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EDMOND (Sept. 19) – A first-half lead disappeared quickly in the third quarter and Central Oklahoma came up short in its bid to upset No. 19-ranked Tarleton State Saturday night at Wantland Stadium.
The Bronchos led 14-7 at halftime in their home-opener, but the unbeaten Texans scored on their first two possessions of the second half and put the game away with two late-game scores in securing a 35-17 victory.
UCO fell to 1-3 on the year and 1-2 in the in the overall Lone Star Conference standings in meeting their fourth straight ranked opponent. Tarleton improved to 4-0 and 2-0.
“We did a great job in the first half and had a chance to win the football game, but give Tarleton credit for the way they came out and played the second half,” UCO coach Tracy Holland said. “We gave up some big plays that hurt us and just didn't play well enough to win.”
The Bronchos limited Tarleton to 123 first-half yards and intercepted two passes in taking their 14-7 lead, but the Texans rolled up 311 yards in the final two quarters to rally for the win.
TSU went 80 yards in just five plays to tie the game on a 49-yard touchdown pass on its first possession of the third quarter and then followed a short UCO punt with a 48-yard scoring drive to take the lead for good at 21-14.
UCO had a field goal blocked on its next drive after moving to the Tarleton three-yard-line, but came back the next time it had the ball with a 64-yard march – keyed by a 23-yard Jason Palmer run -- that ended in a 30-yard Ross Weaver field goal.
That got the Bronchos within 21-17 with 12:41 left to play, but it was all Tarleton after that.
The Texans went 76 yards in 14 plays to up their lead to 28-17 on quarterback Scott Grantham's one-yard TD run on fourth down with 5:52 remaining and TSU needed to go just 23 yards for the clinching score just over a minute later when UCO turned the ball over on downs.
The Bronchos finished with a season-low 287 yards, just 87 of that rushing. Quarterback Brandon Noohi was 25-of-40 passing for 200 yards, with Matt Jackson pulling down nine aerials for 50 yards while Palmer finished with 94 yards on 22 carries.
Linebacker Terry Hardeman had 12 tackles with 1.5 for loss and safety Giorgio Durham made 10 stops to lead the defense.
Neither team could do anything offensively in the first quarter before Tarleton mounted a late drive that resulted in a five-yard Grantham touchdown pass on the first play of the second period to give the Texans a 7-0 lead.
Ryan Gallimore returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to put the Bronchos in good position and UCO needed just seven plays to cover the remaining 60 yards and tie it. Noohi got the score, somehow escaping a heavy rush before hitting Gallimore with a 30-yard TD pass with 11:58 left in the half.
The Bronchos took the lead late in the quarter after Cordarrow Milton picked off a Grantham pass a the Tarleton 40 and returned it 12 yards to the 28.
Noohi had a key eight-yard pass to Jackson on third-and-five to keep the drive alive and Palmer capped it with a one-yard burst up the middle with 51 seconds left in the half to give UCO a 14-7 lead.
UCO opens Lone Star Conference North Division play next week at Texas A&M-Commerce, while the Texans host Southwestern Oklahoma.
