by TULSA, Okla. – Senior running back Zack Langer powered across the goal line from three yards out in overtime to give The University of Tulsa a 47-44 season-opening victory in front of 24,001 fans Saturday afternoon at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
The win gave TU head coach Philip Montgomery his first victory as a head coach.
“I’m just extremely proud of our football team,” Montgomery said. “We battled all the way through it, fought to the bitter end. Never gave up hope. I thought our conditioning and our tempo – guys just fighting through adversity. We had some guys go down today, and guys had to step up and fill in those spots. I’m just so proud of our football team and the way they continued to fight all the way through.”
The Golden Hurricane (1-0) trailed by 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter, and scored on a Langer touchdown run and a Redford Jones field goal to tie the score, 38-38, with 5:41 remaining. After a field goal put the Owls (0-1) ahead, 41-38, TU drove 53 yards and Jones knocked a 39-yarder through the uprights to force overtime.
The Hurricane held FAU to a 27-yard field goal on the first possession of the extra period, and used five plays to march the 25 yards to the win. Lucas took the first play 11 yards, and Langer took the ball on each following play, rushing for three yards twice, five yards, and the three-yard score.
Langer ran for 89 yards, including 70 in the second half. Junior quarterback Dane Evans (Wichita Tribe)passed for 424 yards and two touchdowns, completing 21-of-33 passes. Junior Keevan Lucas caught 10 passes for 193 yards and two scores, and senior Keyarris Garrett tallied five catches for a career-high 163 yards. Sophomore running back D’Angelo Brewer rushed for 92 yards, and Lucas added 21 yards on two rushes.
The Hurricane totaled 618 yards on 86 plays, including 194 on the ground, while FAU totaled 563 yards on 96 plays, including 300 rushing yards and 263 passing yards.
“When you’re on the field with them, you get to learn a whole lot more about them,” Montgomery said. “You saw some guys step up and make plays on both sides of the football and in special teams. We’ve got a lot to do, a lot to learn, a lot more to grow with. But as far as a first official outing with them, on both sides of that thing, us with them and them with us, I think we learned a lot about each other today. I think we’re going to continue to grow and get better as a football team.”
Trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, Tulsa scored the next 21 points in the span of less than five minutes to take a 21-7 lead at the 12:49 mark of the first half. FAU rattled off the next 24 points and took a 31-21 lead with 11:14 remaining in the third period.
The Owls took the opening second-half kickoff 70 yards in three plays to take a 24-21 lead, its first since 7-0 first quarter lead. Tulsa fumbles on its first play after the kickoff, and FAU capitalized from the Hurricane 34-yard line, going the distance in three plays taking 2:39 off the clock to take a 10-point lead at 31-21.
Tulsa took the next possession 75 yards in nine plays to cut its deficit to three points, 31-28, at the 8:27 mark of the third period on a Zack Langer five-yard run. Aside from a 15-yard penalty, Langer gained all 60 yards on the drive, including 34 yards on one reception and 26 on five rushes.
FAU responded again on its next possession to take another 10-point lead at 38-28, as Johnson threw the final two yards to Kalib Woods, capping a seven-play, 58-yard drive with 5:51 on the third quarter clock. Tulsa cut the FAU lead to three points early in the fourth quarter when Langer scored his second TD of the game on a one yard run.
Langer’s touchdown made the score 38-35 with 13:23 remaining in the game.
FAU took the subsequent possession to the Tulsa 23-yard line, but a 40-yard field goal went wide right keeping Tulsa’s deficit to three points. The Hurricane moved down the field and knotted the score at 39 on Redford Jones‘ field goal to tie the score at 38-38.
The Owls then drove 45 yards in 3:53 to take the 41-38 lead on a 47-yard field goal. Tulsa took over on its own 25 yard line with 1:48 to play, and used 12 plays to drive 53 yards, setting up Jones’ 39-yard strike to knot the game at 41-41.
In overtime, FAU had first and goal at the TU 3 and a two-yard run brought it to the 1, but an illegal formation penalty and a sack by sophomore defensive tackle Jesse Brubaker pushed the Owls back to the 11. An incomplete pass set up the 27-yard field goal.
On its possession, TU handed the ball to Lucas for an 11-yard gain, and Langer did the rest of the work, securing the win for the Hurricane.
FAU got on the board first following an interception that gave the Owls the ball at the Tulsa 45-yard line. Four plays later, the Owls’ Greg Howell ran around the left end for an 11-yard touchdown with 4:34 remaining on the first quarter clock.
The Hurricane responded in just 1:49 to tie the score at 7-7 as Evans connected on a 39-yard pass in the end zone to Lucas, capping a seven-play, 75-yard drive. Tulsa’s defense forced a three-and-out on FAU’s next possession, while the Hurricane offense went 80 yards in five plays, taking just 1:11 off the clock to take a 14-7 lead with 0:39 left in the first 15 minutes.
Tulsa went up 21-7 after Lucas’ second touchdown pass from Evans at the 12:49 mark of the second quarter. The 43-yard pass came on the first play from scrimmage.
The Owls closed the gap to 21-14 at the 6:18 mark of the second quarter as Jaquez Johnson passed 17 yards to Jenson Stoshak, capping an 80-yard, 8-play drive.
The Hurricane let another chance to score in the first half get away after marching to the FAU nine-yard line when Evans threw 44 yards to Keyarris Garrett, but Tulsa failed to score, missing on a 26-yard field goal attempt. FAU responded with a 45-yard field goal with 0:56 left on the first-half clock to pull within four points, 21-17, capping a nine-play, 52-yard drive.
At the half, along with a four-point lead, Tulsa had the advantage in total offense, 302 to 264, including 219 passing yards. Evans completed 9-of-15 passes and two touchdowns, while FSU’s Jaquez Johnson completed 12-of-17 passes for 146 yards.
The Golden Hurricane plays at New Mexico next week, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN3.com.
