Oct. 11, 2008
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DALLAS (AP) - A.J. Whitmore scored on an 8-yard run with 8:40 left to help lead Tulsa to a narrow 37-31 victory over SMU on Saturday night.
Tulsa (3-0 Conference USA) trailed 31-24 heading into the fourth quarter before scoring twice in just over a minute to take the lead for good.
Johnson hit Trae Johnson, who hauled in the pass over SMU defensive back Keith Robinson, for a 33-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-21 to tie the game at 31 with 9:53 remaining.
Tulsa's DeAundre Brown then intercepted Bo Levi Mitchell on the first play of the ensuing drive to give the Golden Hurricane the ball at the Mustangs' 26. Whitmore scored three plays later to put Tulsa on top for good.
Mitchell, who was 19-of-34, passed for 318 yards and four touchdowns. His 77-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders gave the Mustangs a 31-24 lead.
Sanders had six catches for 132 yards.
The Mustangs drove to the Tulsa 26 in the final minute. Mitchell threw toward an open Cole Beasley in the end zone, but Beasley dropped the pass that would have given SMU the lead.
Mitchell's fourth-and-2 pass was just beyond the outstretched hands of Sanders, and Tulsa got the ball back on downs and ran out the final seconds.
Mitchell threw two touchdowns in the first half to help the Mustangs take a 17-13 lead.
After Jarod Tracy's field goal brought Tulsa within a point, the teams combined to score three times in 68 seconds.
Mitchell tossed a 10-yard scoring pass to Terrance Wilkerson with 8:57 left in the third.
The Golden Hurricane, who came into the weekend as one of two undefeated teams that were unranked, quickly answered on David Johnson's 40-yard TD pass to Shelley.
Mitchell then found a wide open Sanders for a 77-yard touchdown to cap the scoring frenzy with 7:49 remaining in the third. Sanders tied a school record with his ninth 100-yard receiving game.
Before Mitchell's 26-yard touchdown pass to Beasley put the Mustangs ahead 7-3 late in the first quarter, Tulsa had scored 50 in four straight games and hadn't trailed since its opening game.
After Bryan McCann intercepted Johnson in the end zone to stop a Tulsa threat, the Mustangs went up 14-3 on Mitchell's 18-yard TD to Aldrick Robinson.
Tulsa fought within 17-13 on Tracy's 34-yard field goal as the first half ended.
