Sunday's Sports Update : Football falls to Tulsa for fifth-straight loss

By Meghan Hall     10/1/09 7:00pm

Last night's game against the University of Tulsa bore too many resemblances to last week's with Vanderbilt University and the end result was the same with a 27-10 loss. Although the Owls had the spark of playing against former coach Todd Graham, they fought the driving rain and came up short against the Golden Hurricane.Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne led his team down the field decisively on their first possession, and handed the ball off to running back Jamad Williams for a six-yard touchdown run. Then at the beginning of the second quarter, Rice (0-5, 0-2 Conference USA) was able to take advantage of good field position. The drive started at Tulsa's 48-yard line, and after a personal foul penalty on Tulsa (4-1, 2-0 C-USA), redshirt freshman Ryan Lewis tossed a 29-yard touchdown to senior tight end Taylor Wardlow.

The Owls' next drive appeared promising. After three first downs, Rice was at Tulsa's 24-yard line when Lewis fired a pass to the corner of the end zone, right in the arms of freshman tailback Charles Ross, who then dropped the ball in the rain. The Owls did pick up another first down after a defensive pass interference penalty but there was a fumble on the field goal attempt and Rice turned the ball over on downs.

The teams exchanged field goals in the second quarter and at halftime, the score was tied at 10 for the second week in a row. But Tulsa took control in the second half, outscoring the Owls 17-0. Kinne took the ball in himself to break the tie in the third quarter, and then A.J. Whitmore brought in a 39-yard pass for the back-breaking score to start off the fourth quarter.

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The offensive numbers for the Owls were woeful. Consequently, the defense held up their end of the bargain in the first half, but similar to last week they wore down after halftime.

With redshirt sophomore quarterback Nick Fanuzzi out for the second straight week due to a shoulder injury, Lewis finished 12-32 for 99 yards. Ross led the running back corps with 33 yards, and the Owls only managed 191 yards of total offense, compared to 385 for the Golden Hurricane.

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