In a game that saw Tulsa with a 300-yard passer, 200-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver for the first time in school history, the Golden Hurricane held on for a 48-42 victory Friday night over the USF Bulls at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
It was the home finale for 20 Tulsa seniors as the Hurricane improved to 4-7 overall and 2-5 in American Athletic Conference play. The Bulls fell to 1-10 and 0-7 in league action.
In his second career start, quarterback Braylon Braxton, filling in for the injured Davis Brin, had his first career 300-yard passing game with 302 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 20 yards and two TDs. Deneric Prince had his second 200-yard rushing game of the season with 220 yards and two TDs and Keylon Stokes had his seventh 100-yard receiving game of the year with 145 yards and one score on six receptions.
Stokes also became the American Athletic Conference's all-time leader for career all-purpose yards, surpassing Navy's Malcolm Perry (2016-19).
Tulsa's defense recovered two fumbles and came up with a huge 4th down stop at the 10:02 mark of the final stanza, thus keeping Tulsa's advantage at 10 points, 45-35, and leading to a field goal that made the score 48-35.
USF jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Hurricane scored 24 second quarter points to take a 31-20 lead into halftime.
After closing the first half with a field goal on a drive that covered 70 yards in just 1:10, Tulsa opened the second half with a 72-yard touchdown drive in an elapsed time of 1:41 to take a 38-20 lead at the 13:12 mark of the third quarter.
USF trimmed the 18-point Tulsa lead to just three points on back-to-back possessions that took only 1:40 off the clock.
The first score came on 79-yard drive that saw quarterback Byrum Brown run in from six yards out as USF made the score 38-27 at the 8:50 mark. The next came after USF recovered the onside kick at the Tulsa 35-yard line and proceeded to score in three plays on a Brown 17-yard throw to Jayson Littlejohn. The Bulls also converted on the two-point conversion to make it a 3-point game at 38-35 with 7:10 left in the third quarter.
Tulsa took a 10-point lead after the USF punter fumbled the snap that resulted in a 13-yard loss. The Hurricane took possession at the Bulls 18-yard line and in three plays scored on a Prince one-yard run to give Tulsa a 45-35 lead.
The Tulsa defense came up with a big 4th down stop when Bryson Powers stopped Michel Dukes two-yard shy of the first down marker. The Hurricane offense marched to the USF 3-yard line but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal and a 48-35 lead with 5:10 left in the contest.
With Tulsa leading 48-42, the Hurricane defense came up big again as the Bulls took possession at their own 9-yard line with 0:17 remaining on the game clock. Tulsa forced the visitors to go 4-and-out to preserve the victory.
USF scored the first 10 points of the contest, coming on a 25-yard field goal and a flee-flicker pass that covered 20 yards, capping a 90-yard, six-play drive for a 10-0 lead with 3:35 left in the first quarter.
On Tulsa's subsequent possession, Prince broke loose for a 67-yard run to the USF 2-yard line. Braxton scored on a 3-yard run two plays later to make the score 10-7.
The Bulls scored on its third straight possession with a 34-yard field goal to take a 13-7 lead at the 14:15 mark of the second period. A muffed punt by USF resulted in a Tulsa recovery by Mitchell Kulkin at the Bulls 22-yard line and four plays later Steven Anderson ran in from one yard out.
A jet sweep pass saw Keylon Stokes run 31 for Tulsa's third score of the game and a 21-13 lead to culminate an 81-yard, seven-play drive.
The Hurricane capitalized after another USF turnover with a five-play, 47-yard drive that saw Prince score from 10 yards out for a 28-13 lead.
USF managed to take the kickoff 65 yards in six plays and scored on an 18-yard pass play to slice Tulsa's lead to eight points at 28-20 with 1:13 remaining in the first half.
Tulsa marched to the USF five-yard line but had to settle for a field goal with :03 on the clock, giving Tulsa a 31-20 halftime lead.
For the half, the two teams combined for 51 points and 634 yards. Tulsa totaled 351 yards with 201 coming on the ground and 150 through the air. USF passed for 153 yards and rushed for another 130 yards.
Tulsa closes out the season on the road next Saturday against the Houston Cougars.