The Tulsa Golden Hurricane hadn’t emerged victorious in a football game since the fateful Friday night of Sept. 19, when they stormed into Stillwater and upended Oklahoma State. Riding a 5-game losing
streak, all the Golden Hurricane needed to see was another orange and black OSU in order to regain their mojo.
Oregon State visited town for a late-season non-conference clash, and Tulsa left absolutely zero doubt against the Beavers. Tre Lamb’s team opened the game on a 31-0 run, holding on for a 31-14 result to manufacture its first winning locker room in 57 days.
Tulsa utilized a heavy ground effort to fly past the Beavers. The Golden Hurricane posted 283 collective rushing yards and three touchdowns, headlined by the duo of Dominic Richardson and Ajay Allen. Richardson, a veteran sixth-year senior, posted 166 yards for his most prolific outing since October 2020. The well-traveled running back exceeded 140 yards for the third time this season, and Tulsa is 3-0 in such games. Allen, another transfer with multiple previous stops, accrued 68 yards as an effective second fiddle. Both running backs punched in a touchdown, fueling the Golden Hurricane’s third 30-point game of the 2025 season.
Tulsa’s defense also held steady, forcing seven punts in the first three quarters of action. Oregon State opened the contest facing consecutive three-and-outs, and that set the tone for the afternoon. Prior to the fourth quarter, the Beavers only had two non-punting drives — a failed 4th and 4 from the Tulsa 40 where defensive tackle Nakhi Johnson recorded a sack and failed 4th and 3 from the Tulsa 31.
Oregon State finally made its first red zone appearance in the fourth quarter when trailing 31-0 and the game was all but finished. With third-string quarterback Tristan Ti’a earning his first substantial action to date, the Beavers recorded 161 of their 310 yards and all 14 of their points in this final frame to make a more respectable final score. But this was a thorough two-way Tulsa domination, as tight end Brody Foley (8 receptions, 95 yards, 1 touchdown) and inside linebacker Ray Coney Jr. (10 tackles, 1 sack) were among other Golden Hurricane stars spearheading the effort.
Tulsa’s defense limited Oregon State’s first and second-string quarterbacks Gabarri Johnson and Maalik Murphy to a combined 11-of-25, 100-yard performance through the air, exhibiting one of its finest passing defense efforts of the year. The run game didn’t fare much better for the visiting Beavers, which attained 69 yards on 35 attempts — calculating to under 2.0 yards per carry.
Oregon State (2-9, 1-0 Pac-12) continues its nightmare season, unable to recover from an alarming home loss to Sam Houston in the prior week. Exactly two seasons prior to the date, Oregon State was ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the College Football Playoff standings, as the program — handed a brutal set of cards by the latest wave of conference realignment — continues a free-fall to the nadir. The Beavers conclude their season Saturday, Nov. 29 at Washington State, looking to improve to 2-0 on the season in a rematch against their sole Pac-12 brethren.
Tulsa (3-7, 0-6 American) finishes its non-conference slate at 3-1. The Golden Hurricane are finally back on the board, and the next box to check off for Lamb in year one is a conference victory. Two opportunities remain, as Tulsa travels to Army next week before ending the 2025 campaign hosting UAB.
