Tulsa Stops Run But Opens Air to Weeden

Golden Hurricane effectively contained OSU star running back Kendall Hunter but gave up big plays in 65-28 loss.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:57 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Sep 19, 2010 12:12 AM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

STILLWATER, Oklahoma – The Tulsa Golden Hurricane came into Saturday’s game committed to stopping OSU’s Kendall Hunter on the ground, and it did that.

Unfortunately for Tulsa, that left some open air for the Cowboy passing attack in a 65-28 loss at Boone Pickens Stadium.

The Golden Hurricane defense held Hunter to 59 yards on 11 carries, by far his lowest totals in the first three games of the young season.

Hunter went off in week one for 257 yards on 21 carries, and 157 on 28 carries in the second game.

Tulsa coach Todd Graham said his team’s run defense, if nothing else, was effective.

“We knew we had to be aggressive to be able to put guys in the box to stop the running back, and were able to control that somewhat,” Graham said. “But the big plays was the difference.”

The dilemma with that strategy, however, was OSU quarterback Brandon Weeden and his receiving corps.

Weeden took advantage of Tulsa’s aggressive run stopping, throwing for six touchdowns and 409 yards before making an early exit in the third.

Weeden’s favorite target, Justin Blackmon, had 174 yards and three touchdowns.

“Their receiving corps and their quarterback were basically unstoppable,” Graham said. “We tried just about every coverage there was and just got ran by. We were right there, their guys were just going up and making the plays.”

OSU’s fast start 20-point quarter was the best first quarter against Tulsa since UTEP put up 28 in 2008.

The lone bright spots for Tulsa were the special teams – Graham said punter Michael Such and the coverage teams played well – and receiver Trae Johnson breaking 2,000 career yards, the third active TU receiver to do so.

But what killed Tulsa, Graham said, was the big plays.

“The thing that stuck out to me was giving up the vertical shot,” he said. “That was the story of the game.”

The Golden Hurricane will return home to take on Central Arkansas at 6 p.m. Saturday.