Houston Hands Tulsa First And Only C-USA Loss

Grant Belcher, NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Golden Hurricane's conference play convoy finally hit a road block.

Despite a valiant defensive effort, Tulsa dropped a 48-16 senior day contest to the 8th-ranked Houston Cougars on Friday morning at Chapman Stadium.

The Golden Hurricane contained Heisman hopeful Case Keenum in the first half as well as any other C-USA opponent, but it was big plays in the second half that did them in.

Twice on critical fourth downs, Keenum found receiver Patrick Edwards for big touchdown connections, providing the separation the Cougars needed to dictate the tempo of the game.

On 4th-and-10 several minutes into the third, Keenum hooked up with Edwards for a 33-yard score to put Houston up 20-10

Then at the end of the third, it was déjà vu for TU, as a 4th-and-inches turned into an easy 38-yard strike between the same duo.

Tulsa took an early lead of 7-0 on an 11-yard strike from G.J. Kinne to Willie Carter, who didn't play last week against UTEP because of an ankle injury. TU also led 10-6 and even kept the Cougars within a respectable distance, trailing Houston 13-10 at halftime.

But the biggest swing of the game took place right before the break. Approaching Houston's goal line with a chance to take a lead into the half, TU receiver Bryan Burnham fumbled the ball at the 10-yard line, finishing off a botched red zone stint.

Tulsa received the ball to start the second half, but a three-and-out shifted what little momentum it had over to Houston for good.

The Golden Hurricane had trouble keeping a man on Edwards, one of the nation's leading receivers and a former walk-on at Houston.

Edwards finished with four touchdowns on eight catches and 181 yards. Case Keenum continued his potential Heisman run with a monster day - 455 yards and five touchdowns for the Cougars.

TU struggled offensively, with Kinne completing just 19-of-38 passes and Willie Carter catching Tulsa's only touchdown of the day. Kicker Kevin Fitzpatrick accounted for the other nine points with field goals of 37, 51 and 52 yards.

At 12-0 (8-0 C-USA), Houston became the first team to run through Conference USA regular season play undefeated since the realignment of the conference in 2005.

Tulsa finishes out the regular season 8-4 (7-1) with its four losses all to top 10-ranked teams.

The Golden Hurricane will now await its bowl destiny, which could depend on how the Cougars fare in the Conference USA Championship game next weekend.

The Liberty Bowl has traditionally taken the C-USA champion, but the conference champion hasn't been able to reach a BCS bowl in the past.

If Houston finishes undefeated, it would assumedly receive an at-large berth in a BCS bowl game, leaving the Liberty Bowl to select from the remaining pool of Conference USA bowl-eligible teams, including Tulsa.

The loser of the Conference USA title game (either Southern Miss or Marshall if Houston moves on) would be TU's biggest competition for a New Year's Eve Liberty Bowl spot in Memphis.

The next-in-line C-USA team after the Liberty Bowl selects would likely be headed to the Beef O' Brady's Bowl on Dec. 20 in St. Petersburg, Fla.