Tulsa needed breaks to defeat No. 4 Oklahoma and shake up the college football world on Friday night.

But mistakes brought down TU's upset hopes in a 62-21 loss before a sellout crowd at Chapman Stadium.

"Give Oklahoma a lot of credit, they are a great football team," TU coach Todd Graham said. "They were the better team tonight. We were disappointed. I thought we started off the way we wanted to start off, but we made too many mistakes."

Quarterback Paul Smith threw for 350 yards, but also had a pair of interceptions. Special teams also cost the Hurricane for the second straight week, as the Sooners had a kickoff return for a touchdown.

The injury bug hurt, and could be long-lasting, after starting cornerback Roy Roberts apparently injured a hamstring.

"It was a big problem (against OU)," Graham said. "We have a young guy come in, Jon Destin, and it was a tough game to come into and be a newcomer."

Tulsa (2-1) was far from the pain it felt at the final gun during the first quarter.

Roberts picked off OU quarterback Sam Bradford on the Sooners' first drive but injured his leg on the play.

Smith took over on offense and threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jesse Meyer to give TU a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, silencing the partisan Oklahoma crowd.

OU bounced back, scoring three straight touchdowns to capture a 21-7 advantage.

TU linebacker Chris Chamberlain said OU's offense was "very talented and extremely big. They did a great job neutralizing us."

TU went to its deep threat to cut the lead to one score, when Smith connected with speedster Brennan Marion for a 48-yard TD pass in the second quarter.

Oklahoma followed with two more touchdowns against what looked like a fatigued TU defense and led 35-14 at halftime.

Graham told his team at intermission that the squad would receive the second-half kickoff and score, making it a 14-point game.

That happened, when a diving Smith covered 3 yards on a fourth-and-goal play to open the third quarter. TU's excitement lasted only 11 seconds.

DeMarco Murray, who scored three touchdowns, took the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a score.

"That absolutely broke our back," Graham said. "It deflated us there."

Smith, who was relieved by David Johnson midway through the fourth quarter, looked like he was trying to do too much at times. He was sacked five times.

"For the most part, the offensive line did good," Smith said. "A cou ple of times, I was holding onto the ball and scrambling a little early. A lot of times, I try to make something happen when I need to execute the offense."

The Hurricane will play its Conference USA opener against UAB in a week.

"It's a loss, but we're 2-1 and have a very good football team," Graham said. "We have to go back to work and regroup."

Eric Bailey 581-8391
eric.bailey@tulsaworld.com