Golden Hurricane shoot down Falcons 33-20
G.J. Kinne connected on 27 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns as the University of Tulsa claimed a 33-20 win over Bowling Green in front of 19,565 fans Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The Golden Hurricane racked up 546 yards of total offense as they rebounded from a heartbreaking loss to East Carolina a week ago. "We definitely got better as a football team," said TU Head Coach Todd Graham.
For the second straight week, Tulsa coughed up the football on their opening drive. Bowling Green capitalized on a Trey Watts fumble just 33-seconds into the opening quarter, driving 44-yards on 11 plays that ended with a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Matt Schilz.
The Hurricane answered back 13 play, 74-yard drive that was capped with a 23-yard field goal by Kevin Fitzpatrick. Freshman Marco Nelson, making his first start at safety, then picked off Schilz's first pass of the following drive and Tulsa wasted little time taking the lead. Kinne found Charles Clay for a 42-yard touchdown strike just two-seconds into the ensuing drive to give the Golden Hurricane a 10-7 lead.
Tulsa carried a 27-14 lead into the locker room at the half after adding two more touchdowns and a field goal in the second quarter. A 27-yard field goal from Fitzpatrick capped off Tulsa's third-straight scoring drive with 7:39 remaining before Alex Singleton, who finished the night with 74 ground yards, punched across the goal line from three yards out to complete a 10 play, 75-yard scoring drive.
Willie Geter reached the end zone for Bowling Green on a one yard run with 1:24 remaining in the half after Dwayne Woods intercepted a Kinne pass at Tulsa's one-yard line. Tulsa answered with an impressive six play, 74-yard drive that took just 47-seconds off of the clock. Kinne fired a 25 yard highlight reel pass into the back corner of the end zone that was hauled in by Trae Johnson to put Tulsa on top by 13 points.
Fitzpatrick completed an outstanding evening connecting on second-half field goals from 34 and 46 yards. The two field goals, both in the third quarter, would be the only time Tulsa would get on the scoreboard in the second half.
Bowling Green capped an eight play, 56 yard fourth-quarter drive with a two yard touchdown run from Schilz to close out the scoring. The Falcons threatened to pull back into the game as they mounted a drive late in the fourth quarter that consumed 47 yards before Charles Davis picked off a Schilz pass, enabling Tulsa to run out the clock.
Tulsa out-gained Bowling Green 546-303 total yards, including 356-262 yards through the air. The Golden Hurricane defense shut down the Falcons' running game, allowing only 41 yards on the ground while ran the ball 40 times for 190 yards.
Tulsa (1-1) will now prepare for a showdown with Oklahoma State (2-0) in Stillwater on Saturday. The Cowboys narrowly escaped Troy yesterday at Boone Pickens Stadium as they claimed a 41-38 win over the Trojans.
SCORING SUMMARY
Qtr. Time Team Play
1 10:20 BGSU Schilz 1 yd run (Wright kick)
1 5:38 TU Fitzpatrick 23 yd FG
1 4:39 TU Kinne 42 yd pass to Clay (Fitzpatrick kick)
2 7:39 TU Fitzpatrick 27 yd FG
2 3:09 TU Singleton 3 yd run (Fitzpatrick kick)
2 1:24 BGSU Geter 1 yd run (Wright kick)
2 0:32 TU Kinne 25 yd pass to Trae Johnson (Fitzpatrick kick)
3 6:25 TU Fitzpatrick 34 yd FG
3 0:56 TU Fitzpatrick 46 yd FG
4 9:54 BGSU Schilz 2 yd run (Schilz pass failed)
C-USA SCOREBOARD
East Carolina 49, Memphis 27
Southern Miss 34, Prairie View 7
Rice 32, North Texas 31
NC State 28, UCF 21
Ole Miss 27, Tulane 13