Tulsa- Cincinnati Game Tonight

Friday, November 25

H.A. Chapman Stadium

7:30 p.m. (CT)

Tulsa

Cincinnati

Tickets

Tulsa- Cincinnati Game Tonight

11/25/2016 10:31:00 AM | Football

By: Don Tomkalski

Game 12: Tulsa (8-3, 5-2 The American) vs. Cincinnati (4-7, 1-6 The American)
Date/Time:	Friday, Nov. 25/ 7:35 pm (CT)
Site:	Tulsa, Oklahoma
Stadium:	H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000)
Coaches:	Tulsa – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 2^nd year Cincinnati – Tommy Tuberville (Southern Arkansas '76), 4^th year
TV:	ESPN2/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:	Cincinnati leads 16-14-2
First Meeting:	Nov. 2, 1946, Tulsa won 20-0 @ Tulsa, Okla.
Last Meeting:	Nov. 14, 2015, Cincinnati won 49-38 @ Cincinnati, Ohio
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Cincinnati \| American Athletic Conference

Tulsa will close out the regular season tonight as 18 seniors play their final game at H.A. Chapman Stadium when the Cincinnati Bearcats take the field against the Golden Hurricane in a 7:35 p.m. kickoff.

Tulsa (8-3, 5-2 The American) look to finish its home season undefeated at Chapman Stadium, while Cincinnati (4-7, 1-6 The American) is looking to snap a four-game losing streak and end the season on a high note. Trailing the series 16-14-2, Tulsa is looking to snap a five-game losing streak against the Bearcats.

Cincinnati has struggled offensively in recent games averaging just 4.3 points per game over the month of November, but the Bearcats have the offensive weapons to explode at anytime.

Sophomore quarterback Hayden Moore guides the UC offense, while completing 58-percent of his passes for 1,373 yards and eight touchdowns, and don't be surprised if senior Gunner Kiel, who has thrown for 804 yards and six TDs, sees time at quarterback tonight.

The Bearcats' receivers have big-play capability as Devin Gray has 717 yards and four TDs, Kahlil Lewis 605 yards and five touchdowns and Nate Cole with 498 yards and four. Senior Tion Green will handle the bulk of the running load for the Bearcats behind a front line that measures 6'5" and 301 pounds. Green has rushed for 676 yards and a 4.7 average, while also catch 27 passes out of the backfield for 162 yards.

Tulsa's defense will again look to be opportunistic against the Cincinnati offense. In the last four games, Tulsa's defense has totaled 31 TFLs, 13 QB sacks, 17 pass breakups and 13 QB hurries.

Senior linebacker Trent Martin leads the Hurricane defense with 84 tackles, and is followed by fellow linebackers Matt Linscott with 73 and Craig Suits with 64 stops. The trio has combined to tally 23.5 stops for -92 yards, six pass breakups and three interceptions on the year.

The Tulsa defensive line has used nine players so far this season. Tackles Jerry Uwaezuoke and Hayden Carman and ends Jesse Brubaker and Myles Mouton will hold down the starting spots tonight. Brubaker leads the group with 49 tackles and a team-high 12 TFLs for -52 yards, while Uwaezuoke has totaled 39 tackles from his tackle spot. Petera Wilson and Frankie Davis at end and tackles Kolton Shindelar and Shemarr Robinson have made big plays and have seen valuable time on the defensive front for Tulsa.

The Tulsa safeties include senior Jeremy Brady, junior Jordan Mitchell and sophomore McKinley Whitfield, while true freshman Manny Bunch and red-shirt freshman Cristian Williams have seen more minutes in the secondary in recent weeks. Brady, who missed two games with an injury, has tallied 56 tackles, five pass-breakups and one interception. Whitfield has 51 stops and Mitchell has compiled 48 tackles and a team-high nine pass break-ups as startet.

Patrolling the corners is junior Kerwin Thomas and red-shirt freshman Reggie Robinson.
Thomas has 50 tackles and eight pass breakups, while Robinson has totaled 32 stops and five pass breakups.

Tulsa faces a defense that has been opportunistic this year with 20 takeaways, while holding opposing offenses to 413 yards.

Leading the way for the Bearcat defense is linebacker Eric Wilson with a league-leading 116 tackles, including 7.5 TFLs for -26 yards. Fellow linebacker Antonio Kinard has tallied 80 tackles and has matched Wilson with 7.5 TFLs for -26 yards.

The UC defensive front is led by senior tackle Alex Pace with 29 stops and six TFLs for -20 yards, but a pair of sophomores Kevin Mouhon at end and Cortez Broughton at tackle have been the leaders statistically with 44 and 40 tackles, respectively, while combining for 14.5 TFLs for -53 tackles.

Safety Zach Edwards leads the back-end for the Bearcats with 84 tackles and five pass breakups. While fellow safety Tyrell Gilbert has three interceptions for 119 yards to go along with 40 stops. The corner positions are manned by Mike Tyson and Alex Thomas, who has combined for eight pass breakups and seven of UC's 15 interceptions.

Tulsa's offense has been explosive this season and averages 41.5 points to rank 12^th nationally, and 514.5 total yards for a No. 9 national ranking. Tulsa ranks 10^th nationally in rushing with 257.7 yards per game and throws for another 256.7 yards, which ranks 43^rd in the nation.

The Tulsa ground game, which has rushed for a school record seven 300+ yards this year, will look for another strong performance for a balanced Hurricane attack. Tulsa's two-headed monster at running back, D'Angelo Brewer and James Flanders, is ranked one-two in the American Athletic Conference this year with averages of 123.1 and 121.1 yards per game. The tandem has averaged 244.2 of Tulsa's 257.7 yards on the ground this year

The duo is the second running back tandem in school history and the 72^nd overall in NCAA D1/FBS to reach 1,000 rushing yards in the same season. Tulsa's Micheal Gunter and Ken Lacy each ran for over 1,000 yards in 1982. Flanders went over 1,000 yards for the season against East Carolina, while Brewer eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark against Navy. Flanders has 1,332 yards and Brewer has tallied 1,231 yards on the ground this season.

Senior quarterback Dane Evans became the school's all-time passing leader against Navy when he threw for 369 yards and four TDs, and now has 11,071 career yards. This season he has thrown for 2,739 yards and 24 touchdowns. Evans' favorite targets have been fellow seniors Keevan Lucas and Josh Atkinson and sophomore Justin Hobbs. Lucas averages 89.8 yards with 988 yards and has 11 TDs on 66 receptions, while Atkinson has caught 60 passes for 831 yards and Hobbs has 635 yards on 44 receptions.

Lucas is approaching the school record for career receiving yards with 3,058 yards, needing 285 more to tie Howard Twilley (1963-65) for the all-time mark, and with 28 career TDs is four away from Twilley's and Steve Largent's record of 32 receiving touchdowns.

The offensive line is anchored in the middle by sophomore center Chandler Miller. The left-side has been manned all season by sophomore guard Tyler Bowling and junior tackle Evan Plagg, while on the right side Willie Wright and Alex Pagonis will be starting roles tonight. Wright has missed two games, but has been back in the starting lineup for the last three games and Pagonis is filling in for Blake Belcher at right guard. Zac Uhles has been Mr. Versatile for the Hurricane offensive front, seeing time at center and both tackle spots.

It should be a great night for a college football game. A sunny day is expected to make for clear skies tonight, with temperatures starting out in the 50s. The game will have a national television audience on ESPN2.