"Tulsa was punched in the mouth..."

[Huey78]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?articleID=20081013_94_B5_AJWhit545019

Tulsa's escape is a lucky one

By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer
10/13/2008
Last Modified: 10/13/2008 3:22 AM


Tulsa was punched in the mouth for the first time on Saturday night.

A pesky SMU football team wasn't impressed by TU's unbeaten record, high-powered offense or BCS Bowl dreams. For much of the Conference USA game, the Mustangs had TU on the ropes.

Tulsa trailed much of the game before rallying in the fourth quarter for a 37-31 triumph. The win improved its record to 6-0.

TU's first five games were lopsided victories, and there were questions how the team would handle adversity.

A relieved Todd Graham called the SMU game a "big-time wake-up call."

"Luckily, we woke up tonight with a win and not a loss," said Graham, who is now 23-10 in three years as a college head coach.

Graham has hinted that he's guarding his team against distractions surrounding TU's best start in 64 years. He wants them to have long-range goals, but short-term focus.

Graham was adamant last week about TU's lack of defensive focus. "It's such a grueling season," he said. "They look at the paper and see (SMU) is 1-5 ... it's not easy to come on the road anywhere and win in college football."

Tulsa protected its perfect season with big plays.

Tulsa trailed 31-24 and was faced with fourth-and-21 from the SMU 33 in the fourth quarter. Quarterback David Johnson (who called it "fourth-and-forever") set up for a quick kick, but instead launched a touchdown pass to Trae Johnson with 9:53 left.

The sophomore receiver outjumped a defensive back to catch the football.

"It was an opportunity to make a play for my team, and that's what I did," Trae Johnson said. "The quarterback put the ball in the right spot, and I just took the opportunity."

TU's DeAundre Brown intercepted an SMU pass, and A.J. Whitmore's touchdown run 73 seconds later gave Tulsa the lead.

The TU defense did have to weather one final Mustangs' drive, surviving a dropped pass in the end zone, and forcing SMU QB Bo Levi Mitchell into a poor pass on fourth-and-2 from the TU 26 with 54 seconds left.

"We just came out, stuck together as a team, held the rope," David Johnson said, "and got things done."

[Roach]

They forgot to mention that they deserved to lose. Put the ball in the same spot, and Beasly makes that catch 80 or 90 percent of the time. He can catch, BLM made a great throw - we deserved to win.

Play like that every week, guys, and we'll start winning a lot.

[jtstang]

He can catch, BLM made a great throw - we deserved to win.

Not 10 or 20 percent of the time.

[PerunaPunch]

They forgot to mention that they deserved to lose.

I don't know about that Roach. You could've said the same thing about the Rice game 2 years ago when we were first and goal from the 1. Or the UTEP and Houston games in 2006 as well.

When you put yourself in a position to win, but don't, can you really say we "deserved" to win? When you beat a team for 45 minutes, but choke in the 4th quarter, do you deserve to win? When you drop a game sealing interception, when you let a team get away with 4th and 21, and when a ball bounces off your hands in the end zone (any of which would have won the game), do you deserve to win?

Regrettably, moral victories do not help our record.

[smupony94]

He can catch, BLM made a great throw - we deserved to win.

Not 10 or 20 percent of the time.

details, details

[Football4ever]

We definetly gave the game to them in the 4th quarter when we should have and very well could have put it away.

[MUSTANG'76]

no question the mustangs should have won the tu game. The team is hungry, our fans are hungry and I believe it will happen against Houston! Go Mustangs!