Tulsa-Tulane Game Preview

Game 7: Tulsa (4-2, 1-1 The American) vs. Tulane (3-3, 0-2 The American)
Date/Time:	Saturday, Oct. 22/ 2:45 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Tulsa, Oklahoma
Stadium:	H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000)
Coaches:	Tulsa – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 2^nd year Tulane – Willie Fritz (Pittsburg State '83), 1st year
TV:	ESPNU/WatchESPN
Talent:	Eamon McAnaney (pxp), John Congemi (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM
Talent:	Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sidelines)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads 10-2
First Meeting:	Nov. 9, 1968, Tulane won 25-15 @ New Orleans, La.
Last Meeting:	Nov. 27, 2015, Tulsa won 45-34 @ New Orleans, La.
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Tulane \| American Conference

Tulsa returns to H.A. Chapman Stadium on Saturday afternoon to face the Tulane Green Wave on Homecoming. Kickoff time for the American Athletic Conference West Division showdown is scheduled for 2:47 p.m.

The Hurricane (4-2, 1-1 AAC) is coming off of a seven-point loss at #12-ranked Houston, while Tulane (3-3, 0-2 AAC) fell by 10 points, 24-14, against the Memphis Tigers.

Tulane brings in one of the top defenses in The American and an option offense.

Defensively, the Green Wave allows only 324.0 yards per game, ranking second in The American for pass defense (182.2 ypg) and fifth in rushing defense (141.8). Tulsa's offense, which has averaged 471.8 yards and 38.0 points thru the first six games, will have another tough test.

Tulane's defensive line is one of the best Tulsa will face all season long. "Tulane and Cincinnati will be the toughest D-lines we will face all year long. The (Tanzel) Smart kid in the 3-technique, he'll be playing in the league. He's tough to block. They do a really good job of stopping the run, so we've got to be creative in how we make yards in the running game," said Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery.

The Green Wave defensive front is led by senior tackle Tanzel Smart. The 6'1", 305-pounder has totaled 32 tackles and a team-high seven TFLs. Fellow senior Nico Marley, who has started all four seasons at linebacker, leads Tulane with 45 tackles and has added six TFLs, two forced fumbles and one interception. Both Smart and Marley were first-team all-conference selections a year ago.

The Tulane secondary is stout as well and is led by juniors Parry Nickerson and Richard Allen at the cornerback positions and safeties Jarrod Franklin and Roderic Teamer. Nickerson, a freshman All-American in 2014, has a team-high nine pass break-ups and two pickoffs for 133 return yards, while adding 14 tackles. Franklin is second on the team in tackles with 34 stops, while Teamer is fourth with 28 tackles.

The Tulsa ground game, which has rushed for 300+ yards in three games this year, will need to be effective against the stingy Tulane defense. D'Angelo Brewer leads The American with an average of 123.7 yards per game and a 5.3 average per carry, while senior James Flanders has 460 yards and a 5.7 average per carry to rank fifth among the league's rushing leaders. Brewer missed most of last weeks game after an early injury, as Flanders carried most of the load for the Hurricane runners.

Quarterback Dane Evans leads the Tulsa offense and is moving closer to becoming Tulsa's all-time leading passer, and this year has thrown for 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns. He now has 9,832 passing yards and 62 touchdowns in his career. Evans will have to be on target again for the Hurricane. His favorite targets have been fellow seniors Keevan Lucas and Josh Atkinson and sophomore Justin Hobbs. Lucas averages 99.3 yards and has five TDs on 41 receptions, while Atkinson has caught 32 passes for 377 yards and Hobbs has 389 yards on 28 receptions.

The offensive line was without two starters last week as Blake Belcher and Willie Wright missed the game and Alex Pagonis and Zac Uhles filled in on the right-side. Sophomore center Chandler Miller and junior tackle Evan Plagg lead the front line for the Hurricane.

The Tulsa defense will have to play assignment-sound football against the option attack of the Green Wave. The Hurricane defense has held the opposition to 174 yards on the ground and 235 yards through the air.

Tulane's 'gun triple option' offense starts with sophomore quarterback Glen Cuiellette, who has rushed for 160 yards and thrown for another 616 yards and six touchdowns. The Green Wave average 207.7 yards per game to rank third in the conference behind an offensive front the tips the scales at an average of 323 pounds and stands an average of 6-feet, 5-inches.

Running backs Dontrell Hilliard, Josh Rounds and Lazedrick Thompson have combined for 926 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground for the Green Wave, while Sherman Badie, who was injured in the first game, could return and will add more depth to the running back position. The receiving corps is led by Terren Encalade with 22 catches for 299 yards and four TDs.

"It's all about assignment football against Tulane's gun triple option offense. Our guys have to trust each other to do their job. You've got to keep your eyes in the right spot. They're doing a great job with installing their offense," said Montgomery. "Tulane's quarterback (Glen) Cuiellette is very, very athletic and very talented. We have to play assignment football and we have to make tackles in space. A lot of those tackles are going to have to be single tackles, not gang tackles, because of what they're doing."

Senior linebacker Trent Martin leads the Hurricane defense with 48 tackles this year, while fellow linebackers Matt Linscott and junior Craig Suits have tallied 44 and 38 tackles, respectively, and all three have combined for 9.5 TFLs for -23 yards.

The Tulsa defensive line has used nine players so far this season. Tackles Jerry Uwaezuoke and Hayden Carman and ends Jeremy Smith and Jesse Brubaker will be the starters up front for the Hurricane. The foursome has combined to total 82 tackles and 14 TFLs for -45 yards through the first six games.

The Tulsa secondary has had six players see considerable time, including three at safety and three cornerbacks. The safeties include senior Jeremy Brady, junior Jordan Mitchell and sophomore McKinley Whitfield, while true freshman Manny Bunch has seen minutes in the secondary this year. Brady has tallied 39 tackles, three pass-breakups and one interception, while Whitfield and Jordan Mitchell have 48 stops and four pass break-ups between them.

Patrolling the corners are juniors Kerwin Thomas and Keanu Hill and red-shirt freshman Reggie Robinson. Thomas has 26 tackles and three pass breakups, Hill has totaled 18 stops and a team-high five pass breakups, while Robinson has totaled 14 stops and three pass breakups.

Tickets can be purchased at the gates for today's 2:47 p.m. kickoff. Gates open at 1:15. Follow the Golden Hurricane throughout the season at www.TulsaHurricane.com.

Tulsa-Tulane Game Preview

Players Mentioned

Josh Atkinson

Blake Belcher

Jeremy Brady

D'Angelo Brewer

Jesse Brubaker

Manny Bunch

Hayden Carman

Dane Evans

James Flanders

Keanu Hill

Justin Hobbs

Matt Linscott

Keevan Lucas

Trent Martin

Chandler Miller

Jordan Mitchell

Alex Pagonis

Evan Plagg

Jeremy Smith

Craig Suits

Kerwin Thomas

Zac Uhles

Jerry Uwaezuoke

McKinley Whitfield

Willie Wright

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