It was the 47th time the Liberty Bowl had been played, and was the final game of the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams.
Tulsa automatically qualified for the Liberty Bowl after defeating Central Florida in the C-USA Championship Game.
On the last play of the drive Fresno State faced 4th and 2 on Tulsa's 10-yard line but failed to convert, coming up empty-handed after eight minutes and 27 seconds.
Wendell Mathis ran the ball four times, finally scoring a touchdown on a 6-yard run putting Fresno State up 7-0.
The centerpiece of the drive was 22-yard touchdown run by Uril Parrish, tying the score at 7 early in the second quarter.
[5] Fresno State responded with another of its long drives, a 14-play 79-yarder capped by a 22-yard touchdown run by Bryson Sumlin, which tied the game at 14 with 1:13 left in the half.
Tulsa, starting from its own 19, quickly moved the ball to Fresno State's 23-yard line, setting up a 41-yard field goal by Brad DeVault to end the half.
[6] Fresno State started the third quarter with a 36-yard kickoff return by Adam Jennings followed by a 24-yard run by Mathis placing them at Tulsa's 35-yard line.
After this strong start, however, Fresno State could not convert and settled for a 27-yard field goal by Kyle Zimmerman, rather than risk the possibility of turning it over on downs as they had in the opening drive of the first quarter.
Immediately after the win defensive coordinator Todd Graham departed to become head coach at Rice.