Report by Isaac Robinson - December 9th, 2018
Tulsa wins the AAC as Westlake State nearly pull off the upset
2 huge pick-sixes keep it close -- Clutch play from B.J. Henderson after an awful first half -- Smart burns Swarm for 142 receiving yards
Tulsa are presented with the AAC trophy
Tulsa, OK -- We were close. Too close. The American conference championship game ultimately came down to a 50/50 deep ball being intercepted with 10 seconds to go. Westlake State fell to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane by a score of 37 to 30 to end an up and down season, as the Swarm have not received a bowl bid. ("BS", is all Dion Barkley has to say about that.)
Westlake State actually did score first, as Rian Milton came out firing, finding George Smart early for a 45 yard catch-and-run that put Tulsa in the red zone. But 2 plays later, senior corner DeAndre Mosley jumped a lazy pass at the 9, and sped off for a huge pick-6. The Swarm defense kept the Golden Hurricane off the board for the rest of the quarter too, forcing a turnover on downs and a 56 yard field goal try that came up well short. Unfortunately, Tulsa's D brought their A game too, and the Swarm couldn't get anything going on offense. Tulsa's D continued to shut down B.J. Henderson and the rest of the offense, pressuring Henderson into several incompletions and shutting down James Thompson and Frank Nelson on the ground, as the Swarm managed just 3 points in the quarter.
Mosley jumps the pass
Westlake State's defense on the other hand, gave up 20 as terrific running from Freddie Johnson opened up the pass game, and Milton carved up the Swarm, passing the 250-yard mark by halftime as Tulsa managed a pair of touchdowns and a pair of field goals.
George Smart got behind Mosley here to pick up 58 yards
The 3rd quarter was a return to more defense, as Tulsa won the quarter 3-0 to make it a 23-10 ball game. The Swarm did actually manage another long drive, but it stalled near the goal line, and on a 4th and goal at the 1, B.J. Henderson was stuffed on a QB sneak. Tulsa punted from deep in their own half though, and finally Westlake State got their big play. Tulsa lost track of Josh Roach, who ran a deep post, and Henderson found him in the end zone for a 45 yard score to put the Swarm squarely back into the game.
Roach makes the grab in the endzone
Rian Milton picked up 21 on an option keeper, and then, in almost identical fashion to Mosley earlier, true freshman Kevin McFarland picked off a short throw for another pick-6 to give Westlake State a 1 point lead no one had seen coming. Tulsa would score, as Milton capped a methodical drive with a rushing touchdown. They went for 2 but did not get it, and so it was Tulsa 29, Westlake State 24.
McFarland made an almost identical play to Mosley
The Swarm needed to do it gain, and they did. Nelson, (replacing Thompson who temporarily left the game due to injury) and Henderson picked up solid yards on the ground, with Henderson completing a handful of passes to eventually set up Johnny Nash to score from the goal line. The Swarm would go for 2 to attempt to make it a 3 point game, but they failed, making it 30-29 with 2:49 to go.
Rian Milton had made mistakes, but he wouldn't on this drive. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 69 yards, with his 2nd touchdown pass of the day going to tight end Pat Lowery. This time, Tulsa would succesfully go for 2, putting them up 7 with 1:43 to go.
Rian Milton came up big when it counted
Clock management on this drive was horrific, no 2 ways about it. First, Henderson threw it away. Then, Robert Coley only managed 2 yards on an option pitch, no timeout called when they had 2 left. B.J. Henderson was then sacked, again no timeout called and Westlake State had just 44 seconds left and faced a 4th down and 10 at their own 22. Henderson was flushed out to his right, but ended up finding Kevin Sykes near the sideline for 16 yards. He then found Eric Monroe a couple plays later for 18 yards, putting the Swarm at the Tulsa 45 with under 40 seconds to go.
Henderson took a deep shot to Monroe, but it was broken up with 20 seconds left. Westlake State still had a timeout remaining, so maybe Henderson should have played it safer. But he was being chased down, and so he put up what was, honestly, a near-perfect 50/50 deep ball for the 6'4 Robert Coley. But Coley didn't get much elevation, and Tulsa corner Damien Holley was able to get to the ball first, and despite Coley's best efforts to rip it away, came away with a game-sealing interception.
Coley could have made the catch, and the Swarm had 10 seconds and a timeout left
Henderson was very angry after the game. He stormed off the field after shaking hands with Milton, and sat on his own, not acknowledging the pats on the back from his team, not even taking his helmet off until Barkley came and got him to the locker room along with the rest of the team. Henderson didn't say much postgame, only vowing that he would lead the Swarm back here:
Henderson hangs his head
So that concludes the first season for the Swarm under Dion Barkley. 6-7, 6-3 in conference play and a narrow loss to a team that on paper, was supposed to win by 3 scores.
Barkley sounded optimistic about the future.