STILLWATER, OK – In a surprise turn of events, in a game between two college football teams going in opposite directions, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 19-12, Friday night at Boone Pickens Stadium.

Tulsa snapped a 10-game losing streak that dated back to 1998, and it was the first time that Tulsa beat OSU in Stillwater since Nov. 3, 1951. Back then, OSU was called Oklahoma A&M.

Tulsa head coach Tre Lamb talked about the significance of beating OSU.

“Being the underdog and little brother, there’s probably 30-40 guys on our team that were recruited by Oklahoma State that [OSU] didn’t end up taking or end up offering a scholarship to,” Lamb said. “I had them raise their hands in the team meeting room, like, ‘How many of you guys got offered by [Oklahoma State]? How many guys are from Oklahoma or Texas? How many guys played on the team and didn’t feel like you were good enough to play here? This is your opportunity.’ [Braylin] Presley having the first touchdown and Dom [Richardson] having 149 yards is karma, and I’m so proud of our team. I’m so proud of those guys that played with a chip on their shoulder tonight.”

Richardson said it meant a lot to him to come back to OSU and get the win.

We knew this weekend we needed to lock in,” Richardson said. “Man, it was personal and being back here feels special. You know, this game means everything so we’re soaking it in and celebrating the win.”

OSU head coach Mike Gundy said after the game that his team just didn’t execute and got outcoached.

“Third-and-fourth down conversions were not good for us,” said OSU head coach Mike Gundy. “I thought Tulsa did a good job early in the game with some of the concepts that we haven’t executed on defense and really outcoached us through the first quarter.”

OSU opened the game with the ball and quickly marched down the field, but the Tulsa defense stopped the Cowboy’s drive in the red zone, and OSU had to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Logan Ward.

Tulsa answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Baylor Hayes to Braylin Presley, and Tulsa led 7-3 with 9:36 left in the first quarter. Hayes was starting for the second time in place of injured Kirk Francis.

With 2:41 remaining in the first quarter, the Golden Hurricane went ahead 10-3 with a 27-yard field goal by Seth Morgan.

Morgan kicked a 38-yard field goal midway through the second quarter to extend the Tulsa lead, and he nailed another one from 47 yards to put Tulsa ahead 16-3, with 2:32 left before halftime, and that was the score at the intermission.

“Offensively, the first drive we were rolling and then after that we couldn’t sustain, and we had a couple key penalties that set us back, and right now, we don’t overcome penalties very well,” Gundy said.

Tulsa dominated OSU in the first half, gaining 266 total yards to the Cowboys’ 117 yards.

Tulsa had the ball to start the second half and quickly marched up the field, covering 46 yards in 10 plays and Morgan finished it off with a 47-yard field goal, putting Tulsa ahead, 19-3.

Tulsa fumbled the ball on their own 42-yard line, recovered by OSU. The Cowboys drive to the Tulsa five-yard line, but on fourth-and-one, the TU defense puts the stop on the Cowboys, knocking them back a yard.

At the end of the third quarter, Tulsa led 19-3.

With 14:14 left in the fourth quarter, OSU scored a touchdown on a five-yard quarterback keeper by Zane Flores. The two-point conversion pass attempt was intercepted in the end zone, but OSU cut the Tulsa lead to 10 points, 19-9. Flores, a third-year freshman, was making his second start for the Cowboys.

“I thought that Zane really competed and made some throws, but there were about four or five throws that he missed, but I also think we had about five or six drops where we need to do a better job catching the ball,” Gundy said. “I also thought he competed, he ran, he fought, there’s times he ran the ball, but he’s learning on the run, but he showed some grit right until the end.”

Ward kicked a 49-yard field goal with 5:49 left in the fourth to pull the Cowboys within seven points, 19-12.

For Tulsa, Hayes completed 23-of-36 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown, adding 23 rushing yards on seven carries. Dominic Richardson carried the ball 31 times for 146 rushing yards. Morgan converted four of five field goal attempts.

“He grew up tonight,” Lamb said of his quarterback. “He played on the national stage, on ESPN, on his third career start, second in FBS football, he’s a redshirt freshman. I thought he used his legs really well. I thought he was huge in the first half making plays. And again, our defense was playing so well; in the fourth quarter, I wasn’t going to let the freshman quarterback lose the game for us.”

The loss means a lot to OSU in a year that saw Gundy fire the bulk of his assistant coaches and bring in fresh ideas to his staff. It was supposed to be a turn around year for the Cowboys.

On the other hand, the win is huge for Tulsa.

“It eliminates doubt,” Lamb said. “You always feel like you can do it, you always feel like the players can do it. That little five percent of doubt that’s been in the back of our minds since I’ve been here is gone. I think we’ve got to use this to make sure that’s gone. We’ve got a good football team, we’ve got a great staff, we’ve got a good program. There is a lot of really good sunshines and mornings for Tulsa football in our future. It’s going to be bright; our guys are looking ahead.”

Tulsa will host Tulane at H.A. Chapman Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. on ESPNU.

Oklahoma State will host Baylor at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, at Boone Pickens Stadium. The game will air on ESPN2.