Both teams showed their offensive mastery, as they combined for 1,361 total yards of offense on 176 total plays. In addition, both squads enjoyed both a 400-yard passer and a 100-yard rusher.
Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield had a career day, passing for 487 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
In fact, Mayfield’s performance set a new school record for Oklahoma, with 572 total yards of offense.
However, Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans had a marvelous game of his own. Though he passed for sixty less yards than Mayfield, Evans also had four touchdown passes, with zero interceptions. Keevan Lucas was on the receiving end of half of those touchdowns, with Keyarris Garrett and Josh Atkinson splitting the other two. Zack Langer had a great day as well, rushing for 161 yards and scoring the fifth touchdown.
When Tulsa gained zero yards on their first drive and promptly gave up points to OU, it quickly looked like it would be a game reminiscent of years past. After the first quarter, OU held a 17–3 led. However, it was Tulsa that outscored OU in the second quarter, 21–14. This included a stretch of 14 points in 12 seconds to end the first half, including an incredible Hail Mary pass that was caught by Garrett to end the half. Ultimately, Oklahoma would not relinquish their 31–24 lead, as they outpaced Tulsa en route to the final score of 52–38.
Though this is the first loss for Tulsa, there’s still a lot of positives to take away from it. Dane Evans had an incredible passing game, completing 34 of 51 passes. Josh Atkinson proved to be a solid #3 receiver behind Garrett and Lucas, with 104 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The hurry-up tempo brought over from Baylor also seemed to be fluid, as they once again surpassed 90 offensive plays and 600 total yards of offense. Though it may not seem like there was anything to write home about defensively, the defense did have a strong goal line stand to start the game, holding OU’s first points to a field goal.
“I loved the way our guys battled. They never gave up belief and continued to fight until the end. We made some mistakes that we will go back and correct, but I thought our effort was outstanding and we will continue to get better,” coach Montgomery said after the game.
The Hurricane take the next week off, then will finally have their second home game, hosting the Houston Cougars to begin conference play on Oct. 3.
