UH survives scare from Tulsa
UH stops Tulsa just short of the end zone to win 38-31.
The Cougars stop the Golden Hurricane at the goal line on the game’s final play to preserve a 38-31 win.
University of Houston coach Tom Herman calls it “training for chaos.”
On Saturday night, chaos was packed into 81 delirious, check-your-blood pressure seconds.
The No. 13 Cougars came up with two big defensive stands in the closing minutes, returning a fumble for a touchdown and stopping Tulsa at the goal line on the final play of the game for a 38-31 victory at TDECU Stadium.
Tulsa took over at its 14-yard line with the game tied at 31. Two plays later, quarterback Dane Evans was flushed out of the pocket, rolled to his left and had the ball stripped by UH safety Garrett Davis. Linebacker Emeke Egbule scooped up the loose ball and ran 24 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
“I just knew I had to do something with it,” said Egbule, who moved into the starting lineup two weeks ago when Tyus Bowser suffered a fractured orbital bone in a fight with teammate Matthew Adams.
The touchdown set off a wild celebration, as Egbule was mobbed by teammates in the end zone.
“I couldn’t breathe with everybody on top of me,” Egbule said.
But Evans completed four passes on Tulsa’s final drive. The Golden Hurricane drove to the UH 1-yard line on a 23-yard run by James Flanders, who was stopped just short of the end zone on a tackle by cornerback Jeremy Winchester.
On the next play, freshman defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who had a careerhigh 12 tackles, stuffed Flanders for a 1-yard loss with 7 seconds left.
On the final play, Evans rolled to his right and threw to Jesse Brubaker, Tulsa’s 6-3, 270-pound starting defensive end. Brubaker caught the ball at the goal line and was unable to turn after being met by safeties Khalil Williams and Austin Robinson.
The play was reviewed and ultimately confirmed as the Cougars — and an announced crowd of 38,221 — celebrated one of the most thrilling victories in years. Three TDs for walk-on
It also was a bit of redemption for an embattled UH defense that was shredded for 306 rush- ing yards in a 46-40 loss to Navy last week and 365 passing yards by Tulsa.
“I didn’t sense any doubt in our defense,” said Herman, who won for the 19th time in 21 games at UH.
Herman put the game in his defense’s hands when he opted to punt on fourthand-5 from the Tulsa 44 — a decision he called a “nobrainer” — with less than two minutes remaining.
The Cougars responded by forcing their second turnover of the game, but only the third in the last four games for a unit that had been one of the nation’s best at creating turnovers the last four seasons.
“About time,” Herman said. “We’ve done such an unbelievable job here in the past years creating turnovers and haven’t for whatever reason this year.”
Dillon Birden, a walkon running back for the Cougars, finished with a career-high three rushing touchdowns. He has seven touchdowns in the last three games while filling in for Duke Catalon, who has been sidelined with concussion symptoms.
Birden scored on runs of 6 and 8 yards in the second half as the Cougars broke a 17-17 tie at halftime.
But it would be another double-digit lead the Cougars would blow in the game; they were up 17-3 until Tulsa scored 14 points in the final 2:55 of the second quarter.
UH (6-1, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) held Tulsa to 94 yards on the ground. The Golden Hurricane (4-2, 1-1) played most of the game without D’Angelo Brewers, one of the nation’s top rushers who left the game in the second quarter with an apparent ankle injury. Brewer had 10 carries for 26 yards. QB Ward runs rampant
Evans went to the air with Justin Hobbs and Keenen Johnson accounting for 16 catches for 223 yards. Hobbs took advantage of a blown coverage assignment in the UH secondary for a 38-yard touchdown to pull Tulsa within 31-24 with 7:03 remaining.
Flanders scored on a 3-yard run to tie the game at 31.
“We’re built to stop the run,” Herman said. “We’ve got to get better against the pass.”
UH quarterback Greg Ward Jr. reminded people how dangerous he is with his legs, rushing for a season-high 142 yards and throwing for 254 yards.
Wide receiver Linell Bonner had another big performance with 13 catches for 97 yards, while Chance Allen added seven catches for 89 yards before leaving late in the fourth quarter with a neck injury.
With the win, UH became bowl-eligible for the 10th time in the last 12 seasons.
As he walked out of the postgame news conference, Herman was asked how his blood pressure was.
“It’s good,” he said with a smile.