Tulane runs wild in win over Tulsa
Tyjae Spears ran for 157 yards and a touchdown and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson gained 106 to lead Tulane, ranked No. 19 in the College Football Playoff rankings, to a 27-13 win over Tulsa on Saturday.
Tulane (8-1, 5-0 American Athletic Conference) had lost the past two meetings with Tulsa (3-6, 1-4) in overtime, but controlled this one with a dominant running game. The Green Wave gained 357 yards on the ground, with Spears and Johnson each running the ball 14 times.
“Our offensive line did a terrific job,” Tulane coach Willie Fritz said. “Bodies on bodies is a big part of it.”
Tulsa had won seven of the first eight home games with Tulane.
Michael Pratt completed 11 of 19 passes for 125 yards for Tulane. He was victimized by a walk-off interception return for a touchdown in overtime two seasons ago.
Fritz didn’t worry about the losses in the past two years.
“Each year is different, said Fritz. “This is the 2022 Tulane Green Wave, and this is the 2022 Tulsa Golden Hurricane. We have to do a good job of flushing those down the toilet and playing and not worrying about the past successes or failures and playing the best that you can.”.
Tulsa was playing without starting quarterback Davis Brin, who has been banged up but hadn’t missed a game in the last two years. Brin had beaten Tulane the last two years.
Braylon Braxton couldn’t rally the faltering Golden Hurricane, completing 13 of 25 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery said playing Tulane can be frustrating.
“Defensively, they did a good job on us,” Montgomery said. “They can really eat up the clock when they get the lead.”
Tulane had taken a two-touchdown lead on Spear’s 34-yard touchdown run. Tulsa cut it to 17-10 at halftime on Braxton’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Juan Carlos Santana.
But Tulane went up 24-10 on its first possession of the second half on a 20-yarder from Pratt to Shae Wyatt, and was never threatened again.
Washington knocks off Oregon State:
Michael Penix Jr. has accomplished plenty in his first season as the quarterback at Washington. He added a game-winning, fourth-quarter drive to the list on Friday night.
Peyton Henry made a 22-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to cap a 92-yard scoring driving, and Washington held off No. 23 Oregon State 24-21 to preserve its hopes in the Pac-12 championship game race.
The Huskies took over at their own 3 with 4:33 left and Penix led the march downfield against the Beavers’ stingy defense. Penix was 9 of 13 for 66 yards on the drive, including key third-down conversions to Devin Culp, Ja’Lynn Polk and a diving catch by Cameron Davis. Penix’s push pass to Giles Jackson for 12 yards got the Huskies to the Oregon State 2. After a pair of incompletions, the Huskies set up for the short field goal and Henry delivered the winning kick.
“We knew if we gave them the ball back we probably wouldn’t have got it back,” Penix said.
Kentucky escapes Missouri: Amid a contest in which the defenses for Kentucky and Missouri flexed their muscles most of the afternoon, it was a botched punt snap that proved the difference for the Wildcats in escaping with a 21-17 victory over the Tigers on Saturday.
Incredibly, it was the Wildcats (6-3, 3-3 SEC) who benefitted from their own special team’s misfire, staking claim to a win making them bowl-eligible.
Lining up for a punt on fourth-and-4 from their own 41-yard line with 2:34 left, Kentucky long snapper Drew Perry sailed the snap over the head of punter Colin Goodfellow, who chased the loose ball down at the 4-yard line. Goodfellow managed to turn back upfield and boot the ball away just as he was tackled by Missouri linebacker Will Norris.
A flag immediately came out and after a discussion the officials penalized Norris for roughing the punter, determining that Goodfellow had remained within the tackle box and by resuming a punting motion had maintained the protection of a punter. Goodfellow was injured on the play and was carted off the field.
The play enabled Kentucky to run all but 38 seconds off the clock.
Columbia gets first win at Harvard since
1995: Columbia won at Harvard for the first time since 1995, blocking back-toback field goal attempts, tipping another and scoring a go-ahead two-point conversion to beat the Crimson 21-20 on Saturday.
Harvard turned the ball over on downs at the Lions’ 32 and, after holding Columbia (4-4, 1-5 Ivy League) to a three-andout, drove 55 yards to the Columbia 25 with 1:17 left. Jonah Lipel ‘s 42-yard field goal attempt was tipped and hit an upright. Earlier, Scott Valentas blocked a 24-yard field goal attempt to end the third quarter, and Seth Parker blocked a 49-yard attempt early in the fourth.