By JOHN KLEIN Sr. Sports Columnist on Sep 22, 2012, at 11:22 PM Updated on 9/22 at 11:22 PM
KLEIN'S KORNER
Oklahoma State is batting .500 in keeping two high-profile freshmen athletes.
Third-team quarterback Wes Lunt announced ...
You just knew Kevin Durant would win the game for the Oklahoma City Thunder if given a chance.
He was given that chance ...
The Oklahoma City Thunder reached the 2012 NBA Finals with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, arguably three ...
Sometimes you just have to hang in there and hope that sometime late in the game you’ll get a chance to steal a victory.
That’s what Tulsa did on Saturday night against Fresno State.
The Golden Hurricane put itself in a 20-6 hole but stayed close enough to make the big play in the second half of a 27-26 victory over Fresno State.
“You’ve got to have some character to say in it when it is hard,” said TU coach Bill Blankenship. “It was hard early in the game.”
The game winner was a halfback pass to a wide open receiver in the end zone. Trey Watts threw a rainbow pass, nearly as high as it was long, to Thomas Roberson for Tulsa’s first lead in the game late in the third quarter.
It enabled Tulsa to pull out a victory in a game that looked doomed from the start.
Tulsa quarterback Cody Green threw three interceptions, two of them returned for touchdowns. The third interception was turned into a short TD drive.
Green hit just 14-of-38 passes. That’s a shaky night by any measurement.
But, Tulsa got some huge plays from receivers and made enough plays to be in the game to the finish.
“We won on special teams and we won on defense,” said Blaneknship.
As a result, Tulsa is 3-1 and appears ready to make a big push this season. The Golden Hurricane should be favored in perhaps as many as seven of its next eight games. All eight would appear to be winnable.
So, getting a victory in a game that could have easily been lost is huge.
“We’re going to be a better team because of this game,” said Blankenship.
Only active print or digital subscribers of the Tulsa World are allowed to post comments on stories posted to Tulsaworld.com. After you fill out the form below and click submit, your comment will be published instantly online along with your screen name.
By clicking "Submit" you are agreeing to our terms and conditions.
