Yep, it happened again.
It took nearly two years of tracking for a team to get out-rushed, out-passed, allow the game's first score, trail at halftime, and lose the turnover battle but win the game, and now in Year 3 of this project it's happened three times. First was Virginia's 31-30 triumph over Wake Forest back in Week 2. Then came Charlotte's 21-20 escape over Rice in Week 5.
But Saturday's Reverse Trifecta might've been the craziest of them all.
In a game that aired on ESPN+, UTSA didn't just score first against Tulsa, the Roadrunners scored second, third, fifth and sixth. Jeff Traylor's team led 14-0 after one quarter and 35-7 at the half. They also led 45-32 with 5:21 to play. UTSA out-rushed Tulsa, 103-67. They out-passed them, 443-370. The Roadrunners won both metrics on a per-play basis as well.
What's more, UTSA didn't just win turnovers (2-1), they won points off turnovers as well. Each team registered a scoop-and-score, but a Golden Hurricane fumble in UTSA territory late in the first quarter set up the Roadrunners' third touchdown, staking them to a 20-0 lead at that point.
And still, Tulsa won the game. Kevin Wilson's team scored 39 second-half points, but also punted twice and settled for a 39-yard field goal. Ultimately, what allowed Tulsa to climb back in and ultimately win the game was the abundance of opportunity: there were 35 total possessions in the game, with only one lasting longer than 3:57. Sixteen of the 17 second-half possessions were under three minutes in length, with Tulsa scoring on a 2-play, 75-yard touchdown drive; an 8-play TD drive that lasted 2:49; a 10-play TD drive that consumed 2:55, and an 8-play, 92-yard drive that lasted all of 61 seconds.
"All I told (the players) before the game is one play is six seconds. There's 86,400 seconds (in a day). A play is six, we've got 180 of them. If you divide them, there's 14,400 segments and we've got 180 plays, so there's 13,000 to do whatever you want to do the rest of the day but when you play, play hard," Wilson said. "The second half, they finally did."
Maybe it took the Golden Hurricane the entire first half to calculate that equation in their heads.
Week 9 numbers:
-- Rush for more yards: 43-13 (.768)
-- Pass for more yards: 32-25 (.561)
-- Score first: 36-21 (.632)
-- Lead at halftime: 44-7 (.863)
-- Win turnovers: 41-7 (.854)
-- Win all five: 13-1 (.929)
Year to date:
-- Rush for more yards: 448-125 (.782)
-- Pass for more yards: 361-215 (.627)
-- Score first: 412-164 (.715)
-- Lead at halftime: 459-83 (.847)
-- Win turnovers: 339-97 (.778)
-- Win all five: 119-3 (.975)
-- In the Sam Houston-Florida International game on Tuesday night, the Bearkats and Golden Panthers gained 406 yards from scrimmage. Not both, combined. In a related note, the final score was 10-7.
-- Boise State dominated the box score in their showdown win over UNLV. The Broncos were one passing yard away from a Quinfecta, winning the rushing battle 209-179, scoring first, leading at halftime and forcing the game's only turnover. The Broncos and Rebels each threw for 189 yards. Impressive showing from Boise.
-- Memphis ran and threw for 212 yards in their 33-28 win over Charlotte.
-- Arkansas posted its third game of at least 648 yards of total offense in their 58-25 demolition of Mississippi State, this time rolling up 673 on just 66 snaps.