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Fortuitous Tulsa primed
for championship game
Stars were in alignment
for Golden Hurricane in season's final weeks
By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer
TULSA, OK — Tulsa tight
end Garrett Mills was understandably frustrated.
The Golden Hurricane could
clinch a berth in the Conference USA title game with a win by Southern
Methodist against Texas-El Paso.
So, when a second SMU
drive stalled inside the UTEP 5 on Saturday, Mills was about ready to
throw his laptop out his apartment window.
With the game not on
television, Mills was keeping up with it on the Internet. Other Tulsa
players watched for the score on television tickers, and some even made
the Thanksgiving weekend trip to Dallas for the game.
When it finally ended —
with SMU claiming a 40-27 victory — Tulsa won Conference USA's West
Division.
"I think I did a little
Riverdance, jumped around a little bit," Mills said Monday.
Tulsa (7-4, 6-2) had been
all but eliminated from the title race when Reagan Schneider hit a
23-yard field goal to give UTEP a 41-38 win against the Golden Hurricane
on Nov. 5. That left Tulsa needing to win its final two games and still
depending upon the Miners to lose back to back against UAB and SMU.
"We thought it would come
down to the last straw. I felt there was no question we would have a
chance to be in the championship game if we won our last two," Tulsa
coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "That was the key coming out of the UTEP
game. ... We took care of our business, and (UTEP's) opponents took care
of the other half."
The Golden Hurricane beat
East Carolina and Tulane to finish the season, then rested over
Thanksgiving break. Coaches spent time preparing for a potential meeting
with East champion Central Florida, just in case UTEP faltered.
"We planned on that
happening, in terms of the way we prepared, the way we were approaching
our Thanksgiving break as coaches," Kragthorpe said.
UCF coach George O'Leary
said last week the Golden Knights would spend half their time looking at
UTEP and the other half on Tulsa, so Kragthorpe doesn't expect to have
any advantage in preparation.
"I think the biggest thing
is just the opportunity to freshen up a little bit and get away a little
bit, take a fresh perspective on what we've been doing so we can
continue to do that well and maybe make some adjustments in some areas
where we want to improve down the stretch," Kragthorpe said."
Playing in the Conference
USA title game gives the Golden Hurricane a shot at their first league
championship since 1985, when they won the Missouri Valley Conference
for the sixth straight season.
It's also another chance
for broad exposure for Kragthorpe's program. Tulsa played its season
opener against Minnesota in front of a national television audience on
ESPN, and it will have another chance Saturday.
02/23/07 10:43 AM
©2005 The Associated Press. All
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