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Tulsa routs Bowling Green in GMAC Bowl

Jan 7, 2008 - 7:39 AM MOBILE, Alabama (Ticker) -- The GMAC Bowl was supposed to be a matchup of two high-powered offenses, but only Tulsa's showed up.

Paul Smith threw five touchdown passes and the Golden Hurricane rolled to a 63-7 victory over Bowling Green on Sunday night in the final bowl game before the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Tulsa entered the game ranked 10th in the nation, averaging 39.5 points, while Bowling Green averaged 32.1 points this season. The Golden Hurricane nearly reached their average in the first half while the Falcons' offense never took flight.

Smith completed 27-of-45 passes for 312 yards. It was his 14th consecutive 300-yard passing game, a new NCAA record.

Tulsa, which lost in the Conference USA championship game, took a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and led 35-0 at the half.

"I don't know what happened," Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon said. "It was just one of those nights. You can't turn the ball over that many times in the first quarter against a great team like Tulsa and expect to win. We were out of it before we were in it."

Smith threw three of his TD passes in the second half and ran for another score as the Golden Hurricane (10-4) easily matched the 1982 team for the most wins in school history.

Back in the postseason for the first time since a 52-35 win over Memphis in the 2004 GMAC Bowl, the Falcons had their bowl game winning streak snapped at four.

Bowling Green's only points came on a 78-yard kickoff return by Roger Williams in the third quarter that made it 42-7.

"To go out and shut out a team that puts up 32 points a game was incredible," Tulsa coach Todd Graham said. "We blitzed early a lot. We created some turnovers and wreaked some havoc out there. We wanted to take the issue to them."

Tulsa running back Tarrion Adams was named most valuable player after rushing for 112 yards and a touchdown, throwing a touchdown pass and catching one touchdown pass from Smith.