The last time the Oklahoma State Cowboys visited H.A. Chapman Stadium on The University of Tulsa campus, a severe lightning storm moved through the area just before the scheduled 9:10 p.m. kickoff, delaying the start of the game for over three hours. When the game finally finished at 3:35 a.m., Oklahoma State had won 59-33.

That was Sept. 17, 2011, and yes, I stayed through the whole thing.

This time, it was a beautiful, sunny and warm Saturday afternoon, with no threat of rain, and the OSU Cowboys took no delay in jumping out on top of the Golden Hurricane. OSU scored just ten seconds into the game and held off Tulsa for a 40-21 win.

On the Cowboys first play from scrimmage, Chuba Hubbard took the ball on a handoff from Spencer Sanders and carried it 75 yards into the end zone. The play ran only ten seconds off the clock.

On the next OSU possession, Hubbard scored again with a 30-yard TD run, and the Cowboys lead Tulsa 14-0 with 11:23 left in the first quarter.

With 6:00 left in the opening quarter, Matt Ammendola kicked a 37-yard field goal to put OSU ahead, 17-0.

Tulsa quarterback Zack Smith connected with Keylon Stokes on a 39-yard TD pass to keep the Golden Hurricane in the game with 4:23 left in the first quarter.

A big ray of hope flickered when Tulsa’s Reggie Robinson intercepted a Sanders pass, putting a stop to the Cowboys drive near midfield, however, Tulsa couldn’t capitalize on it and ended up punting on fourth down.

With 11:50 left in the second quarter, Ammendola kicked a 36-yard field goal to put OSU ahead 20-7.

Smith completed a beautiful 44-yard pass play to Sam Crawford to the OSU three-yard line, setting up a three-yard TD run by Shamari Brooks. Then Brooks finished off another TU drive with a 1-yard dive into the end zone, and Tulsa led 21-20 at halftime.

OSU put a couple scores on the board in the third quarter; a 27-yard TD run by quarterback Sanders, and a 90-yard TD pass play from Sanders to Tylan Wallace.

“Obviously, we rushed the ball really well,” said OSU head coach Mike Gundy. “They got after us pretty well in the second quarter, they made us tired and ran the ball down our throat. We made the adjustments at halftime, came out and made plays, which is awesome by our defense and our coaches for their adjustments. We were able to make some big plays. We were able to throw the ball downfield a few times and make some plays.”

Before this one was over, Hubbard scored his third touchdown of the game on a 33-yard run, giving OSU the 40-21 lead, with 2:34 remaining.

“I was proud of our football team, and I think we have a really good football team,” said Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery. “We’ve got to quit shooting ourselves in the foot. We had way too many penalties. We gave up some explosive plays today that we haven’t been giving up.”

Tulsa committed a team record tying 17 penalties, and OSU committed only nine.

OSU compiled 506 total offensive yards, while Tulsa had 396. Hubbard finished with 32 carries for 256 yards and three touchdowns. Sanders completed 12-of-22 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown.

For Tulsa, Brooks carried the ball 29 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Smith completed 17-of-30 for 228 yards and one touchdown.

Oklahoma State remained undefeated at 3-0, while Tulsa dropped to 1-2 on the season. OSU will be on the road this Saturday to play Big 12 opponent Texas at 6:30 p.m. on ABC TV.. Tulsa will host Wyoming at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

FROM THE PRESS BOX

This was the 73rd meeting between these two teams, and Oklahoma State now leads the series 41-27-5. OSU has won the last seven games against TU, including three in Tulsa (2000, 2011, 2019).

The last time Tulsa beat OSU was in 1998, as the Golden Hurricane won the home game 35-20.

Of the announced crowd of 28,612, it appeared from my press box window the number of fans wearing orange way out numbered those in royal blue, at about 5-to-1.

It was good to see coaching legend and long-time Tulsa broadcaster J.V. Haney in the press box. Haney has battled a couple health issues in the past year, but was on hand to provide the in-press-box public address announcements.

Former TU head football coach and current state Senator Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, was the honorary captain of the game. Rader led the Golden Hurricane to a comeback win over OSU in 1995, when Tulsa scored 21 points in the final 5:41 of the game, and won 24-23. After the third quarter, Rader was on the field to crank the Hurricane Siren.