ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La.?Tulsa rallied from a 17-14 halftime deficit, scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half, to defeat ULM 35-17 Thursday night in the season-opener for both teams.

Tulsa senior quarterback Paul Smith connected on 22-of-31 for 307 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came in the second half.

ULM senior tailback Calvin Dawson rushed for 150 yards on 24 carries, his ninth career 100-yard rushing game; Dawson went over 2,000 yards for his career in the first quarter.

“Its good to have 100 yards to start the season, but it really doesn't mean anything if you don't get the win," Dawson said. "You can go a whole season with 100 yard games every time, but if you don't win it doesn't mean anything.”

An opening-day record 22,022 fans packed Malone Field in front of a national television audience on ESPN2 HD. The previous record was 21,726 set two years ago against Northwestern State, which was also on a Thursday night.

“We appreciate their support and feel like we let them down," Dawson said said. "We were excited to see that many people come out. It was really helping us in the first half.”

Tulsa scored on its first two possessions of the second half on touchdown passes of 15 and 41 yards from Smith. The senior signal caller hit A.J. Whitmore on the first play after a roughing the passer call on the Warhawks prolonged the drive after a third-down stop.

“We came out in the second half and had only one first down before we had to punt the ball," ULM head coach Charlie Weatherbie said. "We had them backed up pretty good on the punt. We had a couple of penalties defensively that hurt us, especially the late hit on the quarterback on the big third down play that gave them an automatic first down. "

On his first play of the game, Trae Johnson caught the 41-yard strike from Smith extending the Hurricane lead to 27-17 with 6:24 to play in the third quarter.

The Golden Hurricane struck quickly in the first quarter taking just 1:50 off the clock before Smith connected with junior Tarrion Adams from 25-yards out on a swing pass down the sideline. Smith was 2-for-3 on the opening drive also hitting Charles Clay for 23 yards.

ULM answered the Tusla touchdown with a 36-yard field goal by Lou Groza Award candidate Cole Wilson. Wilson hit 14-of-15 field goals last season and has now made 12-consecutive kicks dating back to October 14, 2006.

The Warhawks took the lead for the first time capitalizing on a Tulsa miscue. Hurricane center Jody Whaley couldn't hook up with Snow out of the shotgun and ULM senior linebacker Matt Freeman scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 46 yards for the touchdown.

Adams scored his second touchdown of the game from five yards out on a draw capping a seven-play 79-yard drive taking just 1:33 off the clock late in the first quarter giving Tulsa the lead back 14-10.

ULM took a 17-14 lead when Kinsmon Lancster hooked up with LaGregory Sapp with 4:49 remaining in the opening half on a third-and-goal. Sapp made an acrobatic catch and was able to get one foot down before falling out-of-bounds. The play drew the first official booth replay of the season, which upheld the call on the field. Lancanster finished the game 7-for-21 for 66 yards.

“We tried to do some things that he [Lancaster] was comfortable with and they did a good job defensively in changing it up from man to zone and zone to man," Weatherbie said. " We were not making the adjustments that we should have made. He stepped up in the pocket and made some good throws and runs. We will see what we can do to improve.”

The Hurricane tacked on their last score on a four-yard touchdown run by Chris Chamberlain with 6:47 to play in the fourth quarter.

Tulsa outgained ULM 523-278, with the majority of the difference coming in the passing game. The Warhawks ran for 212 yards compared to 216 for the Hurricane, but Tulsa racked up 307 passing yards to the Warhawks' 66.

ULM travels to Clemson next Saturday, while Tulsa hosts BYU.