Tulsa World: TU falls to Southern Miss 44-34

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TU falls to Southern Miss 44-34

TU quarterback G.J. Kinne throws the ball during the first quarter Saturday against Southern Mississippi. Steve Coleman/Associated Press

By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer
Published: 11/21/2009 7:20 PM
Last Modified: 11/22/2009 12:07 AM

Sports Editor Mike Strain’s blog: Vote on our poll question. What do you think is the biggest reason for TU’s tough season?

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Mother Nature was the only thing that could stop the Southern Miss offense on Saturday night.

A 50-minute weather suspension only delayed the inevitable in Tulsa’s 44-34 loss to the Golden Eagles. The defeat guaranteed TU its first losing season since 2004. The program also won’t play in a bowl game for the first time in five years.

The Golden Hurricane (4-7 overall, 2-5 in Conference USA) trailed 44-28 when stormy weather rolled into Hattiesburg, sending the teams and fans at Roberts Stadium scurrying for cover.

The elements weren’t the only display of lightning-quick force on this evening.

The Eagles (7-4, 5-2) had a 60-yard touchdown pass on its first play from scrimmage and scored 17 consecutive points to capture control, sending the home crowd of 28,757 into a frenzy.

Southern Miss had a go-ahead touchdown before halftime, and then threw a haymaker via a 95-yard touchdown pass to take a 41-28 lead midway through the third quarter. Daniel Hrapmann added a 25-yard field goal with 34 seconds left in the third quarter to give the home team a 44-28 advantage.

Tulsa had the ball on the Southern Miss 31-yard line with 13:58 remaining when officials suspended the game because of storms.

It was TU’s first delay since a 2006 road game at BYU. The Hurricane lost 49-24 in Provo after an hour-long stoppage because of the weather.

On Saturday night, Tulsa’s postseason dreams fizzled as the team lost its sixth consecutive game.

When play resumed, TU continued its drive to the Southern Miss 1. After a 2-yard loss, G.J. Kinne threw an interception to Martez Smith that killed the drive.

Tulsa took the ball to the Southern Miss 15 on its next drive, but lost the ball on downs.

Kinne had two fumbles in the defeat, including one that was returned 42 yards for a touchdown in the first half. He has seven turnovers in the past two games, including four that were returned for defensive scores.

On its second-to-last possession, Kinne threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Charles Clay. Things started great for the Hurricane. TU scored touchdowns on its first two drives to grab a 14-6 lead after one quarter. Clay had his second four-touchdown performance in the past three games. He had four scores in a 46-45 loss to Houston earlier this month. The offenses owned the first half, with Southern Miss taking a 34-28 lead into halftime. Of the game’s first 11 possessions between the teams, nine resulted in touchdown drives. The Eagles scored four TDs against Tulsa in the second quarter, including a 1-yard run by Tory Harrison with 34 seconds left before intermission to take the lead for good.

Clay’s touchdowns included a 1-yard plunge with 1:39 left before halftime to give TU a short-lived 28-27 lead. Clay had a 2-yard touchdown run and a 3-yard scoring possession to help Tulsa take a 14-6 lead after the first quarter. Kinne finished 32-of-46 passing for 396 yards. He had two touchdown passes and an interception.

The Hurricane ended with 589 yards of offense, but turnovers was its Achilles heel.

Southern Miss quarterback Martevious Young completing 12-of-21 passes for 276 yards and four touchdowns.

His biggest throw came in the third quarter. Young found sophomore DeAndre Brown down the right sideline, and the wide receiver beat the secondary for the second-longest pass play in Southern Miss history.

The Hurricane wraps up the regular season with next Friday's home game against Memphis. Game time is 2:30 p.m. at Chapman Stadium.

By ERIC BAILEY World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS

Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Loss ends TU's bowl hopes," which was published on 11/22/2009. So far, 32 comments have been made.

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