TULSA, Okla. - Exactly one year after the interview that landed him the head coaching job at Tulsa, Keith Burns found himself celebrating the Golden Hurricane's best finish in nearly a decade.
''The future here looks awful good,'' Burns said after watching Tulsa beat Nevada 38-3 on Saturday and claim its best Western Athletic Conference record ever at 4-4.
He had good reason to be optimistic.
Tulsa's balanced attack was led by freshman Eric Richardson, who rushed for 206 yards on 35 carries, and sophomore quarterback Josh Blankenship who threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
The Golden Hurricane (5-7, 4-4) stifled the Wolf Pack (2-10, 1-7) with a defense that never let up.
Nevada failed to make early plays and languished after a mild concussion sidelined quarterback David Neill just before the half.
''The game got out of reach,'' Nevada coach Chris Tormey said. ''The bottom line is when David went out we struggled throwing the ball and we weren't able to run it consistently at all.''
And the Wolf Pack just couldn't stop Richardson.
His bursts of 35 and 39 yards twice put Tulsa in position for touchdowns. It was Richardson's second time in two weeks to rush for more than 100 yards after spending several games subbing at wide receiver.
Burns credited the offensive line for opening up Tulsa's running game.
''We had a plan all along,'' he said. ''We believed in that plan and we never changed.''
Tulsa took a 24-0 halftime lead with Blankenship's touchdown passes of 15 and 9 yards to Donald Shoals. A 26-yard pass to Shoals and a faked punt landed Tulsa on Nevada's 1 for a touchdown leap by Ken Bohanon.
Bohanon capped an 87-yard Golden Hurricane drive in the fourth quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run.
The win gave Tulsa its best record since 1991 when the Golden Hurricane went 10-2 and won the Freedom Bowl. Burns took over after the firing of longtime coach Dave Rader last year.
Neill, who entered the game ranked third in total offense in the WAC with 242 yards per game, managed just 65 yards in the first half before being replaced by Brett Staninger.
The Wolf Pack failed to cross into Golden Hurricane territory until late in the second quarter. And even that drive fizzled when Neill fumbled for a loss of 18 yards and the Wolf Pack once again found itself punting.
Staninger was 7-of-22 for 88 yards. J.D. Morscheck, making his first start at running back for Nevada, gained just 33 yards to lead the Wolf Pack's running game. Tulsa outgained the Wolf Pack 430 to 170 yards on offense.
