TULSA, OKLA. ? Tulsa University football coach Keith Burns knew Kansas quarterback Bill Whittemore could run the option.

“That’s the No. 1 thing their quarterback does well,” Burns said after Whittemore burned the Hurricane in KU’s 43-33 victory on Saturday night. “We knew the quarterback option was his strength.”

Trouble was, the Hurricane couldn’t stop it. Whittemore ran for 177 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown gallop off the option early in the third quarter.

“That was a bad call by me,” Burns said of Whittemore’s long scamper. “It was an all-out blitz and their quarterback read it and expected it. Yeah, that was 100 percent on me.”

Burns’ wrong call at the wrong time in the wrong place wasn’t as bad, however, as the Hurricane’s second-quarter flop.

“It’s always a 60-minute game and we played three quarters well,” Burns said. “To give up 28 points  that second quarter was as bad as I’ve been around.”

One bad quarter and Tulsa extended the nation’s longest NCAA Div. I-A losing streak to 15 games.

“When we don’t win, it’s frustrating,” Burns said. “We’ve got to get over the hump and knock it through.”

Tulsa’s offensive statistics were glossy. The Hurricane gained 452 yards. Quarterback Tyler Gooch threw for 236 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Montiese Culton had nine receptions for 111 yards and three of the TDs.

“The effort was there. The ball just wasn’t bouncing our way,” Culton said.

Running back Eric Richardson gained 170 yards on just 16 carries. He unloaded runs of 56 and 48 yards, both setting up touchdowns.

“When it was 13-0 we were feeling good,” Richardson said, “but we can’t let them build momentum like they did in the second quarter.”

Last Saturday at Baylor, Tulsa fell behind 30-6 and staged a stirring rally only to bow, 37-25. That comeback was fueled by turnovers, however, and KU didn’t cough the ball up Saturday night.

“We didn’t get turnovers and we’ve relied on turnovers,” Burns said. “We didn’t get them tonight.But it’s still our job to go out and execute and stop them and we didn’t get that done.”

Tulsa, 0-5, has next week off before playing host to Boise State in its Western Athletic Conference opener on Oct. 12.