Comeback victory suits Tulsa
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Tulsa made a remarkable comeback this season. Fittingly, the Golden Hurricane used a timely rally to win their biggest game of the year.
Paul Smith ran 4 yards for the winning touchdown with 2 minutes, 55 seconds to play, and Tulsa had two key interceptions in its 31-24 victory over Fresno State on Saturday in the Liberty Bowl.
“Today was really a microcosm of our season,” coach Steve Kragthorpe said.
Smith, the game’s MVP, was 18 of 27 for 234 yards with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Ashlan Davis. But he made his biggest play on the ground, scrambling around three defenders and into the end zone to secure Tulsa’s first bowl victory in 14 years.
“I just decided I didn’t want to force (a pass) in there,” Smith said. “I’ve done that a lot when I was younger, and it always goes 99 yards the other way. So I just wanted to tuck it down and try to make a play.”
The Golden Hurricane forced a pair of turnovers from the Bulldogs’ Paul Pinegar in clinching their seventh win in eight games to close the season.
First, defensive back Anthony Germany set up Tulsa’s decisive drive by picking off Pinegar’s pass with just less than 7 minutes remaining.
“He threw it a little flatter than usual, and I just went up and snagged it,” Germany said.
Fresno State then had one final chance to force overtime, and Pinegar drove the Bulldogs into Tulsa territory before his pass toward the sideline was picked off by linebacker Nelson Coleman at the 30.
The Golden Hurricane (9-4) then ran out the clock and celebrated their first bowl victory since they beat San Diego State in the Freedom Bowl in 1991.
The victory capped a tremendous turnaround under Kragthorpe, who before the 2003 season took over a Tulsa program that was coming off 11 straight losing seasons and led it to two bowls in three years.
“I’ve got far too much credit for what’s taken place,” Kragthorpe said. “What you see on Saturday, as a fan … I’m fortunate enough as a coach to see Monday through Friday.”
The Golden Hurricane overcame low expectations this season to claim an unlikely Conference USA championship in their first year in the league, then beat a Fresno State team that gave top-ranked Southern California fits and once was ranked 16th in the nation before the Bulldogs slid into a late-season slump.
“It was sort of the story of our season down the stretch,” Fresno State coach Pat Hill said.
Fresno State (8-5) closed with four straight losses after beating Boise State on Nov. 10. The closer-than-expected loss to top-ranked USC came nine days later.
“Until Nov. 19, it went very well. At the end, it didn’t go very well,” Hill said. “We had a very, very good season going and we didn’t finish the way we wanted to.”