Instant Analysis: Tulsa Drops Heartbreaker In OT To Rice

What it means for Tulsa:

Any realistic shot at repeating as Conference USA champions is virtually over.

Rice was strongly considered Tulsa's main competition to win the west division when the season began, and the Owls have lived up to the expectations so far. The 30-27 overtime win gives Rice the head-to-head tiebreaker AND puts them one game ahead of the Hurricane in the west standings. What that means is, Tulsa will have to make up two games on the Owls in order to pass them in the standings. And with a quick glance at Rice's remaining schedule, it's hard to see them losing twice.

Player of the game:

Once again, Trey Watts was awesome. Watts carried 31 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns. He also hauled in three catches for 25 yards, along with running in a huge two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter.

Bright spot:

Tulsa showed the fight that made them the conference champions just a year ago. Down 24-13 late in the fourth quarter, Tulsa rallied for 11 points in the final four minutes to force overtime. They must find a way to bottle that fight as the season moves forward, otherwise a 1-4 start could turn into a complete car wreck.

Biggest problem:

Cody Green played the worst game of his college career – at least for the first three quarters. Green finished with 193 yards, no touchdowns and two picks, but stepped up his play in the fourth as Tulsa made its comeback. Unfortunately for TU, Green couldn't get into any sort of a rhythm and missed multiple open receivers in the end zone throughout the game. The crowd voiced its displeasure, raining boo birds down upon the senior quarterback on multiple occasions.

Green is one of the unquestioned leaders of this team, but one has to wonder if backup freshman Dane Evans gets a shot moving forward.

What's next:

TU hits the road for a night game in El Paso. The Golden Hurricane will look for its first conference win of the season against UTEP next Saturday at 7 p.m.