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Tulsa rolled up 332 yards rushing, including touchdown dashes of 29 and 40 yards by wide receiver Damaris Johnson, in a 52-24 victory over Tulane on Saturday night.
It was the most rushing yards for Tulsa since amassing 439 in a GMAC Bowl victory over Ball State in 2009, and a surprise to coach Todd Graham and his players, who thought going in they would do more damage through the air.
''We ran the ball very well tonight,'' said Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne, who threw for 206 yards and touchdown passes of 33 and 25 yards to Charles Clay. ''We don't care how we win, whether rushing or throwing. They were covering us very well in the secondary, so that just opened up the run lanes.''
Both of Johnson's touchdown runs were on reverses, and Ja'Terian Douglas ran 33 yards for a score on a counter in which he first lined up on the wrong side before being corrected by Kinne.
Alex Singleton had 5- and 1-yard TD runs for the Golden Hurricane (4-3, 2-2 Conference USA). Johnson led a balanced rushing attack with 87 yards on four carries. Tulsa had 10 players gain at least 10 yards rushing.
Kinne completed 15 of 25 passes and ran for 48 yards.
''We were taking what they gave us,'' Graham said. ''We felt like they could really run to the ball well, which was the strength of their defense. We wanted to loosen them up and spread them out with a lot of misdirection.''
Tulsa jumped to a 24-7 halftime lead, and Tulane never threatened despite a huge night by quarterback Ryan Griffin, who completed 36 of 51 passes for 412 yards - all career highs.
Tulane (2-4, 0-2), which lost its 11th consecutive C-USA road game, got within 24-14 after Griffin's 28-yard touchdown pass to Cody Sparks in the third quarter, but Tulsa struck back two plays later on the 40-yard reverse by Johnson.
The Green Wave had a season-high 527 yards of offense. Ryan Grant compiled 128 yards on six receptions, and Casey Robottom had 106 yards on nine catches for Tulane.
''Ryan made some nice throws, but unfortunately he made the one bad throw (a third-quarter interception in the end zone by Tulsa's Brian Moore),'' said Tulane coach Bob Toledo. ''He was under pressure a little bit and had a few sacks and he's also bothered by a shoulder injury. I thought he performed as well as he could under all the duress.
''It was the most yards we've had this season, and we were able to score 24 points. We're getting a lot of yards, but we have not been able to score a lot of points.''
After Tulane tied the score at 7-7, Kinne found Clay open down the right sideline for his 37th career TD pass, moving him into fourth place on Tulsa's all-time list.
''(Kinne) is so mobile that even when you have him pinned, he makes a play with his legs and he threw the ball well,'' Toledo said. ''He is the gasoline which makes that engine run. They have really skilled athletes, and in space, they are really dangerous.''
