TULSA — Normally, short defensive series are good. Just not if they only last a play.
Tulsa scored on the first snap of three drives Saturday afternoon, steamrolling Arkansas State’s defense on the way to a 41-34 win at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
The Golden Hurricane, which entered the game winless, piled up 663 yards of total offense while averaging 9.1 yards per play. Tulsa quarterback Davis Brin needed only 17 completions to throw for 355 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Shamari Brooks added 155 yards and a score on the ground
After trailing 31-14 two minutes into the second half, ASU (1-3) began a quest for a furious comeback. The Red Wolves, who managed just 65 yards of total offense in the second quarter, marched 76 yards in nine plays, capped by a back-shoulder fade from ASU quarterback James Blackman to Jeff Foreman that drew the visitors back within 10.
But the Golden Hurricane found the end zone the very next play, with Anthony Watkins chugging straight up the gut a 75-yard touchdown. ASU’s defense allowed 323 yards before halftime.
Special teams then bailed out the Red Wolves out for a second time Saturday. Alan Lamar took the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, adding to a banner game for the ASU return unit, which put the afternoon’s first seven points on the board thanks to a Johnnie Lang Jr. touchdown.
The Red Wolves and Tulsa (1-3) traded field goals, keeping the Golden Hurricane lead at 10 in the early stages of the fourth quarter. Though ASU’s next two drives stalled, the latter one set up Blake Grupe for a career-long 50-yard field goal, making it a 41-34 game.
The Red Wolves would never see the ball again, however, as the Golden Hurricane melted away the final six-plus minutes for their first victory of 2021.
ASU's Blackman finished 23-of-37 passing for 321 yards and two touchdowns, but the Red Wolves again struggled to find any type of running game — as a unit, they gained just 38 yards on 26 carries.
More details in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.