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Warriors ready for
Hurricane this time
Last year, Hawaii raced out to a 16-3 second-quarter lead against Tulsa, only to watch Golden Hurricane quarterback James Kilian lead his team to 24 unanswered points and hand the visiting Warriors a 27-16 loss.
This year, the game had nearly the same feel, as the Warriors took a 13-3 lead in the second quarter before Tulsa came back to tie it at halftime. The similarities ended there, however -- the Hurricane were outscored 31-3 in the second half last night, compared to their shutting out Hawaii 17-0 in the second half last season.
"It's like apples and oranges," Tulsa head coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "Every year is different and we couldn't do the things we wanted to do tonight."
After hitting their stride offensively at the end of the first half, the Hurricane opened the second half the same way they did the first, gaining just 33 total yards and one first down in the third quarter as the Warriors used a consistent blitzing scheme to disrupt the Hurricane offense.
"This year we couldn't get the running game going," Kilian said. "That let them take our tight ends and hot throws away and they just kept bringing the pressure."
The first three possessions in the second half were all three-and-outs for the Tulsa offense, which eventually wore out its defense.
"Last year we were able to control the clock and stay on the field," Kilian said. "Tonight, it was like blood in the water with their pressure. And, when we were able to slow the blitz and get guys one-on-one on the outside, we couldn't make the play."
Last year's game saw Kilian become the first Tulsa player ever to lead the team in passing, rushing and receiving yards in one game. It was a stark contrast to last night's play, as Kilian finished with minus-1 yard rushing and was held to 189 passing yards.
"(Hawaii) did some good things and we just couldn't take advantage of plays when we had them," Kragthorpe said. "We made far too many mistakes and didn't take advantage of opportunities we had in the first half."
The Hurricane drove into Warriors territory four different times in the second quarter, scoring just one touchdown. Twice Tulsa had to settle for field goals by Brad DeVault, who finished with a career-high three field goals in front of the hostile Hawaii crowd.
"I had trouble with the ball coming out low but (the field goals) don't mean much in a loss," DeVault said.
This was Tulsa's first conference game of the season, but neither the coaches nor the players would use the long road trip as an excuse for their play.
"I felt great, the players felt great, we were ready to play," Kragthorpe said. "We just simply couldn't minimize their big plays, and that is what you have to do against an offense like theirs."
With the Hurricane leaving the WAC for Conference USA next season, they might not get a chance to avenge this year's loss to Hawaii anytime soon. But returning to Hawaii will be a goal for Tulsa.
"The bowl game here has a spot for the Conference USA, so hopefully we'll be back here in a short time," Kragthorpe said.
