The Tulsa offense gained 529 yards and the defense limited Old Dominion to 247 yards en route to a 30-17 victory over the Monarchs Monday afternoon in the Second Annual Myrtle Beach Bowl at Brooks Stadium.
Tulsa ends the season with a 7-6 record and on a four-game winning streak. The bowl victory is the 11th in school history for Tulsa and the second under Head Coach Philip Montgomery in his four appearances.
"Proud of our team for the things that they battled through throughout the entire year. We faced a lot of adversity but finished really, really strong, and capped it off with tonight's win," said Montgomery.
Davis Brin won the MVP Award after completing 22-of-34 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns. Shamari Brooks moved into second place on the school's career rushing chart while toting the ball 26 times for 107 yards and one TD. Josh Johnson surpassed 1,000 receiving yards on the season and 2,000 career yards en route to 129 yards and one TD on eight receptions.
Defensively, the Hurricane had two takeaways that led to 10 Tulsa points with a fumble that resulted in a touchback and an interception.
The Hurricane controlled the game in the second half by holding a 25:11 to 4:49 advantage in possession time and ended the game with a 39:43 to 20:17 edge. Tulsa's defense held the Monarchs to just 110 yards in the second half, while the Hurricane offense gained 255 yards. Tulsa also had a 35-to-10 edge for first downs.
ODU jumped out to a 7-0 lead by taking the opening kickoff 100 yards, but the Hurricane scored on its first two possessions to take a 14-7 lead into the second quarter. With Tulsa leading 14-10 at halftime, the Hurricane scored the first 16 points of the second half to take a 30-10 lead with just over nine minutes left to play.
Despite only scoring six points on two field goals in the third quarter, the Hurricane took control in the period. Tulsa held a time of possession advantage of 12:39 to 2:21 in the quarter, while the Hurricane defense held ODU to two three-and-outs and -2 yards in the period.
ODU appeared to have taken the momentum and was ready to score after taking over possession from a fake Tulsa punt attempt early in the fourth quarter. ODU's Ali Jennings caught a 30-yard pass down the right sidelines but Tulsa's Tyon Davis made perhaps the biggest play of the game when he punched the ball out Jennings' hands at the four-yard line. The ball went out of the end zone for a touchback and resulted in Tulsa's possession.
"That's who our defense is. That's who our football team is. We obviously put our defense in a bad spot there but to see them react and play the way they did and then that play by Tyon in particular, what a huge, huge play in the game," added Montgomery.
In the fourth period, Tulsa had a possession time advantage of 12:32 to 2:28.
Tulsa's whopping advantage in possession time began on the first possession of the second half when the Hurricane took 6:22 off the clock on a 70-yard, 15-play drive. Tulsa had to settle for a 25-yard Zack Long field goal to take a 20-10 lead at 8:38 mark of the second half.
The Hurricane took its next possession 53 yards in 11 plays and again had to settle again for three points, this time a 32-yard by Long, his third of the game, to put Tulsa ahead 23-10 with 3:25 left in the quarter.
Tulsa made the score 30-10 at the 9:04 mark of the fourth period when Brin connected on a four-yard pass in the end zone to tight end Ethan Hall, capping an 80-yard, 11-play drive. But the Monarchs took little time off the clock for its first offensive touchdown of the game that made the score 30-17 with 7:15 remaining in the game and capping a four-play, 60-yard drive.
Tulsa took possession at its own 10-yard line and ran out the final 7:11 while converting five first down.
The Monarchs opened the game with a 100-yard Lamareon James kickoff return for a 7-0 lead. It was the fourth kick return of the season against the Hurricane that went for a touchdown, the first since the seventh game of the year.
The Hurricane took its first possession 74 yards in seven plays as Brooks scored his seventh rushing TD of the season on a one-yard run. Tulsa too possession at the own 24 after the Monarchs missed a 41-yard field goal. The Hurricane marched 76 yards in 11 plays as Brin connected with Johnson on the final 23 yards for a 14-7 lead.
ODU drove to the Tulsa 14-yard line but had to settle for a 32-yard field goal, making the score 14-10 at the 12:50 mark of the second quarter.
Brooks moved into second place on the school's career rushing chart on his eighth carry of the game for two yards to give him 30 yards for the game and 3,652 career yards on a three-play drive early in the second period.
Long's 35-yard field goal gave Tulsa a 17-10 lead with 0:09 remaining before halftime. The Hurricane began its scoring drive at their own 31-yard line after LJ Wallace's first career interception. The Tulsa drive covered 52 yards in 12 plays.
At the intermission, Tulsa had a 274 to 137-yard advantage in total offense as the Hurricane passed for 193 yards and had 81 rushing yards. Brin had 193 first-half passing yards on 12 completions, while Johnson was on the receiving end of five of those passes for 101 first-half yards.
