Tulsa loses 48-16 to Houston, 4th loss vs. top 10

A remarkably tough schedule has given Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship a good perspective on whether No. 8 Houston deserves a spot in the Bowl Championship Series. Case Keenum threw for 457 yards and five touchdowns, Patrick Edwards finished with 181 yards receiving and four scores and the Cougars beat the Golden Hurricane 48-16 Friday. It was Tulsa's fourth loss of the season - all against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time. ''They have to go win a conference championship, but they are well deserving of a BCS bowl,'' Blankenship said. ''We were playing pretty good coming in here and they shut us down pretty well.'' Tulsa (8-4, 7-1 C-USA) carried a seven-game winning streak into what boiled down to a showdown for the Conference USA West Division title, but Houston reeled of 28 straight points to close out a game that was close midway through the third quarter. ''We played for three quarters but if you want to win championships you have to play four,'' Blankenship said. Tulsa had never before played four ranked opponents in the same season - much less four in the top 10 - until this season. The team's other three losses were against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Boise State. The Cougars (12-0, 8-0) set a school season record by winning their 12th game. The 12 straight wins also match the school's longest winning streak, set over the 1990 and '91 seasons. ''12-0 is pretty good. That's a pretty good position to be in,'' Keenum said. ''I couldn't ask for anything else.'' Houston will go for more next Saturday, when they host either Southern Mississippi or Marshall in the C-USA title game. With a win, the Cougars will earn their first BCS bid and become the first C-USA team to play in the BCS. ''Fifteen weeks ago, we set out for one goal and that goal has not changed all year,'' coach Kevin Sumlin said. ''I think a lot of people have tried to talk our team into all these other scenarios and stuff that's happening out there. ''Our guys understand that and they've put themselves in a position to achieve that goal. Along the way, there's been a bunch of records broken and a bunch of milestones crossed, but the ultimate goal for us from Day 1 was to win the conference championship.'' Tulsa figured to present the toughest test yet for Houston, with a defense allowing a conference-leading 16 points per game, but it all fell apart after the Golden Hurricane got only three points out of two drives with favorable field position in the third quarter. After Curnelius Arnick recovered a fumbled exchange between Keenum and running back Charles Sims, the Golden Hurricane got only 1 yard before settling for Kevin Fitzpatrick's 51-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 20-16. Tulsa got the ball back again at midfield but again failed to get a first down and punted the ball back to set up an 80-yard scoring drive by the Cougars. ''It was gut-wrenching. There wasn't a man who took that field that didn't believe we were going to win today,'' Blankenship said. ''All of a sudden, the seniors have that realization. ... They all thought we would have another game here next week. It was a little eye-opening.'' The Golden Hurricane also squandered two red-zone opportunities late in the first half, with Alex Singleton getting stuffed on fourth-and-1 at the 18-yard line and Bryan Burnham fumbling at the 10. ''Those two plays were really tough to overcome, especially against a team like Houston. You just can't pass up on those opportunities,'' quarterback G.J. Kinne said. ''We were right in it and those two plays hurt us. But there were a lot of plays we could have executed better. It was a different story for Houston on fourth downs, with Keenum hooking up with Edwards twice for touchdowns in no man's land. He found Edwards cutting across the field for a 33-yard score on fourth-and-10 in the second quarter, then threw a deep ball to him for a 38-yard TD on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter. ''I think that that's what championship teams do is come through in those big moments - the championship moments,'' Keenum said. ''We've got a chance to play for another championship at our place, which we couldn't ask for anything more.'' Fitzpatrick also matched his career-best with a 52-yard field goal that cleared the uprights easily with a steady wind gusting to around 35 mph, and he connected a 36-yarder. Kinne finished with 176 yards, one touchdown pass and two fourth-quarter interceptions in the final home game of his career. ''It's a hard pill to swallow,'' Kinne said, ''but we lost to a better team today.''