Tulsa (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5)
Dec. 23,
8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
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2006 Armed Forces Bowl Preview
By
Richard Cirminiello
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Armed Forces Bowl History
formerly the Fort Worth Bowl |
| 2005 |
Kansas 42, Houston 13 |
| 2004 |
Cincinnati 32, Marshall 14 |
| 2003 |
Boise State 34, TCU 31 |
|
Armed Forces Bowl Player Profile
QB Paul Smith, Tulsa – Paul Smith. Even
the name seems to suggest a
certain anonymous quality. Yet,
despite a lack of national
notoriety, you could argue that
the Golden Hurricane, not the
Sooners, has had the steadiest
quarterback in the state of
Oklahoma over the last two
years. And you’d be right. As
Tulsa prepares for a second
consecutive bowl game for the
first time since 1965, two men
deserve the bulk of the credit,
head coach Steve Kragthorpe and
his quarterback, Smith, who’s
emerged into one of the better
kept secrets outside Conference
USA. The junior is a spiffy
17-8 since winning the starting
job before the 2005 season,
posting a passer efficiency
rating above 140 and adding six
rushing touchdowns in each of
the last two seasons. The son
of a high school football coach,
Smith brings leadership, poise
and intelligence into the
Hurricane huddle, giving the
school its most complete
quarterback since Jerry Rhome
was lighting up the Missouri
Valley Conference more than four
decades ago. Coming out of high
school, he was offered
scholarships by Harvard and West
Point and this year was a
finalist for the Wuerffel
Trophy, which is given to the
player that best combines
community service with academic
and athletic achievement. Smith
is an active member of the
Fellowship of Christian
Athletes, doing community
service with Desire Street
Ministries in New Orleans, and
carries of 3.78 GPA in
communications. No Conference
USA program will be returning a
better all-around signal-caller
than Tulsa in 2007, already
making a third straight
postseason appearance a better
than 50/50
proposition.
Best Golden Hurricane Bowl
Moment – Tulsa’s most
impressive postseason win came
more than a half century ago,
when the Hurricane swooped into
Miami and used seven turnovers
to upset Georgia Tech in the
1945 Orange Bowl. This
generation, however, will have
none of it. It points to last
year’s dramatic come-from-behind
Liberty Bowl win over Fresno
State that capped a turnaround,
nine-win season.
Best Ute Bowl Moment –
Two years ago, the Utes set the
bowl bar pretty doggone high for
future teams to reach. Utah got
four touchdown passes from Alex
Smith, and added an exclamation
point to a perfect regular
season by completely
obliterating Pittsburgh in the
2005 Fiesta Bowl. The win more
than justified the Utes’
selection as the first non-BCS
program to ever get invited to a
BCS bowl game.
Tulsa's best win ...
Tulsa 20 ... Southern Miss 6
Cauvey Jackson tore off a 59-yard scoring run early in the
first quarter for all the points Tulsa would need thanks to a
brilliant performance from the defense. Southern Miss gained 243
yards and turned it over twice while only managing two
second-quarter Darren McCaleb field goals. Tulsa was able to put it
away for good in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard Paul Smith
touchdown run and a two-yard Courtney Tennial dash. Linebackers
Nelson Coleman and Nick Bunting combined for 27 tackles for the
Golden Hurricane.
Tulsa's worst loss ...
SMU 34 ... Tulsa 24
Justin Willis threw two touchdown passes and ran for a
six-yard score as SMU overcame a 24-7 halftime deficit to score 27
unanswered points pulling away on a 14-yard Blake Warren touchdown run
with just over five minutes to play. Tulsa got up early helped by short
touchdown runs from Courtney Tennial and Paul Smith along with a 12-yard
Idris Moss touchdown catch, but the offense couldn't keep drives going
in the second half as SMU held on to the ball for almost 18 minutes.
Moss finished with 13 catches for the Golden Hurricane
Utah's best win ...
Utah 20 ... TCU 7
Utah got two touchdown passes from Brett Ratliff to Brett
Casteel and the defense forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter
to go 2-0 in Mountain West play. TCU got a one-yard Lonta Hobbs
touchdown run in the second quarter, but failed to connect on a few
chances in the second half and got many of its 310 yards on a
garbage time final drive. Louie Sakoda hit field goals from 29 and
32 yards out for the Utes.
Utah's worst loss ...
Wyoming 31 ... Utah 15
Wyoming got out to a 31-0 lead helped by a 24-yard touchdown
catch from Michael Ford and a four-yard run from Karsten Sween. The
defense got into the act in the second half with Julius Stinson
returning an interception 42 yards for a touchdown. Utah finally got on
the board with a 35-yard Eric Weddle fumble return for a score, but the
offense didn't get in the end zone until just over four minutes to play
on a three-yard Derrek Richards touchdown catch.
Utah Bowl History (8-4)
|
2005 |
Emerald |
Utah 38, Georgia Tech 10 |
|
2004 |
Fiesta |
Utah 35, Pitt 7 |
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2003 |
Liberty |
Utah 17, Southern Miss 0 |
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2001 |
Las Vegas |
Utah 10, USC 6 |
|
1999 |
Las Vegas |
Utah 17, Fresno State 16 |
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1996 |
Copper |
Wisconsin 38, Utah 10 |
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1994 |
Freedom |
Utah 16, Arizona 13 |
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1993 |
Freedom |
USC 28, Utah 21 |
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1992 |
Copper |
Washington State 31,
Utah 28 |
|
1964 |
Liberty |
Utah 32, West Virginia 6 |
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1946 |
Pineapple |
Hawaii 19, Utah 16 |
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1938 |
Sun |
Utah 26, New Mexico 0 |
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Tulsa Bowl History (5-8)
|
2005 |
Liberty |
Tulsa 31, Fresno State
24 |
|
2004 |
Humanitarian |
Georgia Tech 52, Tulsa
10 |
|
1991 |
Freedom |
Tulsa 28, San Diego
State 17 |
|
1989 |
Independence |
Oregon 27, Tulsa 24 |
|
1975 |
Independence |
McNeese State 20, Tulsa
16 |
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1965 |
Bluebonnet |
Tennessee 27, Tulsa 6 |
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1964 |
Bluebonnet |
Tulsa 14, Mississippi 7 |
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1952 |
Gator |
Florida 14, Tulsa 13 |
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1945 |
Oil |
Georgia 20, Tulsa 6 |
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1944 |
Orange |
Tulsa 26, Georgia Tech
12 |
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1943 |
Sugar |
Georgia Tech 20, Tulsa
18 |
|
1942 |
Sugar |
Tennessee 14, Tulsa 7 |
|
1941 |
Sun |
Tulsa 6, Texas Tech 0 |
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2006 Armed Forces Bowl Preview
