Dec. 3, 2005

Tulsa's Garrett Mills, the game's Most Valuable Player, broke the NCAA's all-time single-season record for receiving yardage in the C-USA Championship game, highlighting several noteworthy accomplishments.

TULSA NOTES
Tulsa won its first conference championship since 1985 when the Hurricane won its 25th Missouri Valley Conference Championship. Tulsa is the seventh different football champion in 10 years of Conference USA.

UCF scored the first touchdown of the game, marking the sixth time this year that the opponent has scored first. However, Tulsa had scored first in the previous five games.

Paul Smith completed the first six passes of the game.

Steve Kragthorpe coached his 37th game for the Hurricane today and now Tulsa has scored more than 30 points in 22 games and has had nine games over 40 points in the Kragthorpe era.

Garrett Mills increased his streak of catching a pass in consecutive games to 39 games. He also caught Tulsa's first pass of the game for ninth time in 12 games this season.

When Garrett Mills went over the 125-yard receiving mark today, he set a new NCAA record for single season receiving yards by a tight end. The previous record was 1,156 yards by Chris Smith of BYU in 1990. With eight catches for 152 yards in the game, Mills increased his season totals to 83 catches for 1,164 yards.

Mills' 152-yard effort tied a career-high. By halftime, Mills had 133 yards on six receptions. It was his seventh 100-yard game of the season and eighth of his career.

Paul Smith posted his ninth 200-plus yard passing game this season, the most since Gus Frerotte had nine in 1993.

Nick Graham had his sixth interception of the year and his first since the sixth game of the season against Southern Miss. Roy Roberts had his third interception of the season.

Chris Kindred punted for the first time in the game at 10:49 mark of the second quarter. The punt traveled 28 yards.

Paul Smith had his 18th and 19th touchdown passes of the season, surpassing Ronnie Morris (1952) and T.J. Rubley (1989), both with 18, for the sixth-most in school history for a single season.

Tulsa's 31 first-half points were the most by the Golden Hurricane this season. The previous high was 28 points in the last game against Tulane. Tulsa has now one over 20 points in the first half in five games this year.

UCF's 27 points is the most for a Tulsa opponent in the first half this year. The previous high was 24 points by Minnesota in the season opener.

Tulsa and UCF combined for 58 first-half points, which is the most for the Hurricane and an opponent this season. The previous first-half high was 41 points in the Tulsa-UTEP game.

Nick Bunting had his first forced fumble this year, and the fourth for his career; while Nelson Coleman had his third fumble recovery of the season.

Tarrion Adams scored three touchdowns, equaling the high by a Conference USA individual this season. Adams scored twice on rushes and once on a reception. The freshman finished with 12 carries for a career-high 84 yards and added two catches for 29 yards.

Uril Parrish carried 23 times for 100 yards - his second 100-yard effort of the season.

Tulsa had three takeaways in the game, marking the 13th straight game dating back to last year's season finale against UTEP that the Hurricane has forced more than two turnovers in a game.

It's the seventh game this year that Tulsa's defense forced at least three turnovers in a game

UCF NOTES
Tulsa defeated UCF 44-27 in the inaugural Conference USA Football Championship game Saturday afternoon at the Florida Citrus Bowl. A school-record crowd of 51,978 witnessed the game.

UCF's previous record for single-game attendance at the Florida Citrus Bowl was 50,220 on Nov. 11, 2000 vs. Virginia Tech.

UCF scored for the sixth time this season on its opening drive. Junior QB Steven Moffett tossed a 43-yard touchdown pass to freshman WR Willie Thornton to give UCF a 7-0 lead. The touchdown reception was the first of Thornton's career.

UCF's 20 points in the second quarter set a season-high.

UCF entered the game fourth in the NCAA in turnover differential (1.36) but the Golden Knights finished Saturday's game -4 in turnover differential vs. Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane did not commit a turnover while UCF had three (two interceptions, two fumbles).

Player Notes Freshman TB Kevin Smith's 31-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the longest rushing TD of his career. Smith had two carries of 30-plus yards on UCF's 92-yard scoring drive.

Smith went over the century mark in the first half with 12 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown. It was Smith's fourth 100-yard game of the season. He ended the game with 15 carries for 108 yards.

Smith moved into sixth place in UCF single-season history with 976 rushing yards on the season.

Senior PK Matt Prater booted two first half field goals to move into a tie for third place in school history with 46 career field goals. Prater was 2-for-2 in the first half on field goal attempts (46 yards, 40 yards).

Freshman CB Joe Burnett returned his second punt for a touchdown in as many games with a 68-yard return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Burnett is just the third player in school history to return two punts for a touchdown in the same season.

The 68-yard punt return for touchdown was the sixth longest punt return in UCF history. The touchdown was part of a 17-0 run by the Golden Knights that erased a 21-7 deficit into a 24-21 advantage in the second quarter.

Senior WR Brandon Marshall led UCF with seven receptions for 109 yards. It marked Marshall's sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season, which leads the team.