Sports editor Jaralynn Tammi Morellano discusses past and future TU football performances.
The University of Tulsa’s football team fell short 24-28 against Arkansas State University on Saturday at the Centennial Bank Stadium. This loss brings Tulsa’s season record to 1-1 as Arkansas improves to 2-0.
At the start of the game, the Golden Hurricane was able to put a stop to the Red Wolves on its fourth down. Following this, a field goal from Seth Morgan would put Tulsa ahead. Arkansas would take a touchdown in the first quarter to take the lead.
In the second quarter, we saw two quarterbacks from the Golden Hurricane, Kirk Francis and Cardell Williams. Both would secure touchdowns for Tulsa, Francis throwing for a 39-yard touchdown and Williams bolting for a five-yard rush into the endzone before the quarter closed.
Despite Tulsa going into the second half up 17-1, the hosts would fire back early in the third quarter, then return a punt 77 yards for another touchdown to lead 17-21. This quarter continued to see a lot of action, both sides making it to the board with touchdowns once more. The quarter ended 24-28.
Neither team would find the endzone in the last quarter. Though Golden Hurricane made another quarterback substitution to play Cooper Legas, it could not do enough to edge itself into a winning position.
It will return to home field the next weekend to face Oklahoma State University. In its very first meeting against the Cowboys on Oct. 16 in 1914 where OSU beat Tulsa 13-6. The last game between these competitors ended in the Cowboys’ favor 28-23. The current historical record between the teams stands at OSU with 43 wins and Tulsa with 27. The teams will meet once more on Saturday, Sept. 14.
With the opponents coming so close from home, Tulsa students are in anticipation of the upcoming event. “I think we have a decent shot at beating OSU considering how we performed against NSU,” said University of Tulsa student Sajid Rahman. “Although OSU has a strong running back, the rest of the team is not that great. We have a strong quarterback and team this season, so we could score high.”
In contrast to these comments, many believe the Golden Hurricane will fall easily to the Cowboys, some going as far to say Tulsa will be in a 40-point deficit. Despite the many differences in final score outcomes, all students surveyed believe its players will get to the scoreboard with at least two touchdowns.
A handful believe it too soon to be able to make any predictions on the game. “It is honestly hard to say,” said Brooklyn Wagenblatt. “I looked at OSU’s previous game (against South Dakota State) 44-20. However, we did win our previous game at 62. It is hard to make a prediction so early in the season, especially when our previous years were not the best. I’m hoping we will win this time.”
The Cowboys’ recent game ended in a 39-31 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks. How the Golden Hurricane will fare against NCAA #16, but it will certainly be an exciting day in Oklahoma. The game will kick off at 11:00 a.m. CDT.
