Tulsa Moves On From Loss To Houston, Looks To Bounce Back Against Tulane

Even though it's been a few days, it doesn't really make it any easier to swallow. 

Saturday, Tulsa was really close, painfully close, to a season-changing, maybe even program-defining win.

"I thought they played well enough to win,” said head coach Philip Montgomery. “I thought they played with a lot of heart."

The Golden Hurricane rallied from 14 down, twice, and came up just inches short against No. 13 Houston.

"We went in there with the mindset that we're a dang good football team, and going in there to win a game," Montgomery stated.

But the game was not without controversy.

On the play after James Flanders' 23-yard run that got TU to the one, it looked like Houston had too many players on the field and at least one in the neutral zone at the snap.

"In my opinion, there's too many people on the field, and I don't know that they're not in the neutral zone and/or offsides at the point the ball is snapped," said Montgomery.

Montgomery said at that moment, he expected a penalty call.

So now, TU has to wrench focus away from what could have been, to what still could be. And that shift in focus will be the team's homecoming game against Tulane on Saturday.

"Of course it stings,” said receiver Keevan Lucas. “We felt like we did everything we could to come out on top in that game, but the biggest way to forget about that loss is to get back to work."

Montgomery added, "We've gotta move on to the next one. That's always been our motto here, next play, next series, next game. We're going to continue that."

Kickoff is set for 2:45 p.m. at Chapman Stadium and will be televised on ESPNU.