3 Hurricane Takeaways: Tulsa Beats NIU In Spite Of Sloppy Play From Both Teams

The Golden Hurricane outlasted the Northern Illinois Huskies on Saturday with a 22-14 win on the road.

It was a tough start for both teams with six turnovers between the two groups in the first half including a missed field goal and a safety that went in favor of Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane scored when it mattered most adding a field goal at the end of the 3rd and then 10 unanswered points in the 4th to get the victory.

Tulsa improved to 2-2 after facing a pair of Top 20 teams in the first 4 weeks. They head into conference play next against Temple on Thursday where they are the favorite for the first time since week 1.

Here Are The 3 Big Takeaways From Week 2 For The Golden Hurricane:

First Takeaway: Tulsa Struggled Out the Gate

You can blame it on the 11 a.m. start time or you can blame it on the trip up to Dekalb, Illinois but either way, the Hurricane came out looking sluggish. The offense was stuck in the mud all through the first quarter with the first three drives ending with a punt, interception, and fumble. The saving grace was that NIU also had struggled early as they turned the ball over on downs, missed a field goal, and gave up a safety to put Tulsa on the board. All of that was just the first quarter.

Finally, Tulsa put a touchdown on the board when Anthony Watkins scored on a 4-yard run to start the 2nd quarter.

Second Takeaway: The Defense Got Stretched But Didn't Break

Tulsa's defense looked great on Saturday after they grabbed three takeaways, forced a safety, and stopped NIU on two fourth-down attempts on the day. The only challenge came in the second quarter when NIU took the long way to score their first touchdown of the game.

In the longest drive of the day, the Huskies went 75 yards in 20 plays, converted two fourth downs, and drained 11 minutes and three seconds off the clock. The drive may have taken more out of NIU than it did Tulsa though as the Hurricane did not give up another drive of five plays or more until the final drive which ended with a pick.

Tulsa only gave up 295 total yards on the day and held NIU to 5-14 on third down. If the defense can maintain Saturday's level of hustle, they should be able to hang with anyone else in the AAC.

Third Takeaway: The Golden Hurricane Offense Needs To Find It's Rhythm

As mentioned in the first takeaway, Tulsa's offense did not come out hot to start the game and never found a solid rhythm on Saturday.

Quarterback Cardell Williams, made some poor decisions at times throwing two interceptions and only completing 8 passes on 20 attempts for 102 yards and no touchdowns. The freshman, Williams has had some massive challenges stepping into the starting role after Braylon Braxton went down with an injury. He's faced a breakout Washington team that has yet to score less than 40 points this season and an Oklahoma team looking to reestablish their dominance before leaving the Big 12. He's young and has shown a lot of promise so far so hopefully this game can be a good motivator.

Anthony Watkins led the charge on the ground rushing for 91 yards on 23 attempts and scoring Tulsa's first touchdown of the game. Tahj Gary added 51 yards and scored the game-winner with 8:40 left in the game.

Still, the offense only managed 281 total yards on Saturday and was 6-15 on 3rd down. They gave up two interceptions and fumbled in the redzone. The Golden Hurricane will need to work out the mental mistakes as they get ready for Temple, FIU, and Rice in the coming weeks.