UH football freshman Matthew Golden turned a screen pass into a 27-yard touchdown in the first quarter of Houston’s loss to Tulsa on Saturday night at TDECU Stadium. | Sean Thomas/The Cougar
UH football had no answer for Tulsa’s Braylon Braxton. The redshirt freshman quarterback tore the Cougars’ defense apart with both his arm and legs en route to handing UH a 37-30 loss Saturday night at TDECU Stadium.
“We got outcoached and we got outplayed,” said UH head coach Dana Holgorsen after the game.
Braxton, who finished with 316 yards and three touchdowns through the air and added 51 yards and a score on the ground, made big play after big play for the Golden Hurricane offense, helping erase an early double-digit deficit.
Tulsa receiver JuanCarlos Santana caused plenty of problems for the UH secondary, hauling in six passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns.
In his final game at TDECU Stadium, quarterback Clayton Tune eclipsed the 250-yard passing mark for the seventh consecutive game.
Tune etched his name into the record book as the first quarterback in American Athletic Conference history to throw 100 passing touchdowns late in the first quarter when he hit freshman receiver Matthew Golden on a screen pass that turned into a 27-yard touchdown.
Tune finished with 386 yards, two touchdowns and an interception through the air.
Junior receiver Nathaniel Dell, who got the scoring started with a 68-yard punt return touchdown, reached his goal of 15 receiving touchdowns set before the season with 1:57 remaining in the first half, hauling in a 13-yard pass from Tune for the score.
The Cougars finished their final season as a member of the American Athletic Conference with a 5-3 record in conference play.
“Dissappointing end to a hard-fought, disappointing season,” Holgorsen said. “I thought we had enough left in the tank to win this one last one.”
UH will now sit and wait until Dec. 4 when it will find out what bowl game it’s headed to.
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