The Golden Hurricane captures their third win of the season in a non-conference game.
The University of Tulsa Football team captured their third win under head coach Tre Lamb on Saturday with a 31-14 victory against the Oregon State University Beavers. The Golden Hurricane dominated the game, going up 31-0 before two late touchdowns from the Beavers in the fourth quarter put them on the board.
TU came into the game with a record of 2-7, falling out of bowl game contention following their loss in Boca Raton against Florida Atlantic University. That game, marked by their struggles to take care of the ball on offense, led to an inspired offensive performance against the Beavers with zero turnovers.
Oregon State started the game with a three-and-out on offense, as quarterback Gabarri Johnson struggled to get going early. For TU, star tight end Brody Foley started the drive with a holding penalty that set the Golden Hurricane back ten yards, but he immediately made up for it with a big 40-yard catch and run to put them in Beaver territory. A quick 18-yard scramble from freshman quarterback Baylor Hayes put TU just outside the redzone. On the very next play, senior running back Dominic Richardson put them on the board with an impressive 24-yard touchdown run.
The rest of the quarter was all Golden Hurricane. Oregon State’s next possession ended the same as their first: a three-and-out followed by a punt. TU would score once more on their next possession, this time thanks to Brody Foley on a 6-yard catch following a big pass interference penalty on the Beavers’ defense. The two teams would trade punts, and the first quarter would end 14-0 in favor of Tulsa.
In the second quarter, both defenses started to show their prowess. Both teams would punt once again, with Oregon State trying some creativity on special teams. Instead of sending their punter out, they lined up to go for it on 4th-and-17 and let Gabarri Johnson attempt a punt. This would backfire completely, as the punt would only go 13 yards and allow TU to start at the 50-yard line. Tulsa kicker Seth Morgan would tack on three points with a 25-yard field goal to end the drive, giving them a halftime lead of 17-0.
Tulsa came out of the halftime break firing on all cylinders, as they started their first drive with a 22-yard run by Dominic Richardson, followed up directly by a 23-yard catch by Brody Foley. Another 24-yard run by Richardson would put them in the redzone, and Foley would cap off the drive with a rushing touchdown from the 5-yard line to make it 24-0.
Tulsa would later add to the lead with a huge run by Ajay Allen, as he spun and reversed the field before finding the end zone on a 31-yard touchdown. Early in the 4th quarter, Oregon State would finally find some offensive rhythm with third-string quarterback Tristan Ti’a. He would connect with receiver Trent Walker on a 43-yard pass, and then later found Walker for a 3-yard touchdown catch to put the Beavers on the board, making the score 31-6. Tulsa continued to run the clock down, and Walker and Tia would connect for a big play again that would lead to another Oregon State touchdown and two-point conversion that would put the scoreboard at 31-14.
TU improved to 3-7 on the year, gaining momentum before heading back into conference play on the road against the Army University Black Knights on Nov. 22. Coach Lamb, still searching for his first conference win, has an interesting challenge ahead of him against a talented Army team.
