Tulsa- East Carolina Game Preview

Tulsa- East Carolina Game Preview

11/4/2016 11:07:00 AM | Football

By: Don Tomkalski

Game 9: Tulsa (6-2, 3-1 The American) vs. East Carolina (3-5, 1-3 The American)
Date/Time:	Saturday, Nov. 5/ 7:02 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Tulsa, Okla.
Stadium:	H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000)
Coaches:	Tulsa – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 2^nd year East Carolina – Scottie Montgomery (Duke '00), 1^st year
TV:	ESPNews/WatchESPN
Talent:	Shawn Kenney (pxp), Watson Brown (analyst)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM
Talent:	Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sidelines)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	East Carolina leads 8-5
First Meeting:	Oct. 13, 1984, Tulsa won 31-20 @ Tulsa, Okla.
Last Meeting:	Oct. 17, 2015, East Carolina won 30-17 @ Tulsa, Okla.
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| East Carolina \| American Athletic Conference

Two of the nation's most potent offenses square off Saturday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-2, 3-1 The American) squares off against the East Carolina Pirates (3-5, 1-3 The American). Both teams are coming off big wins a week ago as the Hurricane posted a 59-30 road win at Memphis, and the Pirates captured a 41-3 win against UConn.

Tulsa sits even with Navy in the loss column for the top spot in the American Athletic Conference's West Division, while East Carolina, out of the East Division, is battling for bowl eligibility.

The Pirates average 503.2 yards per game to rank 13^th nationally, while having the nation's sixth-ranked passing offense. The Pirate passing game starts with No. 9 Philip Nelson at the quarterback position. Nelson has completed nearly 69 percent of his passes for 2,377 yards and 15 touchdowns this year, while his main target is one of the country's best in Zay Jones. The senior from Austin, Texas, by way of Stephen F. Austin, has caught 114 passes for 1,094 yards and four TDs.

In addition to Jones, fellow receivers Quay Johnson has caught 37 passes for 369 yards and Jimmy Williams has brought in 33 receptions for 670 yards, six TDs and a 20.3-yard average per catch.

The run game isn't too shabby either as James Summers, who has gained 538 yards for a 5.2 average and four touchdowns, leads the Pirates ground attack behind a huge offensive line that measures 6'6" and 316 pounds.

The Hurricane defense will have its hands full against that huge offensive front and a fairly balanced offensive attack that passes for 355.6 yards and rushes for another 147.6 yards. ECU attempts 48 passes per game, while rushes the ball 36 times. Tulsa will need to force turnovers, similar to last week's four takeaways against Memphis, to limit the Pirates offense.

Senior linebacker Trent Martin leads the Hurricane defense with 55 tackles, and is followed by fellow linebackers Matt Linscott with 52 and Craig Suits with 47 stops. Martin shared the team-lead last week with seven tackles, had one sack and returned an interception to the 3-yard line. The trio has combined to tally 12.5 stops for -41 yards, five pass breakups and two interceptions on the year.

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 112 tackles and 21 TFLs for -78 yards through the first eight games. Last week at Memphis, Brubaker shared the lead with seven tackles, while turning in three stops for -9 yards and one six-yard sack.

The Tulsa secondary will be pressed every which way by the East Carolina receiving corps this week. Six players have seen considerable time in the back-end of the defense this year, 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 and red-shirt freshman Cristian Williams have seen more minutes in the secondary in recent weeks. Brady, who missed the last two games and is still day-to-day, has tallied 39 tackles, three pass-breakups and one interception, while Whitfield has 44 stops and Mitchell has compiled 25 tackles and a team-high eight pass break-ups.

Patrolling the corners are junior Kerwin Thomas, red-shirt freshman Reggie Robinson and junior Keanu Hill, while two seniors who have seen considerable playing time throughout their careers, Will Barrow and Johnell Celistan, are available at the corner slots as well. Thomas has 30 tackles and five pass breakups, Robinson has totaled 19 stops and three pass breakups, while Hill, who has been day-to-day after an injury last week, has totaled 20 stops and five pass breakups.

The Tulsa offense, like ECU, has been explosive and averages 42.1 points to rank 12^th nationally, and 499.1 total yards for a No. 15 national ranking. Whereas, East Carolina's pass offense has put up more numbers than the run game, Tulsa's run-pass ratio is quite similar. The Hurricane ranks 19^th in rushing by averaging 242.6 yards per game, and throws for another 256.9 yards, which ranks 44^th in the nation.

On offense, the Tulsa ground game, which has rushed for 300+ yards in five games this year, will need another strong performance for a balanced Hurricane attack. Tulsa's two-headed monster at running back D'Angelo Brewer and James Flanders are ranked one-two in the American Athletic Conference this year with averages of 114.7 and 112.4 yards per game. The tandem, which has averaged 227 of Tulsa's 242 yards on the ground this year, was down a man last week as the day-to-day Brewer missed the Memphis game.

Tulsa has its' own No. 9 at the quarterback position, as senior Dane Evans guides the Golden Hurricane offense. Evans has thrown for 1,970 yards and 15 touchdowns, and now with 10,302 career yards is just 634 yards shy of tying Paul Smith for top spot on the school's all-time passing chart. Evans' favorite targets have been fellow seniors Keevan Lucas and Josh Atkinson and sophomore Justin Hobbs. Lucas averages 94.2 yards and has eight TDs on 53 receptions, while Atkinson has caught 44 passes for 591 yards and Hobbs has 446 yards on 33 receptions.

Like Evans, Lucas is approaching some school milestones as well. With 2,824 receiving yards, he is 519 yards shy of tying Howard Twilley (1963-65) for the career mark, and with 25 career TDs is seven away from Twilley's and Steve Largent's record of 32 receiving touchdowns.

The offensive line saw the return of right side starters – senior Blake Belcher at guard and sophomore Willie Wright at tackle – last week in the Memphis game after the duo missed the previous two games. The left side of the offensive front is led by sophomore guard Tyler Bowling and junior tackle Evan Plagg, while sophomore Chandler Miller is the anchor in the middle.

The Tulsa offense will be going up against an athletic and talented East Carolina defensive unit that has ranked among the upper half in The American for opponent first downs, third down conversions and fourth down conversions.

The Pirate defense has held the opposition to 416 yards per game and 28.8 points and are led upfront by a three-man line weighing in at 293 pounds. Defensively, East Carolina is led by linebackers Jordan Williams, Dayon Pratt, Terrell Richardson and Cam White, ranked among the top five tacklers on the team.

Williams has a team-high 48 tackles, followed closely by Pratt with 46 stops, while Pratt leads the team in TFLs with seven for -25 yards and sacks with two for -12 yards. Richardson has totaled 43 tackles and White has 37 stops.

The ECU secondary has eight players who have rotated with each totaling double-digit tackles and combing for 15 of the teams' pass breakups. Safety Travon Simmons leads the way with 41 tackles, two pass break-ups and one interception.

It should be a nice Saturday evening for football at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Tickets are still available online at TulsaHurricane.com or by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688). Pre-sale ticket prices start at $15.