 10 seconds left, the kick bouncing off the left upright. Our offense took over at our 23 yard line with three seconds left. The Hail Mary would not be answered this time around, as Booth’s pass deep to Fletcher was batted incomplete, the Sooners prevailing 24-17.
With the loss, we drop to 2-1 on the year. With the win, #5 Oklahoma stays perfect at 3-0. Up next, it’s back home to take on Akron. Akron started their year with a 35-7 win over FCS Southeast, before losing two straight, 34-10 to South Florida and 37-21 to Temple, heading into their first road game of the season at our house.
Final Score
#5 24,
#12 17
Stat(s) of the Game:
Tulsa Offense – An alright day by Booth, 319 yards passing and one touchdown, but two interceptions pretty much cost us the game. The first interception killed a drive that had momentum, the second interception killed our chances at winning, as the pick six gave Oklahoma a 14 point lead, leaving us playing for a huge comeback instead of just trying to tie it back up. A so-so day by Fletcher, 73 yards rushing and a touchdown on 21 carries. 7 receivers caught a ball today, everyone getting at least 10 or more yards. Fletcher ended up leading the way with 100 yards receiving on 3 catches, thanks in part to that 53 yard catch early in the game. Jefferson had the only receiving touchdown for the game to go along with 41 yards receiving on 3 catches.
Tulsa Defense – An incredible job today. They did give up 17 points, but against a powerful offense like Oklahoma, that was a hell of a job just to hold them to that. The two touchdowns the defense gave up came on drives that Oklahoma just bent them over, but at other times, the defense stood strong and killed drives that the Sooners very well may have scored on. Held Oklahoma to only 293 yards of offense, and despite not forcing any turnovers, the defense pretty much singlehandedly kept us in the game.
Tulsa Kicking – Pratt ended the day 1-2 in field goals, hitting the 23 yard kick to end the first half, and then missing that 56 yard prayer kick in the fourth quarter. He did go 2-2 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
0 |
10 |
0 |
7 |
17 |
|
3 |
7 |
0 |
14 |
24 |
Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
First Quarter |
7:02 |
|
Field Goal |
G. Weber, 30 yard field goal |
3-0 |
|
Second Quarter |
3:03 |
|
Touchdown |
K. Fletcher, 3 yard run (A. Pratt kick) |
7-3 |
0:53 |
|
Touchdown |
C. Cannon, 1 yard run (G. Weber kick) |
10-7 |
0:01 |
|
Field Goal |
A. Pratt, 23 yard field goal |
TIED 10-10 |
|
Third Quarter |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fourth Quarter |
4:15 |
|
Touchdown |
R. Washington, 12 yard run (G. Weber kick) |
17-10 |
3:23 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Flowers, returned interception 43 yards (G. Weber kick) |
24-10 |
1:52 |
|
Touchdown |
C. Jefferson, 8 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) |
24-17 |
Game Stats
Tulsa |
Stat |
Oklahoma |
17 |
Score |
24 |
19 |
First Downs |
15 |
389 |
Total Offense |
293 |
28 - 70 - 1 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
28 - 102 - 2 |
22 - 39 - 1 |
Comp - Att - TD |
17 - 28 - 0 |
319 |
Passing Yards |
191 |
2 |
Times Sacked |
1 |
8 - 15 (53%) |
3rd Down Conversion |
4 - 12 (33%) |
1 - 1 (100%) |
4th Down Conversion |
1 - 1 (100%) |
0 - 0 (0%) |
2-Point Conv |
0 - 0 (0%) |
6 - 2 - 1 (50%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
6 - 2 - 1 (50%) |
2 |
Turnovers |
0 |
0 |
Fumbles Lost |
0 |
2 |
Intercepted |
0 |
28 |
Punt Return Yards |
0 |
66 |
Kick Return Yards |
25 |
483 |
Total Yards |
318 |
4 – 38.0 |
Punts - Average |
5 - 47.2 |
0 - 0 |
Penalties |
0 - 0 |
20:22 |
Time of Possession |
15:44 |
Tulsa Contract Goals Update
Fail Impact |
Goal |
Progress |
Pass Impact |
|
Win 8 games in one season |
|
|
|
13+ passing TD in one season |
|
|
|
14+ points per game in each season |
42 |
|
|
7+ rushing TD in one season |
|
|
|
2400+ total offensive yards in one season |
|
|
|
2400+ total offensive yards in each season |
1571 |
|
|
Win 4 games in one season |
|
|
|
2000+ total offensive yards in one season |
|
|
Job Security Status
100%
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