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TU Notebook: No crowd

TU's Damaris Johnson (3) tackled by East Carolina's Ben Ryan (12) and Justin Brockmeyer (32) in Tulsa, OK, Nov. 15, 2009. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World
 
By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer
Published: 11/17/2009  2:23 AM
Last Modified: 11/17/2009  7:06 AM

 Tulsa's attendance was officially announced at 17,453 during Sunday's 44-17 loss to East Carolina.

By the second half, though, there appeared to be less than 4,000 in the Chapman Stadium stands on a chilly evening.

"The weather had a lot to do with that," TU coach Todd Graham conceded. "It wasn't a very good crowd. We have some of the best fans and I've heard a lot from them in the past few weeks."

Weather was one factor. The game was also played on Sunday night for ESPN purposes, and the Hurricane had lost four straight games entering the contest.

Graham hopes the fans will return for a Nov. 27 home finale against Memphis for Senior Day.

"I hope they come out and honor (the seniors)," Graham said. "We've won a lot of football games here and done a lot of things that our community and city can be proud of."

Forcing the action: Graham admitted that inserting Shavodrick Beaver has been disruptive at times to the offense.

With Tulsa trailing 30-17 in the fourth quarter, G.J. Kinne drove the team to the ECU 11 with a series of passes. Charles Clay added a 13-yard run. Momentum was in the Hurricane's favor.

Beaver raced on the field to play quarterback. The true freshman, who has had problems with handling the football in limited play this season, was looking at the sideline when the ball was snapped. He scooped up the loose ball and lost 8 yards.

TU went from first-and-10 to second-and 18. The drive screeched to a halt when Kinne's pass was deflected on fourth down.

"We've tried to use him, but it's been disruptive," Graham said. "We're not doing a very good job preparing him to go in there. We felt like he could help us in certain situations.

"He's just a freshman and making freshman mistakes ... it probably wasn't a good decision to have him in there."

Beaver was playing in the Wildcat package in place of injured A.J. Whitmore, who missed his second straight game.

Taking points off the board: East Carolina scored on the game's opening drive, using Ben Hartman's 29-yard field goal to make it 3-0.

One of football's many unwritten rules is not to take points off the board. The Hurricane did that and it exploded in the team's face.

After TU's Kevin Fitzpatrick booted a game-tying 41-yard field goal early in the second quarter, ECU was flagged for running into the kicker. The 5 yards gave Tulsa a first down.

Coach Todd Graham chose to erase the points and TU ended up losing 14 yards after a 10-yard penalty and 4-yard loss on a pass. The holding penalty negated G.J. Kinne's 23-yard TD run.

"We kicked the field goal and we pulled that off because we had an opportunity to keep a drive alive," Graham said. "We pulled seven points off the board with a stupid penalty. We did some stupid things in the first half that hurt us in terms of putting points on the board."

TU ended up punting the ball away on fourth down from the ECU 33. Kinne's quick kick sailed into the end zone, getting a net of 13 yards.

By the numbers: Damaris Johnson had 319 all-purpose yards. He caught a career-high 14 passes for 135 yards ... Tulsa's 30 rushing yards was its lowest output this season ... TU has lost five consecutive games, the worst since losing seven straight in 2002. It has lost four straight at home.

TU SCHEDULE

Tickets: (918) 631-4688; tulsaworld.com/tusports

Sept. 4 at Tulane W, 37-13

Sept. 12 at New Mexico W, 44-10

Sept. 19 at Oklahoma L, 45-0

Sept. 26 Sam Houston State W, 56-3

Oct. 3 at Rice W, 27-10

Oct. 14 Boise State L, 28-21

Oct. 21 at UTEP L, 24-28

Oct. 31 SMU L, 27-13

Nov. 7 Houston L, 46-45

Nov. 15 East Carolina L, 44-17

Nov. 21 at Southern Miss CBSC-249 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 27 Memphis CBSC-249 2:30 p.m.

By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS 
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3 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
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BLA, Tulsa (11/17/2009 8:06:56 AM)
Don't forget the TD that wasn't when Kinne couldn't hit a wide open Damaris Johnson at the goal-line the play after the ECU penalty gave TU a first down. That's why people are calling for Bower.
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55contra55, Tulsa (11/17/2009 5:46:24 PM)
During the pre-game, rap was played on the loud speakers at very high volume levels. It was difficult to visit with our neighbors in the stands and it appeared that no one liked it, including the students. It was also rudely played while the band was performing on the field and in the stands making it impossible to hear the band.

Moving the band to the south end zone seats would make it easier for everyone to hear the band and the rap can be thrown in the trash.
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bill m, (11/18/2009 1:10:27 AM)
RE: the poor record this season...must be the new mascot!
 

 
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