Hurricane avenges early loss to Cyclones
MEMPHIS, TENN. — Tulsa capped one of the greatest seasons in school history by relying on the two strengths that carried the Golden Hurricane all season: running the ball and rushing the passer.
Trey Watts rushed for 149 yards, Alex Singleton ran for three scores and Tulsa avenged a seasonopening loss to Iowa State with a 31-17 victory in the rainy Liberty Bowl on Monday.
Tulsa’s defense recorded five sacks, forced three turnovers and held Iowa State scoreless over the final three quarters as the Golden Hurricane erased an early 10-point deficit.
“We never wavered, not for a second,” said Watts, selected as the game’s most valuable player.
The Golden Hurricane (11-3) posted the second 11-win season in school history. Tulsa, which has the smallest enrollment of any Football Bowl Subdivision program, also finished 11-3 in 2008.
Iowa State (6-7) rallied to beat Tulsa 38-23 on Sept. 1, but the Golden Hurricane put together the comeback in the rematch. Tulsa trailed 17-7 at the end of the first quarter.
“They’ve accomplished something nobody else at Tulsa has done,” Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship said. “That’s a huge deal for us. We’ve had a team that won 11 before, so we tied that. We had a team that won the Liberty Bowl before and won Conference USA. We’ve done that. But we did it all in the same year (this season).”
Both teams had changed quite a bit since that regular-season opener.
Iowa State’s Steele Jantz, who threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third score in the season opener, lost his starting job to redshirt freshman Sam Richardson. The Cyclones’ leading rusher (Shontrelle Johnson) and top tackler ( Jake Knott) from the Sept. 1 game missed the Liberty Bowl with injuries.
Tulsa linebacker Shawn Jackson, a three-year starter, was serving a three-game suspension during the last meeting with Iowa State. Jackson sacked Richardson on consecutive plays late in the first quarter Monday and forced a fumble in the game’s closing minutes. Richardson was battling flu-like symptoms and left in the fourth quarter. Bowl NewMexico Idaho Potato Poinsettia Beef O’Brady’s New Orleans Las Vegas Hawaii Little Caesars Military Belk Holiday Independence Russell Athletic Meineke Car Care Armed Forces Kraft Fight Hunger Pinstripe Alamo Buffalo Wild Wings Music City Sun Liberty Chick-fil-A Heart of Dallas Gator Outback Capital One Rose Orange Sugar Fiesta Cotton BBVACompass GoDaddy.com BCS title game Date Dec. 15 Dec. 15 Dec. 20 Dec. 21 Dec. 22 Dec. 22 Dec. 24 Dec. 26 Dec. 27 Dec. 27 Dec. 27 Dec. 28 Dec. 28 Dec. 28 Dec. 29 Dec. 29 Dec. 29 Dec. 29 Dec. 29 Dec. 31 Dec. 31 Dec. 31 Dec. 31 Today Today Today Today Today Today Jan. 2 Jan. 3 Jan. 4 Jan. 5 Jan. 6 Jan. 7 Location Albuquerque Arizona 49, Nevada 48 Boise, Idaho Utah State 41, Toledo 15 San Diego Brigham Young 23, San Diego State 6 St. Petersburg, Fla. Central Florida 38, Ball State 17 New Orleans Louisiana-Lafayette 43, East Carolina 34 Las Vegas Boise State 28, Washington 26 Honolulu SMU 43, Fresno State 10 Detroit Central Michigan 24, Western Kentucky 21 Washington, D.C. San Jose State 29, Bowling Green 20 Charlotte, N.C. Cincinnati 48, Duke 34 San Diego Baylor 49. UCLA 26 Shreveport, La. Ohio University 45, Lousiana-Monroe 14 Orlando, Fla. Virginia Tech 13, Rutgers 10 OT Houston Texas Tech 34, Minnesota 31 Fort Worth, Texas Rice 33, Air Force 14 San Francisco Arizona State 62, Navy 28 New York City Syracuse 38, West Virginia 14 San Antonio Texas 31, Oregon State 27 Tempe, Ariz. Michigan State 17, TCU 16 Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt 38, North Carolina State 24 El Paso, Texas Georgia Tech 21, Southern Cal 7 Memphis, Tenn. Tulsa 31, Iowa State 17 Atlanta Clemson 25, LSU 24 Dallas Oklahoma State (7-5) vs. Purdue (6-6) Jacksonville, Fla. Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Northwestern (9-3) Tampa, Fla. South Carolina (10-2) vs. Michigan (8-4) Orlando, Fla. Nebraska (10-3) vs. Georgia (11-2) Pasadena, Calif. Stanford (11-2) vs. Wisconsin (8-5) Miami Florida State (11-2) vs. Northern Illinois (12-1) New Orleans Florida (11-1) vs. Louisville (10-2) Glendale, Ariz. Kansas State (11-1) vs. Oregon (11-1) Arlington, Texas Texas A&M (10-2) vs. Oklahoma (10-2) Birmingham, Ala. Mississippi (6-6) vs. Pittsburgh (6-6) Mobile, Ala. Kent State (11-2) vs. Arkansas State (9-3) Miami Notre Dame (12-0) vs. Alabama (12-1) ESPNU, 11 a.m. ESPN2, 11 a.m. ESPN, noon ABC, noon ESPN, 4 p.m. ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ESPN, 7:30 p.m.
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