SMU’s bowl season hopes came down to the final play, a Hail Mary to the end zone from Tulsa quarterback Cody Green that was caught, but just short of the goal line that set off a celebration in Ford Stadium.

“It took everybody today. We were kind of beat up and scrambling to find a way to make a first down to keep them off the field, but we found a way to win and it’s an awesome feeling,” SMU head coach June Jones said.

Behind big play after big play, the SMU Mustangs were able to build a big lead against the C-USA West division champions on Senior Day at Ford Stadium. In their last game as members of Conference USA, the Mustangs beat a heavy favorite and were able to become bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, breaking the school record.

“I think ending the streak by far was the top, but this one seals it. It puts the exclamation point on my career here,” SMU linebacker Ja’Gared Davis said.

SMU continued to force turnovers at home by causing two fumbles and intercepting Tulsa quarterback Cody Green once. Davis blocked a punt, recovered a fumble, had an interception and had three tackles for loss. SMU’s offense was able to score three touchdowns off of Davis’ forced turnovers.

“He was everywhere. He did it all today,” Jones said of Davis.

SMU got things going on special teams when the Mustangs blocked a late first quarter punt by the Hurricane and Derek Longoria recovered it on the Tulsa three-yard line. Running back Zach Line got the first of his three touchdowns when he ran it in after the block.

Line finished with 92 yards on 23 carries in his final game at Ford Stadium. Line currently is ranked second all-time at SMU in rushing yardage behind Eric Dickerson, but with a great bowl game performance, could pass him.

The Mustangs helped themselves by scoring first with Line’s run because over the past two seasons, SMU is now 14-0 when scoring first and 0-13 when their opponent scores first.

After the first score, SMU kept the pressure on Tulsa in the first half. Line added another touchdown run in the second quarter after a fumble recovery in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Gilbert later found Der’rikk Thompson at the front pylon on a tremendous throw for a 31-yard touchdown pass.

Tulsa was able to answer this score with one of their own to make it 21-6 after a missed extra point.

Jones answered with his best call of the day, a quarterback draw by Gilbert that went 74 yards on the score to make it 28-7 at the half.

“He’s been doing a good job running the ball the last four or five weeks. We guessed right so that was pretty good,” Jones said.

After SMU came out and Line scored another touchdown after a seven-minute drive in the third, but Tulsa mounted a furious comeback by scoring 21 unanswered points. Green led the way by passing for 413 yards and three touchdowns with 64 attempts on the day.

Tulsa scored their final touchdown with 5:05 left to play in the game and SMU took the ball and kept it until the Mustangs were forced to punt with 58 seconds left. Punter Mike Loftus nailed a punt down at the Tulsa six-yard line and Tulsa was pinned without any time outs.

Tulsa did manage to hit a few pass plays and get the ball to the SMU 35 with one second left and that is when Jordan James caught a Hail Mary on the one-yard line, but Jay Scott and Taylor Reed were there to force him back, sending Ford Stadium into a frenzy.

SMU will now wait to find out who it will play in the bowl season with a lot of speculation already going around that SMU will be headed to the Hawaii Bowl. SMU finishes the regular season 6-6 and 5-3 in C-USA play. The loss was Tulsa’s first of the season in C-USA play.