Tulsa at East Carolina Today
10/16/2015 5:41:00 PM | Football
| Game 6: Tulsa (3-2, 0-1 The American) vs. East Carolina (3-3, 1-1 The American) | |
|---|---|
| Date / Time: | Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015/12 noon (ET)/11 am (CT) |
| Site: | Greenville, North Carolina |
| Stadium: | Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (50,000) |
| Coaches: | Tulsa – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95); East Carolina – Ruffin McNeill (East Carolina '80) |
| TV: | ESPNews |
| Talent: | Mike Corey (pxp), Rene Ingoglia (analyst) |
| Radio: | Big Country 99.5 FM |
| Talent: | Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sideline) |
| Live Stats: | Tulsa-East Carolina Stats |
| Series: | East Carolina leads 7-5 |
| First Meeting: | Tulsa 31, East Carolina 20 (Oct. 13, 1984), Tulsa, Okla. |
| Last Meeting: | East Carolina 49, Tulsa 32 (Nov. 28, 2014), Tulsa, Okla. |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa | East Carolina | American Conference |
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane (3-2, 0-1 American) and the East Carolina Pirates (3-3, 1-1 American) will kick-off among clear skies and 60-degree temperatures at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium today. The game will kick at 12 noon local time in Greenville, North Carolina.
Tulsa is coming off a 34-24 come-from-behind home victory against the ULM Warhawks last week, while the Pirates battled in a hard-fought 45-38 loss to the hands of the BYU Cougars in Provo, Utah.
The Hurricane offense ranks seventh in the nation in both passing and total offense. Tulsa is putting up 367.8 yards through the air and 200.2 yards on the ground for 568 total yards of offense. Despite the loss of one of his top targets, Keevan Lucas, to injury a week earlier against Houston, Tulsa's Dane Evans completed 28 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns in the win over ULM.
Evans ranks among the top-15 nationally for most all passing statistics. He has completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,839 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior Keyarris Garrett leads the receiving corps with 628 yard on 41 receptions, while Josh Atkinson turned in his fourth straight 100-yard receiving game last week with 110 yards.
The Tulsa ground attack is led by Zack Langer with 520 yards and the eighth-most TDs in the country with 10 rushing touchdowns. D'Angelo Brewer has added 362 yards, while Ramadi Warren saw his most time in the backfield last week against ULM and gained 58 yards.
Tulsa goes up against a defense that has tallied 17 quarterback sacks and has given up 420.2 yards per game. Linebackers Jordan Williams, Zeek Bigger and Montese Overton headline the East Carolina defense, totaling 131 tackles, 12 stops for -74 yards and eight quarterback sacks. Williams and Bigger are tied for the team-lead with 45 tackles each, while Overton leads the Pirates with 7.5 TFLs and six sacks.
East Carolina's secondary has broken up 17 passes, with Travon Simmons and Corey Seargent leading the way with four apiece. The three-man starting front-line of the Pirates has combined for 62 total tackles.
Although the Pirates are without the nation's top pass-catch duo from a year ago in the likes of Shane Carden and Justin Hardy, the East Carolina offense doesn't seem to have lost a step. The ECU offense averages 441.3 yards and 32.5 points per game against a schedule that has included road games at Florida, Navy and BYU and a home win over Virginia Tech.
Blake Kemp is one of two quarterbacks for the Pirates. The junior has completed 72-percent of his passes for 1,478 yards and 10 touchdowns, while using 11 different receivers. Junior transfer James Summers, who is a dual threat quarterback, will see time at the quarterback position as well. He is ECU's second-leading rusher with 310 yards and 7.6 yards per carry, while he has completed 19-of-28 passes for 290 yards and three TDs.
The Pirates' offense gains 146.7 yards on the ground, as Chris Hairston leads the way with 378 yards, while passing for 294.7 total yards.
Success for Tulsa on Saturday means that the Hurricane defensive unit will need to get some takeaways, and the Tulsa offense will have to convert scores in the red zone. Despite converting 22 of its' 28 red zone attempts for scores, only 50-percent of Tulsa's red zone chances have gone for touchdowns.
The Hurricane defense has forced eight turnovers on the year, while the offense has turned those into 34 points.
Tulsa is led in tackles by senior safety Michael Mudoh, now ranked third nationally with 60 stops, while linebacker Matt Linscott has added 47 tackles and his 9.5 TFLs for 40 yards is eighth nationally. Fellow linebacker Trent Martin has 41 tackles and six TFLs for the Hurricane from his inside spot.
The Hurricane defensive front, led in the interior by Derrick Lutjen and Jesse Brubaker and on the outside by Derrick Alexander and Jeremy Smith, will be going up against a front line of the Pirates that averages 318 pounds.
Players Mentioned
Defensive End
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Wide Receiver
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Running Back
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Defensive Tackle
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Quarterback
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Wide Receiver
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Running Back
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Linebacker
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Wide Receiver
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Linebacker
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Safety
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Defensive End
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Running Back
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