Tulsa Football Game Notes vs. UConn

Tulsa Football Game Notes vs. UConn

10/16/2017 3:45:00 PM | Football

By: copyright The University of Tulsa

GAME 8:
TULSA (2-5, 1-2 The American) vs. UCONN (2-4, 1-3 The American)
Saturday, October 21, 2017 • 11:01 a.m. (CT)/12:01 p.m. (ET)
Pratt & Whitney Stadium (40,000), Hartford, CT
TV: ESPNU
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), 3rd year
Career Record:      18-15 (3 years)
TU Record:            same

UCONN HUSKIES
Head Coach:          Randy Edsall (Syracuse '80), 13^th year
Career Record:      98-108 (18 years)
UConn Record:       76-74 (13 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•   Tulsa is in its 118th season of football this year.
•   Tulsa has the smallest FBS undergraduate enrollment with 3,406 students, while UConn has an enrollment of 31,624 students.
•   The two teams each snapped a 4-game losing streak last week as UConn defeated Temple 28-24 on the road, and Tulsa won at home against Houston 45-17.
•   Both teams took advantage of defensive takeaways in their wins last week, as UConn scored 14 points on Temple turnovers and Tulsa had 21 points off of 3 Houston turnovers.
•   For Tulsa, the Hurricane rushes for 271.7 yards and passes for 171.9, while UConn throws for 289 yards and runs for 142.5 yards.

THE TULSA-UCONN SERIES . . .
•   This is the first meeting between Tulsa and UConn.

QUICK HITS . . .
•   Tulsa has had 21 freshmen (true or red-shirt) play in at least one game this year.
•   D'Angelo Brewer is only the 4th Tulsa player with 3,000+ rushing yards.
•   McKinley Whitfield has 4 straight double-figure tackle games and 5 this year.
•   RS-freshman QB Luke Skipper had the 5th most passing yards for a Tulsa freshman in school history with 256 yards at Tulane, and the most for a Tulsa freshman since Josh Blankenship's 271 yards in 1999.
•   Of his 21 completions in 3 games this year, Skipper has had 4 completions for over 50 yards.
•   In the Houston win, Tulsa's defense had 8 TFLs, 3 sacks, 7 PBUs 2 INTs and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.
•   Tulsa had back-to-back 400+ rushing games, including 424 yards vs. Louisiana and 423 yards at Toledo.
•   Sophomore Keenen Johnson had a career-high 131 receiving yards vs. Tulane.
•   True freshman RB Shamari Brooks has the 3rd-most rushing yards for a Tulsa freshman in school history with 504 yards.

BREWER BECOMES IS 4th TULSA PLAYER TO SURPASS 3,000 CAREER RUSHING YARDS . . .
•   D'Angelo Brewer become just the 4th running back in school history to rush for over 3,000 career yards on just his 4th carry against Navy.
•   Brewer now has 3,224 career yards and 21 touchdowns on 631 carries.
•   He ranks 4th on the school's career rushing chart, and is 291 yards away from 2nd place (Trey Watts, 2010-13, 3,515 yards).
•   Brewer has 4 100-yard rushing games this year, including 262 vs. Louisiana, 152 vs. Toledo, 131 yards vs. New Mexico and 140 vs. Houston.
•   He jumped from 9th place to 4th place on the school's all-time rushing chart with his 262-yard rushing performance against Louisiana in the second game of the season.
•   He came into that Louisiana game with 2,433 career rushing yards and ended with 2,695 career yards.
•   Brewer has 13 career 100-yard rushing games for the third-most by any Tulsa running back.
•   He trails Micheal Gunter (1980-83) and Tarrion Adams (2005-08) tied for the lead at 16 games, while Trey Watts (2010-13) is second with 15 100-yard rushing games.

QBs COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER . . .
•   Red-shirt freshman Luke Skipper made his first career start against Houston, while sophomore Chad President made the first 6 starts.
•   Against Houston, Skipper completed 9-of-18 passes for 128 yards and one TD, throwing 70 yards to Keenen Johnson.
•   President also played a major role in the win, running one yard to put Tulsa to cut the Houston lead to 10-7, and running 2 yards to give Tulsa a 17-10 lead.
•   Under the 7-minute mark of the 4th quarter, President had a key 3rd-and-9 run for 21 yards that gave Tulsa a first down at the Houston 36-yard line, and led to a TD for a 38-17 Tulsa lead.
•   President ended the game with 5 carries for 32 yards and the 2 TDs.

SKIPPER IN THE LAST TWO GAMES . . .
•   Prior to the Tulane game, Luke Skipper's only previous game experience was 2 possessions in the season opener at Oklahoma State.
•   Skipper entered the lineup against Tulane in the 1st quarter with Tulsa trailing 21-0.
•   He completed a 1-yard pass on his first play and on his second play threw 59 yards to Justin Hobbs for a touchdown.
•   Skipper finished the game 10-of-14 for 256 yards and one TD.
•   Three of his passes went for over 50 yards, including 52, 59 amd 74 yards.
•   Skipper came into the game having completed 2-of-3 passes for just 10 yards in the contest at Oklahoma State.
•   Skipper received his first start against Houston and completed 9-of-18 passes, including one for a 70-yard touchdown.

DEFENSE STANDS STRONG . . .
•   Tulsa entered the Houston game giving up 587.5 total yards, 347.8 rushing yards and 8.2 yards per play.
•   Against Houston, Tulsa's defense turned in a solid performance, giving up only 146 rushing yards and 404 total yards for a 4.6 average per play.
•   In the Houston game, Tulsa's defense had 8 TFLs, 3 sacks, 7 PBUs, 2 INTs and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.
•   Three takeaways against Houston ended in 21 Tulsa points.

THE FRESHMEN . . .
•   There have been 21 freshmen who have played in their first collegiate game this season, including 7 true freshmen and 14 red-shirt freshmen … among that group is 6 walk-ons.
•   The true freshmen who have played this year include – RB Shamari Brooks, CB Akayleb Evans, DT Garrett Flanary, CB Allie Green IV, DS Adam Higuera, WR Keylon Stokes and walk-on SAF Ryan McDaniel
•   The 14 red-shirt freshman to have seen playing time include – OL Tiller Bucktrot, OL Clay Greathouse, WR Josh Stewart, QB Luke Skipper, TE David Fitzwater, LB Treyvon Reeves, OL Waahid Muhammad, DT Tyarise Stevenson, DT Johnnie Williams; and walk-ons – RB Matt Harvey, DT, Brandon Ferguson, DT Jacob Pugh, DE Beau Wooden, WR Andrew McKinnis.