TULSA, Okla. -- There was simply no defense.

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall can take the blame (which he did) or sophomore receiver Austin Collie can say it was the player's fault (which he did), but the simple fact of the matter is this: Tulsa was a better football team on Saturday.

And BYU's defense was abysmal.

Tulsa (2-0) scored a 55-47 victory over BYU at Chapman Stadium in front of 24,445, cutting through BYU's highly regarded defense like it wasn't there. Senior quarterback Paul Smith threw for a career-high 454 yards and five touchdowns and continually found wide open receivers in the BYU secondary.

Tulsa took, but BYU gave generously, as well: Four turnovers and a whopping 14 penalties for 138 yards.

"Tulsa was better prepared and out executed our football team," Mendenhall said. "As a coach, it's my job to have them ready and I'm not getting through to them."

Mendenhall said BYU failed most at "concentration plays," or trick plays that seemed to work all night for Tulsa.

"The number of trick or gadget plays that worked for Tulsa, plus their speed and athleticism, we were vulnerable," Mendenhall said. "Our team wasn't disciplined, didn't play clean, didn't play assignment-sound football. We've got a lot of work to do."

The BYU defense has lived on managing points for the two years Mendenhall has been the head coach, but Tulsa's motor was running all night and simply never ran out of gas.

BYU's defense offered little resistence in giving up it highest point total since allowed 51 points on overtime to TCU in 2005.

"Tulsa's a good football team," Collie said. "We found that out tonight."

Did they ever.

The first half was an offensive showcase with the two teams combining for 661 total yards and 65 points. BYU had the advantage and field position early, scoring on its first possession on a 1-yard run by freshman Harvey Unga. Ben Criddle's interception set BYU up at the Tulsa 21, but walk-on freshman Brian Smith missed a 44-yard field goal.

Tulsa, which had opened with a pair of meek 3-and-outs on offense, suddenly found its groove. Paul Smith, who passed for 302 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, twice beat BYU linebackers with scoring passes to fullback Charles Clay and began exploiting the Cougars deep with completions of 43, 49, 75 and 51 yards. The two teams traded scores on eight straight possessions before BYU forced the Golden Hurricane to punt late in the second quarter.

There were too many offensive highlights in the first half to mention all of them but Collie had a superb play on a 45-yard touchdown catch, leaping over a Tulsa defender to snatch the ball away at the 15-yard line.

The second half started horribly for Hall, who threw interceptions on consecutive drives. The first was returned 49 yards for a touchdown by Tulsa's Roy Roberts and the second led to another Golden Hurricane score. That made the score 45-34, Tulsa and most of the second half still to play.

BYU managed to close to 45-40 and 52-47 but could get no closer. A 13-play BYU drive that moved into the fourth quarter ended much like the key drive in the UCLA game -- with a Hall fumble that after video review, turned the ball over to Tulsa.

Trailing 55-47 with 4:15 to play, Hall threw a perfect strike down the sideline to Collie for a 49-yard gain to the Tulsa 12. But consecutive false start penalties on junior guard Travis Bright forced BYU into a fourth-and-20 and Hall was hit as he threw. The ball fell harmlessly to the ground -- which, coincidentally, was what BYU's defense did most of the night.

Hall finished with a career-high 537 yards and four touchdowns. Three BYU receivers -- Michael Reed (132), Collie (121) and Dennis Pitta (113) finished with 100-yard receiving games and freshman Harvey Unga ran for 100 yards on 21 carries.

But it wasn't nearly enough on a night the BYU defense was exposed by a well-prepared and well-rested Tulsa team.

Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at ddickson@heraldextra.com

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This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.