Tulsa Football Game Notes vs. SMU

GAME 5:
TULSA (3-1, 0-0 The American) vs. SMU (2-3, 0-0 The American)
Friday, October 7, 2016 • 7:00 p.m. (CT)
H.A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, Okla.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

FOR FULL GAME NOTES PACKAGE, CLICK HERE

THE COACHES
TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
Head Coach:           Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 2nd year
Career Record:        9-8 (2 years)
TU Record:            same

SMU MUSTANGS
Head Coach:          Chad Morris (Texas A&M '92), 2nd year
Career Record:        4-13 (2 years)
SMU Record:          same

THE STORYLINES . . .
•     This is the 23rd meeting between Tulsa and SMU.
•     Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,473 students, while SMU has an enrollment of 10,929 students.
•     Tulsa averages 452.5 yards per game, while SMU averages 416.0 yards.
•     SMU defense leads the nation with 12 interceptions, while Tulsa has returned two of its four pick-offs for touchdowns.
•     Both teams allow 30 points per game, while Tulsa scores 38.5 points and SMU 19.9 points per game.
•   Four coaches on the SMU staff have coaching ties to Tulsa, all serving as assistant coaches for the Golden Hurricane . . . Head Coach Chad Morris was Tulsa's Associate Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach in 2010 . . . Van Malone was secondary coach (2010-11) . . . Archie McDaniel coached Tulsa's tight ends (2010) and defensive line (2011) . . . Jesse Loepp was with Tulsa the longest, serving three terms, including as a graduate assistant (2003-05), Director of High School Relations (2009) and six years as a full-time assistant (2007, 10-14).

QUICK HITS . . .
•     A total of 15 freshmen have seen action in at least one of the first four games this year, including 10 red-shirt freshmen and five true freshmen . . . two transfers have also made playing debuts this year.
•     Tulsa returned 27 different players who had previously started at least one game in their careers, either on offense (15) or defense (12).
•     Only two players – OG Tyler Bowling and DT Hayden Carman – had not made a previous start among starters in the first four games this year . . . Bowling and Carman have started all four games for the Hurricane in 2016.
•     Tulsa's defense has four interceptions, and two have gone for touchdowns,                 covering 24 and 65 yards.
•     In 17 games under Philip Montgomery, Tulsa has scored over 40 points 10 times and has posted an 8-2 record when doing so.
•     In Tulsa's last outing, the Hurricane had two 100-yard rushers (D'Angelo Brewer 252 and James Flanders 101) and two 100-yard receivers (Keevan Lucas 111 and Josh Atkinson 107).
•     Tulsa has gone over 600 yards of total offense in the last two years under Montgomery when the Hurricane totaled 617 yards at Fresno State.
•     12 of Tulsa's 21 scoring drives in regulation have been under 2 minutes.

THE SERIES . . .
•     This is the 23rd meeting between Tulsa and SMU.
•     The Mustangs lead the series 13-9, but Tulsa has won the last two games.
•     The series is tied in Tulsa, as SMU won the first four meetings in Tulsa . . . Tulsa is 5-1 in its last five home games in the series.
•     Tulsa has an 11.8 win margin in its 11 victories, while SMI has won its 13 games by a 9.5 margin.
•     The Hurricane won last year's game in Dallas by a 40-31 score.
•     The longest winning streaks in the series' is seven games by SMU and two games on three different occasions for Tulsa.

BIGGEST COMEBACK WIN IN SCHOOL HISTORY . . .
•     In Tulsa's last game, the Hurricane trailed Fresno State 31-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter and came back for the school's largest comeback victory in school history for a 48-41 win in double overtime.
•     Tulsa made the score 31-21 at halftime, and took its first lead at 35-34 with 13:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.
•     Fresno State recaptured the lead 41-38 at the 5:02 mark, while Redford Jones' 28-yard field goal at the 1:09 mark tied the score at 41-41.
•     In overtime, Tulsa's defense had a takeaway on FS' first possession, but Tulsa missed a field goal . . . on the second possession Dane Evans ran in from 18 yards to give Tulsa a 48-41 lead after the PAT.
•     Tulsa's defense held Fresno State on four downs to grab the road win.
•     In Tulsa football history, the previous biggest comeback win was a 20-point comeback in the final seven minutes against Oklahoma State on Sept. 9, 1995 as Tulsa trailed 23-3.
•     Tulsa also had a 20-point comeback victory over #7-ranked Arkansas on Sept. 25, 1971, when Tulsa trailed 20-0 and came back for a 21-20 win in Fayetteville, Ark.

WHERE DOES IT RANK NATIONALLY . . .
•     Tulsa's 31-point comeback against Fresno State ties for the second biggest come-from-behind victory in Division I football history.
Deficit Teams/Situation
35            Michigan State def. Northwestern 41-38 in 2006 (trailed 38-3, 9:54, 3rd Qtr)
31            Tulsa def. Fresno State 48-41 (2OT) (trailed 31-0, 10:16, 2nd Qtr)
31            TCU def. Oregon 47-41 (3OT) in 2016 Alamo Bowl (trailed 31-0 at halftime)
31            Texas Tech def. Minnesota 44-41 (OT) in 2006 Insight Bowl (trailed 38-7, 7:47, 3rd Qtr)
31            Maryland def. Miami 42-40 in 1984 (trailed 31-0 at halftime)

BREWER EXPLODES . . .
•     Junior D'Angelo Brewer exploded for a career-best 252 rushing yards against Fresno State as he tied a school record with 46 rushing attempts.
•     Brewer's 252 yards is the fourth-most in school history and it marked the 21st time that a Tulsa player has gained 200+ rushing yards.
•     Brewer's 46 attempts ties the school record set by Ron Jackson in the 1991 Freedom Bowl when he gained 211 yards against San Diego State.

MORE ON BREWER . . .
•     D'Angelo Brewer leads the American Athletic Conference in rushing with 534 yards and a 133.5 average per game, which ranks 15th nationally.
•     Before his 252-yard game at Fresno State, Brewer had his previous career-high in the season opener as he gained 164 yards and three TDs vs. San Jose State.
•     Brewer came into 2016 needing 35 yards to reach 1,000 career rushing yards.
•     Brewer now has five 100+ rushing games in his career –– 2015 –– New Mexico (133), SMU (119) and Virginia Tech (105); 2016 –– San Jose State (164) and Fresno State (252)
•     He now has 1,499 career yards on 298 carries for a 5.0 average per carry.
•     Last year, Brewer gained a team-high 837 yards for a 5.2 average per carry, and added six TDs.

THE CONNECTION . . .
•     The passing combination of senior quarterback Dane Evans to senior receiver Keevan Lucas connected for a touchdown against North Carolina A&T for the first time in nearly a year.
•     Evans threw three TDs to Lucas against NC A&T on Sept. 17, 2016, while the last time the two hooked up on a TD was Sept. 19, 2015 at Oklahoma (Lucas missed the final nine games in 2015 with an injury).
•     Lucas caught four passes in the NC A&T game for 119 yards and three went for touchdowns.
•     All but one of Lucas' 22 career touchdowns have come from Evans . . . Lucas' first career TD, covering 24 yards, as a true freshman in 2013 came from Cody Green.
•     Five of Lucas' receptions this year from Evans have gone for 40+ yards, including 52 and 51-yard TDs vs. North Carolina A&T, 46 yards vs. San Jose State and two 40-yard TD receptions against Fresno State.

MORE ON LUCAS . . .
•     Senior receiver Keevan Lucas, who missed all but the first four games in 2015 with an injury, is back this year to the Tulsa roster .
•     In 3 of Tulsa's 4 games this year, Lucas has gone over 100 receiving yards . . . in fact, he surpassed 100 yards in the first half of each of those 3 games.
•     Lucas began the year with 112 yards on 6 catches vs. San Jose State . . . he had 4 receptions for 119 yards and 3 TDs vs. NC A&T . . . in both of those games, all of his receptions and yardage came in the first half.
•     Lucas now has nine career 100-yard receiving games, including three this year, five in 2014 and one in 2015.
•     In four games, Lucas has 395 receiving yards, five TDs and a 16.5-yard average per catch on 24 receptions.
•     He had 101 catches for 1,219 yards and 11 TDs as a sophomore in 2014.
•     Lucas now has career numbers of 182 receptions for 2,465 yards and 22 TDs.
•     In less than four full games in 2015, Lucas had 409 yards and five TDs on 26 receptions.

TULSA GOES OVER 600 YARDS . . .
•     Tulsa had a season-best 617 yards against Fresno State, gaining 336 yards on the ground and 281 through the air.
•     It was the first 600+ total offense game this year, and fourth time in the last two seasons under Philip Montgomery.
•     Tulsa went over 600+ yards in each of its first three games in 2015 – 618 vs. FAU, 600 at New Mexico and 603 at Oklahoma.

Tulsa Football Game Notes vs. SMU

Players Mentioned

Josh Atkinson

Tyler Bowling

D'Angelo Brewer

Hayden Carman

Dane Evans

James Flanders

Redford Jones

Keevan Lucas

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