Memphis jumped out to a quick and early lead, but the Tulsa Golden Hurricane battled back in the second half, falling just short, as the Tigers escaped with a 42-41 win Saturday, at H.A. Chapman Stadium, in front of a crowd of 17,183. Memphis improved to 7-1 (3-1 American Athletic Conference) on the season, while Tulsa dropped to 2-6 (0-4 AAC).

“That’s a really good football team over there in Memphis, Coach (Mike) Norvell and his staff do an outstanding job, they got a lot of talent,” said Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery. “A lot of explosive players over there, on the offensive side especially. I thought that we did a good job of continuing to just keep grinding, getting stops where we can get stops, making plays, moving the chains.”

It didn’t take long for the Memphis Tigers to find the end zone. Just 3:20 into the first quarter, red shirt-freshman running back Kenneth Gainwell scored on a 20-yard touchdown run, giving Memphis the early lead. Three minutes later, Antonio Gibson carried the ball 40 yards for a touchdown, and Memphis took at 14-0 lead through the first quarter of play.Tulsa responded right at the start of the second quarter on a 40-yd touchdown run by Shamari Brooks, but Memphis extended its lead with a Calvin Austin 2-yard touchdown run.The Golden Hurricane closed the gap in the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by Corey Taylor, however, Memphis continued to work it’s magic. On fourth down, and lining up in punt formation, the Tigers instead threw a long pass for the first down, then quarterback Brady White completed the drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to Joey Magnifico, with 2:22 remaining in the second quarter, for a 28-14 lead.

Tulsa cut the lead a bit more with a 32-yard field goal by Jacob Rainey with 53-seconds remaining before halftime.

Taylor scored his second touchdown of the game for Tulsa, a 31-yard run, with 8:15 left in the third quarter, but it didn’t take long for Memphis to respond. Less than a minute later, Gainwell scored his second of the game, as he ran the ball 62-yards for a score, and the Tigers led 35-24.

Not to be outdone, Tulsa’s Taylor scored his third touchdown of the contest with 2:27 left in the third quarter, and this game was far from over.

In the fourth quarter, the Golden Hurricane grabbed their first lead of the game on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Zach Smith to Juan Carlos Santana, and TU led 38-35. Minutes later, Rainey kicked a 26-yard field goal to put Tulsa ahead by six points with 5:41 left to play.

Again, Memphis wasn’t finished. Gainwell ran one-yard into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game, and the Tigers had a slim one-point lead.

The game came down to a 29-yard field goal attempt with time expiring, but Rainey missed it wide to the left, and the Tigers celebrated a hard-fought victory.

“What a wild game,” said Novell. “Hats go off to Tulsa. They competed to the very end. We knew coming in, Tulsa was a talented team, one that could present a lot of challenges. I am so proud of our guys for just continuing to respond, even when we had some mistakes and some plays that didn’t necessarily go our way. They never lost hope. They just continued to fight to the end. I told them it could come down to one point. It could come down to one play, and tonight, that is how it all played out.”

Montgomery agreed. His team played hard against a better opponent, and almost came away with an upset.

“I was proud of our football team,” said Montgomery. “They really came out and battled. I thought it was a very physical game. [We] got behind a little bit there in the first half and just continued to keep grinding, guys making plays, defense making stops, put ourselves in a position to win and just didn’t come our way.”

Montgomery was asked if he considered going for it on fourth down near the end of the game, instead of attempting to kick the field goal, considering how inconsistent Rainey has been this season.

“No, I mean, just from a logical standpoint, I mean a field goal wins it and you got to have faith in your guys, I got faith in Jacob,” Montgomery said. “He’s hit some good ones. At that point with the clock the way it is and all of those things, all the factors involved, [we’re] going to play it by the book right there and let him go kick a winning field goal.”

Unfortunately for Tulsa, besides the two field goals Rainey was successful on in this game, the most important one proved to be his third missed attempt of the game. Earlier, Rainey missed a 40-yard kick and another 40-yard attempt was blocked.

Tulsa will visit Tulane this Saturday with a 3 p.m. kickoff, and will be home to host Central Florida on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.