DALLAS, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Riley Nelson hit Cody Hoffman with a scoring pass with 11 seconds left, giving Brigham Young a 24-21 win Friday over Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl in Dallas.
It was the third time in the game Nelson and Hoffman combined on scoring passes. They had a 17-yard play late in the second quarter for BYU's first touchdown and a 30-yard throw for a third-quarter score.
Nelson was 17-of-40 passing for 250 yards for the Cougars (10-3), with Hoffman making eight receptions for 122 yards.
Tulsa (8-5) got a three-touchdown passing game from G.J. Kinne but couldn't hold off Brigham Young.
The Golden Hurricane went up 21-17 with 10:42 to play when Kinne found Bryan Burnham for a 30-yard scoring play and was still up by four when BYU took over with 4:18 to go at the Tulsa 48.
Nelson kept BYU's hopes going with a 14-yard run on a fourth-and-9 and the Cougars converted two third downs, including a Nelson run that gave them a first down at the 8. After a pass got BYU to the 2, Nelson looked for Hoffman along the right side of the end zone for the winning score.
Kinne had an 8-yard pass to Ricky Johnson to account for the game's first points and BYU's Justin Sorenson kicked a 35-yard field goal late in the first quarter. Kinne found Clay Sears with another scoring throw before Nelson cut the difference to 4 points 12 seconds before halftime with his first scoring pass to Hoffman.
