--- The wait has ended. A new season has arrived. A new team storms to the field under the command of Coach Ramius. The 2014 season was all ready to get kicked off, as the Golden Hurricane invaded Akron, Ohio. The coin toss wouldn’t go in our favor, as a heads call turned up tails and Akron elected to kick. The positive out of that meant that our fans wouldn’t have to wait any longer to see the offense light up the field in a rainy evening game.
After a 29 yard kickoff return by Kiel Fletcher to start our first drive of the season at the 30 yard line, the Golden Hurricane offense wasted little time in showing they meant business, as Brandon Booth found Fletcher along the left hash for a 10 yard gain and a first down on the first play and pass of the 2014 season. The Zips defense showed they weren’t going down without a fight however, as an incomplete pass and a failed off-tackle rush for a loss of two yards left us with third and 12. But the Zips had no answer on third down with Booth found Chad Fisher for a 17 yard gain and a first down at the Akron 45 yard line. Fletcher picked up three yards on the ground on first down before a Booth pass to John Andrews for 6 yards left us with third and one. Fletcher would prove too much for the Akron defense as he plowed forward and across the line of scrimmage for a four yard gain and a first down at the 31 yard line. The next play caught the Zips defense off guard, when all three linebackers blitzed, leaving Sean Fox wide open cutting across the middle of the field, easily hauling in the pass before being tackled at the 14 yard line for a 17 yard gain. After a knocked down pass on first down, Fletcher was able to pick up 6 yards to set up third and four for the 8 yard line. The drive would end in a stall as the Zips defense blew through on the third down attempt and stuffed Fletcher for no gain, forcing us to settle for a 25 yard field goal. With 5:48 left to play in the first quarter, we had our first lead of the young season, 3-0 over Akron.
After the kickoff went out of bounds for a touchback, the Zips offense wasted little time in ripping our defense a new one. Shannon Morris found Ron Gibson for a 33 yard pickup, before connecting with Evan Young for 22 yards to get all the way to our 20 yard line in two plays. Our defense stiffened up after those two shocking plays and after three incomplete passes, Akron kicked a 37 yard field goal to tie up at 3-3 with 4:45 left in the quarter. The ensuing kickoff went for a touchback, starting our next drive at our 25 yard line. Coming out trying to make a statement nearly bit us in the ass, when Booth’s pass to Nicholas Roberts was woefully underthrown and nearly intercepted at our 35 yard line. Two more incomplete passes, and the punt team would make its first appearance of the game. Taking over at their 29 yard line following the 45 yard punt, Akron had some trouble passing as well, as Morris’ pass attempt to Young was well overthrown. A three yard rush by Will Whitmore left Akron with third and 7 before the Zips burned our pass defense yet again, completing a 26 yard pass down to our 42 yard line. Akron looked like little would stop them after a 5 yard pass and a 4 yard rush by Morris left the Zips with third and one. A holding penalty on third down however would cost Akron as an incomplete pass on third and 11 would end their drive with a punt instead of a field goal as the holding penalty pushed them out of field goal range. The Zips would get the last laugh however, as their 41 yard punt would go unreturned, leaving our offense starting on our own two yard line.
After a four yard rush by Fletcher to at least get breathing room, Booth found Brandon Price for a 12 yard gain and a first down. A three yard run by Fletcher set up Price for an 8 yard pickup and another first down at the 35 yard line. It was then that the Zips defense met a fired up Price, who proceeded to steamroll over three Akron defenders on the next play prior breaking loose for a 57 yard gain before being finally brought down at the Akron 7 yard line. The sweet smell of success was found on the next play with Booth hit Roberts on an out route in the end zone for the 7 yard touchdown pass. One extra point later by Alphonso Pratt and we had regained the lead, 10-3 with 1:12 left in the first quarter. Despite a 25 yard kickoff return out to their 27 yard line, the Zips found almost no success on their next drive, as Morris was promptly sacked for a 5 yard loss on first down, then tackled for a two yard loss on the next play, before managing only four yards on the ground on third and 18. A 43 yard punt returned 8 yards by Price set us up on our 42 yard line with only 15 seconds left in the quarter. After an incomplete pass, a 9 yard sack brought the quarter to an end, with our lead holding at 10-3 while facing third and 19. Even worse news came with that quarter ending play, when word was received that Fletcher suffered a mild concussion during the play and would be sidelined for the rest of the game, leaving our running game without its #1 weapon.
The second quarter didn’t welcome in any better news, as an incomplete pass left us with fourth and 19 and the punt unit trotting onto the field. Our defense at least continued its improved performance, sacking Morris for an 8 yard loss on first down from the Akron 26. Whitmore would manage 4 yards on second and 14, but the drive would end on the next play when Morris was forced to throw it was from his own 22. A fair catch on the 41 yard punt and our offense resumed possession on our 36 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Booth connected with Price out of the backfield for a 7 yard gain, setting up third and 3 at our 43 yard line, which Price promptly converted with an 8 yard rush up the gut to set up first down at the Akron 49 yard line. Catching the defense sleeping, Fox was able to pick up 9 yards on a stretch play before Price converted for the first down with a 4 yard off-tackle rush. The ground game went back to being buried in the playbook when a pitch play was blown up, resulting in Price being tackled for a loss of three yards. Booth would recover those yards and gain some extra with a 6 yard pass to Roberts, leaving us with third and 7 at the 33 yard line. The pass attempt was batted down at the line of scrimmage, and instead of attempting a 50 yard field goal, the punt team came out and booted it out for a touchback. The Akron offense would still find no success as three straight incomplete passes by Morris brought their drive to an immediate end.
A short punt kept our offense in good position, as we took over at our 45 yard line and hoped to finally expand on the lead our defense had been keeping safe for us. Unfortunately, our offense proved to be no better. After a quick 6 yard pass to Fox, Price was blown up for only a one yard gain on the ground, before a dropped pass, that would have converted a first down, left us with fourth and three and punting yet again. A booming punt left Akron buried at their 10 and that was the best they’d see on the drive. Two incomplete passes and a rush for a loss of two yards left Akron still stalled and struggling to stay afloat on offense as they punted on fourth and 12 from their 8 yard line. Naturally that would be too good to not spoil, and a 5 yard offside penalty on our defense gave Akron fourth and 7 from their 13. A 41 yard punt later and instead of starting in immaculate field position, we were back on our 45 yard line once again. After a 5 yard gain by Price, we were able to get a first down with a 7 yard catch by Roberts. A 6 yard rush by Price left us in great position, but our offensive line once again fouled up our drive, as the Akron defense blew through nearly untouched and Price was tackled for a loss of two. An incomplete pass left us facing fourth and 6 from the 39 yard line. A decision was made to go for it on fourth down, leaving the fate of this drive in the hands of Booth and our receiving corps. The pass fell incomplete as Price slipped and fell while making a cut, and the ball already in the air, flew by overhead and landed on the rain soaked grass without a hope of being caught. The defense kept the Akron offense still unable to move, as an incomplete pass, a tackle for a loss of four and a three yard picked up by Morris was all the Zips could manage, punting on fourth and 11. This time however, the Zips were punting from their own 39 yard line, leaving us with a full field to navigate and only two minutes left in the half in which to do so. Price gave us a gift with a 23 yard punt return as we opened up shop at the 46.
After an incomplete pass on first down, Booth found Price wide open in the flats, though it would only pick up three yards. A deep attempt on third and 7 and an answer for the impossible to defeat Akron secondary still could not be found. A batted down, nearly intercepted, pass brought the drive to an end with 1:15 to play. The saving grace was a 45 yard punt that went unreturned, leaving Akron to take over on their 5 yard line. Two incomplete passes and a rush for a loss of two yards left Akron punting on fourth and 12 from their 3 yard line, us with one time out left, and 56 seconds still on the clock. A 48 yard punt returned 5 yards by Price left just 46 yards between us and the end zone with 49 seconds to work with. After an incomplete pass on first down, Roberts was able to slip behind the secondary and haul in a pass from Booth, rumbling 37 yards down to the Akron 10 before finally being brought down. A lot of time was wasted after that play when our offense, after rushing to the line, was unable to make up their minds on whether to pass it, rush it, or spike the ball and stop the clock. Finally settling on a pass play, it was quickly broken up and left only 19 seconds to spare. A 7 yard pass on second down to Andrews and our final timeout was called. With only 13 seconds left in the half, this was most likely going to be the final play. The defense, cheating run with the ball on the three yard line, was caught defenseless when Conner Jefferson hauled in a pass at the two yard line and outraced his defender to the pylon to give us a 17-3 lead with 9 seconds left in the first half. The clock would expire on the kickoff and it was off to the locker rooms with a 14 point lead.
A 79 yard kickoff for a touchback gave Akron the ball on their 25 yard line to start the second half. This time they had found a way to beat our defense. After a 6 yard rush by Seth Scott and an incomplete pass to leave the Zips with third and 4, Jermaine Merrick finally got Akron a first down with a 5 yard rush. Despite our defense rising up and sacking Morris for a 6 yard loss on the next play, Merrick again burned the defense, hauling in a 34 yard pass to get the Zips first down at our 37. A 5 yard rush by Morris was followed with a 13 yard pass to Jansen, setting up first down at our 18 yard line. The defense then felt the need to help out, getting tagged with pass interference and giving the Zips 15 free yards and first and goal at our 3 yard line. The defense got a little breathing room, tackling Whitmore for a three yard loss, but Morris found Scott on the next play for a two yard gain, setting up third and goal from the four yard line. Whitmore would take care of business on the next play, rumbling ahead for a four yard touchdown rush to close the gap to 17-10 with 6:41 left in the third quarter. A touchback on the kickoff gave us possession on the 25.
After an incomplete pass to Roberts to open the drive, the offense caught fire, as Booth converted first down with a 12 yard pass to Fisher. After a pair of incomplete passes resulting in third and 10, Booth found Roberts over the middle for a 20 yard gain, giving us first down at the Akron 43. Booth then connected with Randy Newman for an 18 yard gain and another first down at the Akron 25. A pair of 12 yard gains to Roberts and Donny Jordan set up first and goal at the one yard line. Price would finish off the drive with a dive up the middle to make it 24-10 with 5:11 left in the third quarter. The Zips weren’t going to go quietly on offense. After a pass thrown away on first down, Morris found Young for a 10 yard gain and a first down. Whitmore picked up 5 yards on the ground before Morris hit Merrick for 15 yards and another first down, this time down to our 41 yard line. Another thrown away pass was followed with a 13 yard strike to Gibson and Akron was down to our 28. The defense would make a stand after that play, tackling Whitmore for consecutive three yard losses before an incomplete pass left Akron with fourth and 16 from our 34 yard line. Instead of trying the 51 yard field goal, the Zips elected to punt, the 47 yard bomb going out of the end zone for a touchback.
It was a poor start to our drive as a holding call on the first play negated what would have a been a first down securing rush by Price, and pushed us back to our 15 yard line. Roberts quickly gained back those yards, diving to catch an overthrown pass from Roberts for a 10 yard gain. Another catch by Roberts, this time for 9 yards, left us with third and one at the 29. Price picked up that one yard, and then some, rumbling ahead for a 6 yard gain, giving us first down at the 35. An attempt to catch the defense napping went nowhere when a pitch to the left was quickly stopped for only a two yard gain. An incomplete pass on the next play left us facing third and 8. Fox hauled in the third down pass, but was tackled for only a 5 yard gain, bringing out the punt team on fourth and three. Taking over on their own 22, the Zips quickly moved backwards courtesy of a false start penalty, but that was quickly erased when our defense gave them 9 free yards and a new first down on a penalty on the very next play. A 5 yard rush by Whitmore advanced the Zips out to their 30 yard line, but Whitmore was tackled for a two yard loss on the following play, after which an incomplete pass left Akron with fourth and 7 and another failed drive. A 6 yard return on the 44 yard punt set us up at the 33 yard line with only 5 seconds left in the quarter. A rush up the middle by Price was quickly stonewalled for a one yard loss, leaving us with second and 11 as the third quarter came to a close, a 24-10 lead over Akron.
The first play of the fourth quarter resulted in our best play of the game, as the cornerback slipped and fell on the rain soaked turf, allowing Fisher to jet up the left sideline completely uncovered, hauling in the rainbow pass from Booth and taking it 68 yards to the house untouched, giving us a 31-10 lead with 8:53 left in the game. Starting off their drive with yet another incomplete pass, Akron was able to finally move the ball a bit on offense, picking up 8 yards from Whitmore followed by a three yard rush from Morris for a first down at the 35. That was the best Akron would do as an incomplete pass, a sack for a loss of 8 yards and a dropped pass on third down left Akron punting for yet another time today on fourth and 18 from their 27. A 46 yard punt caught on a fair catch gave us possession on our 26. Trying to chew off some clock, we let our running game go to town on the Akron defense, as Price broke of a 5 yard rush, before Fox followed with a 6 yard gain and a first down. Another rush by Price, this time for 7 yards left us with second and three at the 48 yard line, when a play action fake caught the defense with their pants down, enabling Fisher to haul in a pass from Booth for a 21 yard gain and a first down at the Akron 31. Pulling out some of the pages from deeper in the playbook proved costly, as a HB screen failed, resulting in a loss of three yards, followed by Booth throwing his first interception of the season, directly into the hands of defender Jermaine Bush. Booth almost saved his error, as Bush was stripped and fumbled the ball during his 9 yard interception return, but the ball took an Akron bounce and Bush was able to fall on it before any of the three Tulsa players nearby could.
That interception gave Akron some of their best field position all game, starting on their own 40 yard line with 5:03 left to play. After a thrown away pass, Morris picked up 5 yards on the ground and then connected with Merrick for an 8 yard gain to get the first down at the Tulsa 46. A 3 yard rush by Whitmore was followed up by an incomplete pass, leaving Akron with third and 7. A 5 yard pass to Merrick was not enough, leaving the Zips with fourth and three from our 39 yard line. They would attempt the fourth down conversion, but Whitmore was tackled for a loss of three yards, giving us the ball on downs at our 42 with 4:02 left to play. Trying to run down the remaining clock as much as possible, it was all ground game this drive. Price got things started off with rushes of 5 and 4 yards, before Fox got the first down with a 2 yard gain. Rushes of 7, 9, 7 and 5 yards by Price gave us first down at the Akron 14 yard line. A one yard rush by Price was followed by no gain and a rush for a loss of two yards, leaving us with fourth and 11 at the Akron 15, no timeouts and unable to run off the remaining clock. In a play that is sure to send spectators, Akron fans, college football fans in general and football analysts into a frenzy for days, Booth found Fisher over the middle. A catch at the three yard line which would have been enough for a game ending first down, turned into controversy when Fisher turned his shoulder and dove for the end zone, putting Tulsa up 38-10 with only 13 seconds left in the game. After a touchback on the kickoff, a 5 yard run by Whitmore brought the game to a close. There’s no doubt Akron will be looking for payback on this one in 2015 when the Zips come to Tulsa.
And so we kick off the 2014 season with a win and improve to 1-0. Akron drops to 0-1. Next up, #4 Oklahoma. We get to be their warm-up game as the Sooners open their year in Tulsa. Time to stock up on some lube. 
Final Score
38:
10
Stat(s) of the Game:
Tulsa Offense – 525 yards of total offense, with a powerful running attack (even if it was without it’s star running back) and a beastly passing game. Now the only question is how to get both going full speed in the first half and not wait until the second half to break out. That crap won’t fly against Oklahoma. Brandon Booth meanwhile had an almost perfect day, going 27-49, 349 yards passing and 4 touchdowns, the only blemish being the one interception.
Tulsa Defense – Held the Zips to 235 yards of offense. While the passing game tore the defense apart of times, they were giants against the Akron run game, holding the Zips to only 49 yards rushing.
Tulsa Kicking – A perfect 1-1 field goals and 5-5 extra points.
Scoring Summary
| Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
10 |
7 |
7 |
14 |
38 |
|
3 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
10 |
| Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
| First Quarter |
| 5:51 |
|
Field Goal |
A. Pratt, 30 yard field goal |
3-0 |
| 4:49 |
|
Field Goal |
K. Robertson, 37 yard field goal |
TIED 3-3 |
| 1:12 |
|
Touchdown |
N. Roberts, 7 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) |
10-3 |
|
| Second Quarter |
| 0:09 |
|
Touchdown |
C. Jefferson, 3 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) |
17-3 |
|
| Third Quarter |
| 6:41 |
|
Touchdown |
W. Whitmore, 3 yard run (K. Robertson kick) |
17-10 |
| 5:11 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Price, 1 yard run (A. Pratt kick) |
24-10 |
|
| Fourth Quarter |
| 8:53 |
|
Touchdown |
C. Fisher, 68 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) |
31-10 |
| 0:13 |
|
Touchdown |
C. Fisher, 15 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) |
38-10 |
| Tulsa |
Stat |
Akron |
| 38 |
Score |
10 |
| 23 |
First Downs |
11 |
| 525 |
Total Offense |
235 |
| 36 - 176 - 1 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
25 - 49 - 1 |
| 27 - 49 - 4 |
Comp - Att - TD |
12 - 36 - 0 |
| 349 |
Passing Yards |
186 |
| 1 |
Times Sacked |
4 |
| 9 - 18 (50%) |
3rd Down Conversion |
5 - 17 (29%) |
| 1 - 2 (50%) |
4th Down Conversion |
0 - 1 (0%) |
| 0 - 0 (0%) |
2-Point Conv |
0 - 0 (0%) |
| 8 - 4 - 1 (62%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
2 - 1 - 0 (50%) |
| 1 |
Turnovers |
0 |
| 0 |
Fumbles Lost |
0 |
| 1 |
Intercepted |
0 |
| 47 |
Punt Return Yards |
5 |
| 29 |
Kick Return Yards |
91 |
| 601 |
Total Yards |
331 |
| 6 – 41.2 |
Punts - Average |
10 - 42.1 |
| 5 - 44 |
Penalties |
3 - 20 |
| 20:30 |
Time of Possession |
15:30 |
| Fail Impact |
Goal |
Progress |
Pass Impact |
|
Win 8 games in one season |
1 |
 |
 |
13+ passing TD in one season |
4 |
|
|
14+ points per game in each season |
38 |
|
|
7+ rushing TD in one season |
1 |
|
 |
2400+ total offensive yards in one season |
525 |
|
 |
2400+ total offensive yards in each season |
525 |
 |
|
Win 4 games in one season |
1 |
|
|
2000+ total offensive yards in one season |
525 |
 |
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
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Louisiana Tech held tough with #3 LSU, at one point only losing 42-31 at the end of the third quarter, but the Tigers end up winning 52-31. #11 South Carolina escapes Vanderbilt 17-15. It was a bad weekend for Florida, as Rutgers storms Tallahassee and knocks off #8 Florida State 22-10. #14 Clemson holds off #19 Nebraska 21-17.
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