It’s becoming a theme for the University of Tulsa football team to open the first half strong and then struggling to sustain the momentum throughout the game. Tulane shutdown the Tulsa offense in the second half in defeating TU, 31-14, Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium, in front of 16,311 fans.

With the win, Tulane improved to 4-0, 1-0 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Golden Hurricane dropped to 2-3, 0-2 AAC.

“It was good to get a win on the road, in conference play it’s never easy,” said Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall. “I thought Tulsa did a really good early, having a few things that maybe were unique, a couple trick plays. They hit us with a surprise onside [kick]. They controlled the early flow of the game.”

Tulane opened the scoring quickly on the team’s first drive, when Jake Retzlaff carried the ball into the end zone from eight yards out, giving the Green Wave a 7-0 lead with 11:28 left in first quarter.

Tulsa answered quickly on their first possession, as the Golden Hurricane put together a seven-play, 75-yard drive, that included a 51-yard pass completion from Baylor Hayes to Grayson Tempest all the way to the Tulane four-yard line. Two plays later, Tim Hardiman dove over the offensive line into the end zone.

The two teams exchanged quick possessions for the rest of the quarter and were tied 7-7 through one quarter.

Tulane opened the second quarter with a seven-play, 55-yard drive that culminated with a 12-yard touchdown run by Javin Gordon and the Green Wave took a 14-7 lead with 12:10 remaining in the second quarter.

Again, Tulsa answered quickly with a 72-yard touchdown pass-play from Hayes to Brody Foley, and with the extra point, Tulsa tied the game, 14-14, with 6:57 left in the second quarter.

However, Tulane scored two more times before the intermission. The Green Wave took the lead with a 25-yard touchdown run by Retzlaff with 2:13 left in the second quarter, and then a 28-yard field goal by Patrick Durkin with :12 left in the first half, put Tulane ahead 24-14 at halftime.

The only score in the second half came on a four-yard touchdown run by Gordon, and Tulane took a 31-14 lead with 5:28 left in the third quarter.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, as Hayes threw an interception on Tulsa’s first drive of the quarter and TU struggled to convert on third down opportunities.

“We got our butts beat tonight; no if, ands, or buts, about it,” said Tulsa head coach Tre Lamb after the game.   “They had 100 more yards of offense. They dominated out of halftime. We’re not there yet. We need to get there quickly. That’s a good team, it’s the best team we’ve played, top to bottom.”

For Tulane, Retzlaff completed 17-of-30 passes for 242 yards and he rushed for 29 yards and one touchdown. Gordon finished with 78 yards and three touchdowns and became the third Tulane freshman running back with three rushing touchdowns in a game along Matt Forte and Orleans Darkwa.

For Tulsa, Hayes was 18-of-36 for 245 yards and one touchdown. Dominic Richardson carried the ball 14 times for 48 yards. Tempest was the leading receiver with two catches for 84 yards. Elijah Green led the TU defense with 10 total tackles.

Tulane outgained Tulsa in total yards, 437 to 337. The Green Wave converted 8-of-18 third downs while the Golden Hurricane converted 5-of-16.

This was the 20th meeting between these two teams and Tulsa now leads the series 13-7.

The Golden Hurricane travels to Memphis to face the Tigers at the Liberty Bowl on Saturday, with the kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU.