BYU beats Tulsa with late TD in Armed Forces Bowl
BYU wide receiver Cody Hoffman (2) stretches out to score a touchdown in front of Tulsa linebacker DeAundre Brown (2) and defensive back Milton Howell (19) during the second quarter of the Armed Forces Bowl NCAA college football game. (Dec. 30, 2011) Credit: AP
DALLAS -- Riley Nelson threw three touchdown passes to Cody Hoffman, the last with 11 seconds left, and BYU beat Tulsa 24-21 Friday in the Armed Forces Bowl for another 10-win season.
With no timeouts and the ball at the 2, the Cougars hurried up to the line. Nelson then faked a spike that would have stopped the clock and instead stood up and threw to Hoffman in the end zone.
The Cougars (10-3) wrapped up their season of independence by winning 10 games for the fifth time in coach Bronco Mendenhall's seven years.
G.J. Kinne threw three TD passes for Tulsa (8-5), including a 30-yarder to Bryan Burnham with 10:42 left for a 21-17 lead.
BYU needed 12 plays to go 48 yards on its last drive. Nelson converted a fourth-and-9 with a 14-yard scramble and later ran 8 yards on third-and-5.
Tulsa, whose other four losses this season came against top-10 teams, failed to take advantage when BYU was penalized for running into the kicker on fourth down from the 10 with about 6 minutes left. But the Golden Hurricane punted the ball away four plays later, setting up the winning drive for the Cougars.
Hoffman, who had eight catches for 122 yards, got his first TD just before halftime after an impressive block gave Nelson time to throw the ball.
Nelson was scrambling to his left to avoid pressure and threw back toward the middle of the field after 305-pound offensive tackle Matt Reynolds, who had already lost his helmet on the play, retreated for a crushing block that flattened pursuing 275-pound defensive end Cory Dorris.
Hoffman made the catch, then lunged forward with the ball in his stretched-out hand out for the 17-yard score that cut Tulsa's lead to 14-10.
