With 35 seconds remaining in Saturday night’s Colorado State-University of Tulsa football game at H.A. Chapman Stadium, the Golden Hurricane was dealt a terrible setback when junior Keyarris Garrett – the team’s 2012 leader in receptions and receiving yards – sustained an apparently serious left-leg injury.
Medical personnel placed an inflatable cast on the leg before an ambulance drove onto the field. Garrett was transported to a hospital for immediate treatment.
When play resumed in a tie game that seemed destined for overtime, TU had a third-and-1 from its own 35-yard line. After the Garrett injury, the Hurricane sideline seemed saturated with despair.
But in the time that it took Trey Watts to pop a 45-yard run, despair became delirium.
The Watts run led to a 34-yard field goal attempt by walk-on Carl Salazar, who in the opener at Bowling Green missed from 34 and 37 yards. Colorado State attempted to freeze Salazar by calling three timeouts, as time expired, Salazar was money. His 34-yard kick was perfect, and the Hurricane celebrated a 30-27 victory over the Rams.
“They were wasting their timeouts,” TU linebacker Mitchell Osborne said. “We knew (Salazar) would hit it.”
Before Saturday night, Salazar hadn’t converted on a field goal since his senior season at Broken Arrow High School.
“It’s funny,” the 5-foot-7, 160-pound Salazar said. “I’ve kicked for five years and never had anything close to a game-winner.”
Entering the fourth period, TU trailed by 10 points (27-17). Defense was a huge factor in the comeback. During its final four possessions, Colorado State went three-and-out with a punt.
Winning in the first game played on the new turf at H.A. Chapman Stadium (and in the first game that featured TU’s new gold-chrome helmets), the Hurricane avoided what would have been its first 0-2 start since 2005. Next week’s assignment: the Hurricane visits Oklahoma in Norman.
Against Colorado State (0-2), TU played a home game for the first time since December, when Watts tied the score with a fourth-quarter touchdown on a punt return. TU and Central Florida went to overtime, and the Hurricane prevailed.
On Saturday, Watts again was clutch. He also was Tulsa’s receptions with eight that covered 58 yards.
“All of a sudden, Trey breaks that (45-yard run), and it’s a different game,” TU coach Bill Blankenship said. “Now you’re down in (Salazar’s field goal range).”
Said Watts: “I didn’t want to go into overtime. All of the credit goes to the offensive line. The play opened up for me.”
After completing less than 50 percent of its pass attempts and rushing for only 51 yards during the Aug. 29 loss at Bowling Green, achieved nearly perfect balance against the Rams. There were 215 rushing yards and 212 passing yards. Watts ran 22 times for 152 yards. Hurricane quarterback Cody Green was 21-of-39 passing, connecting with tailback Ja’Terian Douglas and wide receiver Jordan James for first-half touchdowns.
Green’s third TD pass – a 15-yard strike to slot receiver Derek Patterson – resulted in a 27-27 tie with 7:01 left to play.
The Rams were limited to 286 yards and quarterback Garrett Grayson was 12-of-29 passing for only 108 yards. He was intercepted twice – once each by safety Michael Mudoh and linebacker Shawn Jackson.
“It’s obviously a tough one to swallow,” Colorado State coach Jim McElwain said. “We did a lot of things to keep us in the game. . . . You have a chance to ice the game (and) grind it out, and it just didn’t happen.”
During TU’s next several practice sessions, special-teams execution undoubtedly will be emphasized. At Bowling Green, TU gave up a punt-return touchdown, Watts lost a punt-return fumble deep in Hurricane territory and Salazar missed on two short field goal attempts.
During the first half on Saturday, there were more busts. During a punt-return attempt, Watts lost a fumble at midfield. Moments later, Cole Way had a punt blocked. The football was recovered by Colorado State at the Hurricane 2-yard line, and the Rams capitalized with a 2-yard TD reception by tight end Joe McKay.
Later in the half, TU committed a 15-yard facemask infraction during a CSU punt return. Two plays later, Grayson found a wide-open Jordan Vaden for a 19-yard touchdown. Colorado State led 17-14.
In spite of the two missed field goals at Bowling Green, Blankenship expressed confidence that Salazar would bounce back with successful kicks. With 32 seconds remaining in the first half, the Hurricane trailed 20-14 and faced fourth-and-7 from the Rams’ 25-yard line. There was virtually no wind. The flags at the south end of the stadium were barely moving.
But instead of having Salazar try a 42-yard field goal, Blankenship left his offense on the field. On a pass intended for James on a slant pattern, Green was intercepted by CSU safety Trent Matthews. TU went to the halftime locker room with a six-point deficit.
How damaging were Tulsa’s special-teams errors? During the first half, Grayson was 5-of-18 passing with two interceptions, and the Rams still had a halftime lead.
The Hurricane ultimately was saved, though, by a stifling second-half defense and the final-minute heroics of Watts and Salazar. After his 0-for-2 debut at Bowling Green, Salazar bounced back with a 3-for-3 Saturday night on field goals.
College Football
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