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Tulsa Golden Hurricane © |
Oklahoma Sooners |
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Played September 28, 1996 at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, Oklahoma |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Tulsa © | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||
| Oklahoma | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .625 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .750 | ||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Tulsa |
7 |
17 |
0 |
7 |
31 |
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Oklahoma |
0 |
7 |
17 |
0 |
24 |
The 1-2 Tulsa Golden Hurricane of coach Dave Rader, fresh off their upset of 19th ranked Iowa, traveled to Norman to meet the 0-2 Oklahoma Sooners of first-year coach John Blake. Tulsa played without starting QB John Fitzgerald who was out due to a shoulder injury but back-up QB Troy DeGar threw for 277 yards with 2 touchdowns including a 99-yard strike to WR Wes Caswell in the 31-24 win. Things started poorly for the Sooners as RB De’Mond Parker fumbled on the first play from scrimmage & Tulsa's DT Ryan Farley recovered at the Oklahoma 31-yard line. Golden Hurricane's RB Solomon White scored on a 1-yard touchdown run for the 7-0 Tulsa lead. Oklahoma tied the game early in the 2nd quarter when RB James Allen scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Golden Hurricane's All-WAC PK James Anderson connected on a 37-yard field goal to give Tulsa the lead back at 10-7 &, after Oklahoma pinned the Golden Hurricane at their own 1-yard line with a punt, DeGar hit WR Wes Caswell for the 99-yard touchdown pass giving Tulsa a 17-7 advantage. It looked like the Sooners would respond with a touchdown of their own but Parker fumbled again & Tulsa's S Jeremy Bunch recovered in the end zone for a touchback. DeGar directed a 13-play, 80-yard drive & finished it with a 4-yard touchdown pass to WR Jeff Utter with just 0:26 left in the half. Oklahoma’s offense opened the 2nd half after a short Tulsa punt with a 3-play, 45-yard drive with QB Justin Fuente connecting with WR Mike McDaniel for a 41-yard touchdown pass to close to 24-14. The Golden Hurricane next drive was stopped as Oklahoma's CB Corey Ivy blocked the Tulsa punt & three plays later, Fuente scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Late in the 3rd quarter, Oklahoma's PK Jeremy Alexander hit a 49-yard field goal to tie the game at 24-24. Each teams exchanged interceptions on their first drives of the final period before White scored for Tulsa on a 2-yard touchdown run with 7:22 left. The Sooners could not get the ball into Golden Hurricane territory the rest of the game & Tulsa had the win 31-24. Tulsa's RB Reggie Williams rushed for 105 yards & Caswell added 7 catches for 194 yards to his touchdown. For Oklahoma, Parker finished with 143 yards rushing but 2 fumbles, McDaniel added 5 catches for 108 yards to his score, & WR Stephen Alexander had 4 catches for 102 yards. Tulsa finished the season 4-7 while the Sooners finished 3-8. Oklahoma would play for The Belt again in 1997.
