Todd Graham Postgame Press Conference  | Players Postgame Press Conference | Box Score 

Andrew Topps 
OKBlitz.com Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma -- The sun may have been shining but SMU rained on Tulsa’s Homecoming. The Mustangs were 17-point underdogs heading into Saturday’s game against the Golden Hurricane, but came out with a 27-13 victory. Tulsa  (4-4, 2-2) has lost three straight for the first time in the Todd Graham era.

"Very disappointing day for us," Tulsa coach Todd Graham said. "We didn't play very good in all three phases. We were dismal on third down and couldn't get any rythm offensively, and just didn't play very well."

Turnovers plagued quarterback G.J. Kinne. He was picked off on TU’s opening drive and on his first pass of the second half. The sophomore threw as many interceptions as completions finishing 2-of-11 for 10 yards. Kinne was pulled in the second quarter in favor of Jacob Bower.
 
"We'd missed some throws, missed some opportunites and just trying to get a spark," Graham said. "We got a spark and scored a touchdown. There was other things that [Bower] didn't know how to do game-plan wise and we had to go back and forth." 

Bower led a scoring drive finding, Jake Collums for a 13-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. However, Kevin Fitzpatrick’s  extra point was blocked leaving TU with a 20-13 deficit.

Zach Line’s 2-yard plunge into the end zone with 1:57 left in the game shut the door on any hopes of a TU comeback.

Charles Opeseyitan found the end zone on a 13-yard run in the second quarter to put TU up 7-0. The Golden Hurricane used four quarterbacks on that drive.

Then the Mustangs reeled off 20 straight points.

SMU (4-4, 3-1) quarterback Kyle Padron connected with Cole Beasley on a 49-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7. Both teams entered the locker room tied 7-7 at the half.

Padron followed that up by hitting Shawnbrey McNeal for a 36-yard score on the Mustangs’ opening drive of the second half to put SMU up 14-7. Padron finished with two touchdowns on 20-of-30 passing for 354 yards. Matt Szymanski connected on field goals of 35 and 31 yards.