Tulsa Holds Off Southern Miss in Frantic Game

Golden Hurricane put up 634 yards of offense in 56-50 win.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:03 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa Holds Off Southern Miss in Frantic Game

Originally Published: Nov 26, 2010 7:23 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma – Golden Hurricane fans didn’t get a chance to watch their team play for the Conference USA West title on Friday night.

But that doesn’t mean they weren’t thoroughly entertained.

Tulsa beat out Southern Miss 56-50 Friday in a game that featured big plays and very little defense.

Just hours before the game’s kickoff, conference foe Southern Methodist won its game and clinched the C-USA West title, denying Tulsa a shot to do the same thing.

Though Tulsa and Southern Methodist are tied in the conference standings, SMU will represent the West Division in the C-USA Championship because of its head-to-head win over the Golden Hurricane in October.

But if Friday’s game wasn’t enough to take the thought of missed opportunity off Tulsa’s mind, then nothing is.

TU kept its winning streak going with a massive offensive game featuring nearly 1200 yards and more than 100 points between the two teams.

The teams set the tone for the game early, as Tulsa’s G.J. Kinne connected with Ricky Johnson for a 40-yard score.

But Southern Miss struck back immediately, taking the ensuing kickoff back 87 yards to knot the score at seven early.

Tulsa and the Golden Eagles leapfrogged each other for much of the game until G.J. Kinne hooked up with Willie Carter just four seconds into the fourth to go up 42-34.

Kinne had a monster game, racking up 406 passing yards and four touchdowns and putting up another 48 and two scores on the ground.

His final score, though – a simple three-yard run – was the most important, giving Tulsa a 56-47 lead with 3:46 to go before the TU defense held the Golden Eagles to a field goal to close out the game.

11 players caught passes for the Golden Hurricane in the game. Five of those players had 30 or more yards receiving and Trae Johnson led the team with 113 receiving yards.

Willie Carter had 93 yards and two touchdowns receiving as well as 52 yards and a touchdown rushing.

Tulsa (9-3, 6-2) will now wait to accept a bowl bid after winning its sixth-straight game.