Not close enough

TULSA, Okla. Tulsa University charged its well-oiled buzzsaw of an offense and it kept churning and churning Saturday night.

The University of Central Arkansas Bears matched the Golden Hurricane slash for slash, nick for nick until they ran out of gas at Skelly Field at Chapman Stadium.

In a game in which it seems the offenses were guided by a skilled teen-ager in a video game one in which the teams combined for 1076 yards of total offense, Tulsa scored on four straight possessions and 12 of their first 15 in defeating the Bears 62-34 in a matchup of the highest-powered team in Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision.

It was the first defeat by the Bears in five games. They now have an open week before beginning conference play at home against Sam Houston State.

The game featured almost robotic efficiency, particularly in the first half, between two of the top quarterbacks in the NCAA, Tulsa's David Johnson and UCA's Nathan Brown. Brown was 10 of 12 the first half for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He finished 24 of 33 for 324 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson, a fifth-year senior, completed nine of 11 passes in the opening half for 179 yards and three touchdowns. He finished 18 of 22 for 286 yards and four touchdowns, although he was denied his third straight 300-yard game after an interception by Henry Minor.

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The Bears stunned the Golden Hurricane, which was outscoring opponents by 32 points a game, by matching them almost tit for tat in trailing 28-20 at the half. The Golden Hurricane found another gear the second half and the Bears had a couple of gamble attempts backfire.

Bottom line, the Bears never stopped the swirl of the Hurricane and rarely slowed Tulsa down.

"Their offensive line lit us up," said UCA coach Clint Conque. "We were not able to get off our blocks and they kept us off balance. They have a smoke-and-mirrors offense and they caught us out of position a few times.

"But I was proud of how we competed. We were competing hard until the end of the game and that means a lot."

"Every team has guys who can make plays," said Tulsa coach Todd Graham. "They have quarterback who is ranked as one of top-10 quarterbacks for the NFL and their tight end (Marquez Branson) is an outstanding player. They had some good receivers who made big plays tonight."

On their first seven possessions in the first half, the Golden Hurricane drove 64 yards in four plays (51-yard TD pass from Johnson to Marion Brennan, 54 yards in seven plays (14-yard pass Johnson to Slick Shelley), 80 yards in four plays (24-yard pass from Johnson to Tarrion Adams), 79 yards in nine plays (1-yard run by Courtney Tennial),

"Mostly it was us who made the mistakes," Graham said. "We had more critical errors and busted assignments in this game than we have had all season, but we won."

UCA became the first team this season to score on four straight possessions against Tulsa: a 16-yard pass from Brown to Eric Ware (76 yards in seven plays), field goals of 36 and 27 yards by Eddie Carmona and a 7-yard pass from Brown to Nick Cowger (74 yards eight plays).

The game turned significantly Tulsa's way on UCA's first possession of the second half when the Golden Hurricane defense began blitzing Brown. UCA faced fourth and five on its 33 and Jon Beard was seemingly attempting the first punt of the game. He faked it, ran against the flow to the opposite sideline but was run down by the Hurricane's John Destin 3 yards short.

Tulsa took over and Johnson passed to 26 yards to Marion four plays later for a 35-20 lead.

Later in the third quarter, UCA gambled on fourth and two at its 35 trailing 45-26 and Brown's pass fell incomplete.

"If our punter had made the proper read and cut back off his block, we might have made it," Conque said. "But we were playing to win and playing aggressively. The second fourth-down call came about because we had not stopped them and we were running out of time."

The Golden Hurricane, which was 10 of 12 on third-down conversions, also scored on their five possessions of the second half but UCA limited two of them to field goals of 29 and 27 yards by Jarod Tracy.

UCA scored on a 60-yard pass from Brown to Willie Landers, who ran out of a would-be tackle attempt and a 1-yard run by Brent Grimes after a 40-yard pass from Brown to James Lovett.

Tulsa drove 52-yard in six plays and scored on Tennial's 1-yard run with 13 seconds left.

"I thought Nathan proved himself as one of the best quarterbacks in college football," Conque said. "He played a very courageous game."

It was the third straight game that Tulsa has scored more than 50 points.

"Their (the Golden Hurricane's) offense outmanned us," Conque said.

UCA was playing without two starters in the offensive line (Will Merritt and Brad Gordon, who are out with injuries).