UNIVERSITY PARK - Two hours before SMU and Tulsa kicked off on Friday night, the two teams got into a little war of words. Coaches separated the two teams to prevent things from escalating, but there clearly was no love lost between the teams a year after SMU lost to Tulsa in overtime.
At first, it seemed like that was all the fight you were going to see out of SMU. Tulsa made mincemeat of the SMU defense, gaining 322 first-half yards and leading by as many as 14 points twice in the first two quarters.
But SMU didn't panic, making a stop here and a play there until Xavier Jones' touchdown run with 13:26 to play gave the Mustangs their first lead of the game.