Tulsa - Memphis Game Preview

Saturday, October 29

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 p.m. (CT)

Tulsa

Memphis

Tulsa - Memphis Game Preview

10/28/2016 11:31:00 PM | Football

By: Don Tomkalski

Game 8: Tulsa (5-2, 2-1 The American) vs. Memphis (5-2, 2-1 The American)
Date/Time:	Saturday, Oct. 29/ 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Memphis, Tenn.
Stadium:	Liberty Bowl Stadium (56,862)
Coaches:	Tulsa – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 2^nd year Memphis – Mike Norvell (Central Arkansas '05), 1^st year
TV:	ESPNews/WatchESPN
Talent:	Mike Corey (pxp), Rene Ingoglia (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM
Talent:	Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sidelines)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Memphis leads 16-10
First Meeting:	Sept. 23, 1961, Memphis won 48-12 @ Tulsa, Okla.
Last Meeting:	Oct. 23, 2015, Memphis won 66-42 @ Tulsa, Okla.
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Memphis \| American Conference

Tulsa and Memphis play a key game in the American Athletic Conference West Division Saturday night at Liberty Bowl Stadium. Both teams come into the contest with identical 2-1 league records and overall 5-2 marks.

This is the 27^th meeting between Tulsa and Memphis as the Tigers lead the series 16-10, while Memphis has won the last two games. It's another tall task for the Golden Hurricane on the road against the Tigers.

Tulsa comes into the game with the second-best scoring offense in the league at 39.7 points, while the Tigers have the conference's second-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 22.6 points. Each of the teams' two losses have come against nationally-ranked teams – Tulsa's coming at #4 Ohio State and #12 Houston, while Memphis' losses have come against #16 Ole Miss and #24 Navy. Tulsa averages 479.9 yards of total offense and Memphis has gained 415.3 yards, while the two teams give up 408 yards by Tulsa and 413 for Memphis, respectively.

Riley Ferguson, replacing NFL first round draft pick Paxton Lynch, leads the Tigers from the quarterback position. The junior has thrown for 1,929 yards and 14 touchdowns, while competing 65-percent of his passes. Seven of his receivers have caught passes for 100+ yards, and is led by Anthony Miller with 41 receptions for 572 yards and three TDs, while Phil Mayhue has 397 yards on 27 receptions.

The Tigers run game has a three-headed monster at tailback as Doroland Dorceus leads the way with 468 yards, while Patrick Taylor and Darrell Henderson have gained 260 and 229 yarda, respectively, while the trio has scored nine rushing touchdowns.

For the Hurricane defense, senior linebacker Trent Martin leads the way with 48 tackles this year, but Martin missed last week's game and his status for Saturday is questionable. True freshman Cooper Edmiston filled in a week ago for Martin and tallied a team-high nine tackles. Fellow linebackers Matt Linscott and junior Craig Suits have tallied 47 and 46 tackles, respectively, and all three have combined for 10.5 TFLs for -30 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 99 tackles and 15 TFLs for -46 yards through the first seven 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, who missed last week's game, is most likely out again this week, has tallied 39 tackles, three pass-breakups and one interception, while Whitfield and Jordan Mitchell have 60 stops and five pass break-ups between them.

Patrolling the corners are juniors Kerwin Thomas and Keanu Hill and red-shirt freshman Reggie Robinson. Thomas has 27 tackles and four pass breakups, Hill has totaled 19 stops and a team-high five pass breakups, while Robinson has totaled 15 stops and three pass breakups.

On offense, the Tulsa ground game, which has rushed for 300+ yards in four games this year, will need another strong performance for a balanced Hurricane attack. D'Angelo Brewer leads The American with an average of 114.7 yards per game, while his running-mate James Flanders is the league's fourth-leading rusher with a 92.9 average per game and 6.3 yards per carry.

Quarterback Dane Evans has thrown for 1,736 yards and 13 touchdowns, and now with 10,068 career yards is ranked second on the school's career chart. Evans' favorite targets have been fellow seniors Keevan Lucas and Josh Atkinson and sophomore Justin Hobbs. Lucas averages 94.7 yards and six TDs on 44 receptions, while Atkinson has caught 40 passes for 519 yards and Hobbs has 406 yards on 30 receptions.

The offensive line has been without two starters the last two weeks as Blake Belcher and Willie Wright missed the games with 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.

Tulsa goes against a defense that has held the opposition under 25 points per game, and one that has forced 19 turnovers. Memphis has intercepted 11 passes, as nine different Tiger players have a pick-off.

Linebackers Genard Avery and Austin Hall have led the Memphis defense with 45 and 44 tackles respectively, while combining for 11 TFLs for -45 yards. Safeties Jonathan Cook and Chris Morley patrol the backend for the Tigers. Cook has 43 tackles and five pass breakups, while Morley has totaled 41 stops and three pass breakups. Cornerback Arthur Maulet has a team-high six breakups and shares the team-lead with two interceptions.

Memphis' three-man front has seen steady play from a group that has seen five different players in the starting lineup. Junior end Earnest Suttles leads the way with 19 tackles and two sacks.

The game can be seen on ESPNews. Tulsa fans can go to Mamadou's at the Aloft Hotel in downtown Tulsa for the Official TU Watch Party.