Tulsa Hosts Houston Today on Homecoming

Saturday, October 14

H.A. Chapman Stadium

3:00 PM

Tulsa

Houston

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Tulsa Hosts Houston Today on Homecoming

10/13/2017 8:59:00 AM | Football

By: copyright The University of Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. –– The most-played rivalry in the American Athletic Conference between Tulsa and Houston takes the field on this afternoon for the 42^nd meeting between the two schools. The game will be played at 3 p.m. from H.A. Chapman Stadium on Tulsa's Homecoming Weekend, as the Hurricane looks to improve upon its overall 50-38-3 Homecoming record.

Through the years, the schools have faced each other as non-conference opponents, members of the Missouri Valley Conference, Conference USA and The American as the series dates back to 1950.

Tulsa has faced Houston 5 times on Homecoming, but this is the first time since 1969.

This year, Houston comes into the contest with a 4-1 overall record, 2-0 league mark and with one of the nation's top scoring defenses, while Tulsa has one win against five defeats and comes into this game with an injury-riddled defensive unit.

The two teams are averaging similar numbers in total offense, as Tulsa averages 448.2 yards per game and Houston has a 433.0 average.

The Hurricane defense has been stung with injuries this year, and goes into Saturday's contest without its two starting safeties – Jordan Mitchell, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the year, and last week Manny Bunch left the game on the first drive.

A total of 6 Tulsa defenders, and now a seventh has missed at least one game this year, including four starters who have been sidelined.

Senior end Jeremy Smith has been the leader of a young Hurricane defensive front, while totaling 32 tackles and 3 TFLs for -17 yards. Jesse Brubaker, Trevis Gipson, Frankie Davis and Myles Mouton also man the end spots for the Hurricane.

Tulsa has used six players on the interior this season with true freshman Garrett Flanary, sophomore Shemarr Robinson and senior Kolton Shindelar taking most of the snaps. Red-shirt freshman Tyarise Stevenson saw more extensive playing time last week when Shindelar missed the game with an injury. Shindelar is expected to make his return this week against the Cougars.

Sophomore Cody Edmiston and senior Petera Wilson have shared playing time at the MIKE linebacker spot. Edmiston has totaled 45 tackles with two fumble recoveries and one interception, while Wilson had 40 tackles, one sack for -10 yards and one fumble recovery.

Fellow linebackers Craig Suits and Diamon Cannon have also been active. Cannon has totaled 31 tackles, while Suits has totaled 30 stops and has intercepted a team-high 2 passes.

Junior McKinley Whitfield moved over from his STAR linebacker spot to safety when Mitchell went down with the injury, while Christian Williams will start at the other safety spot in place of Bunch. Whitfield has a team-high 56 tackles, while Williams has been credited with 20 stops.

The corner slots have seen three different starters for the two positions this year –– senior Kerwin Thomas, sophomore Reggie Robinson and true freshman Akayleb Evans, while another true freshman Allie Green IV and sophomore Keidrien Wadley have also seen time at corner. Robinson has 5 starts, Thomas 4 and Evans has started the last 3 games.

The Cougars bring in an offense that the Hurricane hasn't seen in the past three weeks, where Tulsa faced three option attacks that averaged 66 carries per game in that span of games. Houston has a balanced attack, passing 37 times a game and carrying the ball 35 times for 268 passing yards and 165 yards on the ground.

The Cougars have used two quarterbacks to guide its offense as Kyle Allen started the first three games, and Kyle Postma the last two.

Allen has completed 76.9 percent of his passes for 771 yards and four TDs, while Postma has thrown for 547 yards and four touchdowns, completing 68-percent of his passes. Postma has also had success running the ball for the Cougars, having gained 165 rushing yards and a 5.9 average per carry.

Four Houston receivers have each caught more than 15 passes, while seniors Steven Dunbar and Linell Bonner lead the way with 655 yards on 62 receptions between them.

The Cougar ground game is led by junior Duke Catalon with 359 yards and three touchdowns, behind an offensive line that averages 6-feet, 4-inches tall and 303 pounds.

The Tulsa offense, averaging 33.8 points per game will have its hands full against a defense allowing only 14.8 points per game to rank 14^th nationally. The Cougars are led by sophomore lineman Ed Oliver, a freshman All-American in 2016. Oliver has 27 tackles and 3.5 TFLs for -9 yards this year and is flanked by two more 290-pounders in the likes of Nick Thurman and Reggie Chevis.

Senior linebacker Matthew Adams has a team-high 48 tackles and 4.5 TFLs for -7 yards, while fellow linebackers D'Juan Hines, Khalil Williams and Emeke Egbule have combined for 86 tackles, 10.5 TFLs for -63 yards.

Safety Garrett Davis leads the Cougars secondary with 30 tackles and three interceptions for 36 yards, while fellow safety Terrell Williams has three pickoffs for 51 yards, 4 pass breakups and 21 tackles. Junior Isaiah Johnson has started all five games at one corner, while fellow juniors Alexander Myres and Jeremy Winchester have shared the starting position at the other corner slot.

For Tulsa, it is expected that the Hurricane will begin Saturday's game with a new starting signal-caller, red-shirt freshman Luke Skipper, at the helm of the offense. A week ago, Skipper entered for Tulsa and responded with a completion percentage of 70.6 by completing 12-of-17 passes for 266 yards against Tulane.

Senior D'Angelo Brewer leads a Tulsa running game that averages 269 yards per game, the 10th-best in the nation. The Hurricane will need to get its ground game going against a defense that allows only 165 yards per game.

Tulsa's offensive line, which has paved the way for over 300+ yard rushing games in 10 of the last 19 contests, will be a big contributor to getting that done. From left to right – Tulsa lines up on the front with senior Evan Plagg, junior Tyler Bowling, junior Chandler Miller, senior Zac Uhles and junior Willie Wright.

Brewer averages 114 yards per game, and is complemented by true freshman Shamari Brooks, who has turned in 393 rushing yards for a 6.1 average per carry. Both Brewer and Brooks have scored 6 touchdowns apiece. In addition, Chad President, when in the game, is a threat running the ball as the sophomore quarterback has gained 365 yards and a 7.6 average per carry.

A young corps of receivers will look to create some plays downfield with junior Justin Hobbs and sophomore Keenen Johnson leading the way. The duo has combined for 56 of Tulsa's 83 receptions for 770 yards.

The game will be televised on ESPNews and can be heard on the Golden Hurricane Radio Network, Big Country 99.5 FM locally, as well as nationally on the Tulsa Tune-In App.