College Football Poll, 2006 Armed Forces Bowl Recap

Utes Weather Golden Hurricane
by Mike Mitchell
12/23/06 11:43 pm est

Louie Sakoda kicked four field goals (45, 39, 41, and 34) and Brett Ratliff threw for 240 yards as Utah downed Tulsa 25-13 in the Armed Forces Bowl, formerly known as the Ft. Worth Bowl.

Tulsa had a 7-3 lead in the second quarter and it wasn't until Sakoda kicked a 41-yard field goal as the first half ended that the Utes went in front 9-7. Ten unanswered points put Utah up 19-7 by the end of the third quarter.

Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith drew his team to within six points at 19-13 with 10:54 left to play when he scored from a yard out. Eric Weddle's 5-yard touchdown run with 1:05 left in the game provided Utah with its winning margin.

It was Utah's 6th straight bowl and the Utes improved to 10-3 all-time in bowl games. They have outscored their opponents by a cumulative 142-52 in those six wins. The 13 points scored by Tulsa is the most Utah has allowed in a bowl game since Fresno State lost 17-16 in the 1999 Las Vegas Bowl, the game that started the Utah streak.

Tulsa's bowl record fell to 5-9.

Both schools finished the season with 8-5 records, but Tulsa closed out the year with losses in four of its last five games.