Tulsa Golden Hurricane's Effort Falls Short Against Arkansas State Red Wolves in a Close Encounter
In a closely contested match at their home ground, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane narrowly missed out on victory against the visiting Arkansas State Red Wolves, with the final scoreboard reading 28-24 in favor of the guests. This result leaves Tulsa with a balanced record of 1-1 for the season, while Arkansas State celebrates an unblemished start with two wins from as many games. Despite taking an early lead and showing promise in the first half, Tulsa's efforts were not enough to stave off a determined comeback by Arkansas State in the latter stages.
Kirk Francis, quarterback for Tulsa, had a notable game completing 16 of his 28 pass attempts and throwing for nearly two hundred yards. His performance included one touchdown pass and was marred only by a single interception. The team's running game also stood out with an impressive total of 163 yards over thirty-two carries, averaging five yards per attempt. Anthony Watkins was particularly effective on the ground, contributing one touchdown and forty-six yards to his team's cause.
Receiver Kamdyn Benjamin proved to be another key asset for Tulsa, grabbing six passes for an outstanding one hundred thirty-one yards and adding a touchdown to his tally - underscoring his importance in their offensive lineup. Kicker Seth Morgan played his part flawlessly by converting all three extra-point opportunities presented to him and chipping in with three more points from a twenty-nine-yard field goal.
On defense, Tyree Carlisle made significant impacts including sacking Arkansas State's quarterback once among other crucial tackles that disrupted their offensive flow at key moments. Dayne Hodge also stepped up defensively by intercepting an opposition pass which temporarily swung momentum back towards Tulsa.
Despite these commendable individual performances and leading at halftime thanks to scoring drives across different quarters (three points in Q1; followed by fourteen points before halftime), it wasn't sufficient as Arkansas State rallied impressively scoring twenty-one points in Q3 while successfully neutralizing any further attempts from Tulsa to add to their scoreline.
Looking forward into their schedule, The University of Tulsa is set to welcome Oklahoma State Cowboys at Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium on September 14th at noon EDT. Fans looking forward to this matchup can tune into ESPN2 satellite channel number two hundred nine for live coverage of what promises to be another exciting game day encounter.