BYU Rallies To Defeat Golden Hurricane At Armed Forces Bowl

A trick play with 11 seconds remaining put the Cougars on top of Tulsa for good on Friday.

Friday, December 30th 2011, 3:40 pm

By: News On 6


Grant Belcher, NewsOn6.com

DALLAS – It was only fitting that such an unconventional game had such an unconventional ending.

A fake spike at the goal line led to a wide open touchdown with 11 seconds remaining and a 24-21 BYU win against Tulsa on Friday at the Armed Forces Bowl.

When Brigham Young and Tulsa meet, those two school conjure up images of games in the 40-50 point range offensively, but the opposite was true this time.

Defensive prowess and fluke plays took over for teams that averaged 65 points combined coming into the game. BYU had scored 38 points or more in its final six regular season games.

The Golden Hurricane defense had its way with the Cougars in the first quarter, allowing just a field goal with 17 seconds left to make it 7-3 after one.

G.J. Kinne hooked up with Ricky Johnson in the first quarter to give TU its initial lead, and then again in the second with Clay Sears to push the lead to 14-3.

But one of the big fluke plays in the game reared its ugly head at the end of the first half for Tulsa.

With 25 seconds remaining in the half, TU punt returner J.D. Ratliff fumbled a punt, allowing BYU to take over on Tulsa's 17-yard line.

The Cougars didn't waste any time as quarterback Riley Nelson connected with receiver Cody Hoffman – a foreshadowing of things to come – to cut the lead to 14-10 right before the half.

The two teams barely reached 300 yards combined in the first half, not reminiscent of their recent dominant offensive performances.

Nelson and Hoffman would connect again twice more in the game, including the only score of the third quarter. This one went for 30 yards as the Cougars took their first lead of the game at 17-14 to end the third.

TU rallied back as G.J. Kinne threw a 30-yard strike of his own to receiver Bryan Burnham, regaining the lead at 21-17. Kinne had a productive day with 210 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

But Nelson and Hoffman would have the last laugh as BYU orchestrated an impressive game-winning drive. After converting a 4th-and-9 close to midfield, the Cougars managed their time wisely and found themselves two yards out with 11 seconds remaining.

Quarterback Riley Nelson faked the spike, pretending to stop the clock, but instead pulled up and fired at the corner of the endzone to Hoffman for their third touchdown connection of the day.

The BYU win snapped Tulsa's bowl game win streak at three as the Golden Hurricane played in their seventh bowl game in the past nine years.

Despite the solid defense, TU's offense didn't exactly give them a whole lot of production. It tallied 272 total yards the entire game and had trouble converting on third down.

Kinne and Burnham had the only significant offensive statistics, as Trey Watts led the rushing attack with just 38 yards.

BYU finished out its season at 10-3 while Tulsa dropped to 8-5 overall.

Check back for postgame analysis from News On 6's Bobby Lewis as well as interviews with coach Bill Blankenship and his team.

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