• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Utah looks to keep bowl winning streak alive vs. Tulsa

Dec 23, 2006 - 4:44 PM Tulsa (8-4) at Utah (7-5) Armed Forces Bowl 8:00 pm EST

FORT WORTH, Texas (Ticker) - Utah's knack for winning bowl games has become habit-forming in recent years.

The Utes can extend their bowl winning streak to six and finish their season with four victories in five contests Saturday when they face Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl.

After dropping three of its first seven bowl games, Utah has won five in a row, including two triumphs in the Las Vegas Bowl, and one each the Liberty and Fiesta before last year's 38-10 win over Georgia Tech in the Emerald Bowl.

The Utes had a three-game winning streak snapped by yielding 19 fourth-quarter points - including a touchdown on the final play - in their regular-season finale, a 33-31 loss to Brigham Young on November 25.

Defensive back Eric Weddle was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. The senior collected 58 tackles and six interceptions.

Tulsa won six consecutive contests from late September through October before dropping November contests to Houston, Rice and SMU. However, the Golden Hurricanes recovered with a 38-3 rout of Tulane on November 24.

Making its 14th bowl appearance, Tulsa posted a 31-24 victory over Fresno State in last year's Liberty Bowl to cap a 9-4 season.

Junior Paul Smith has thrown for 5,713 career yards and needs 109 to tie John Fitzgerald for second place in school history. He has completed nearly 64 percent of his passes (461-of-721) and has tossed 36 touchdowns.

Tulsa has won two of the three previous encounters against Utah, including a 21-13 victory in 1997.