Tulsa Football Game Preview vs. USF

Thursday, November 16

Tampa, Fla.

6:30 pm

Tulsa

USF

Photo by: Brett Rojo

Tulsa Football Game Preview vs. USF

11/15/2017 4:54:00 PM | Football

By: Don Tomkalski

Tulsa Football Faces #20 USF Thursday Night in Tampa

GAME 11: TULSA (2-8, 1-5 American) vs. USF (8-1, 5-1 American)
Date/Time:	Thursday, November 16 / 7:30 p.m. (ET) / 6:30 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Tampa, Florida
Stadium:	Raymond James Stadium (65,857)
Coaches:	TULSA – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 3rd year USF – Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas '82), 1st year
TV:	ESPN
Talent:	Dave Flemming (pxp), Jordan Rodgers (analyst), Laura Rutledge (sideline)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM or Online
Talent:	Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sidelines)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	USF leads 1-0
First Meeting:	USF 38, Tulsa 30 (Oct. 18, 2014), Tulsa, Okla.
Last Meeting:	USF 38, Tulsa 30 (Oct. 18, 2014), Tulsa, Okla.
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| USF \| American Athletic Conference

TAMPA, Florida –– For the second time in as many games, Tulsa faces a top-25 opponent as the Golden Hurricane travels to play the #23/20 USF Bulls at 7:30 p.m. (ET)/6:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday night in a nationally-televised ESPN game from Raymond James Stadium.

Tulsa (2-8, 1-5 AAC) goes into the game looking to get back into the win column after three losses, while USF (8-1, 5-1 AAC) looks to keep pace with American Athletic Conference East Division leader UCF. USF and UCF will square-off next week.

It will be strength against strength for these two teams, as the nation's 15^th-ranked rushing offense, Tulsa, goes against a defensive unit of USF's that is ranked 15^th nationally against the run. Tulsa averages 249 yards on the ground, while the Bulls have allowed only 118.2 yards per game.

So this game it makes Tulsa's passing game even more important. The Hurricane has averaged 183 passing yards, and on Thursday night goes up against a defense that has also been effective against the pass, ranking 6^th in the nation for pass efficiency defense.

For Tulsa's offense, the Hurricane has tried to maintain its balance between the run and pass game, and after 10 games The Hurricane averages 432 yards of total offense and 31.0 points per game.

Senior running back D'Angelo Brewer leads the way for the Tulsa ground game. Brewer comes into the game needing 110 yards to tie former USF runner Marlon Mack as the league's all-time rushing leader. Brewer has 3,499 career rushing yards to rank 4^th on the schools career rushing list, needing 16 to move up one spot, 37 for second place and 152 yards to surpass Tarrion Adams (2005-08) for the school record.

Brewer's freshman runningmate, Shamari Brooks, who had gained over 600 yards and a team-leading 10 touchdowns, is sidelined for the season after suffering an injury in the 9^th game of the season at SMU.

Brewer leads the nation's 15^th-ranked rushing offense with 1,099 yards, a 5.0 average per carry, 8 TDs and 122.1 yards per game. He is backed up by fellow senior Rowdy Simon, a former walk-on, who fought-off an early season injury to return to the field.

Brewer is ranked second in the AAC for rushing, but is the league's leading running back, only trailing Navy quarterback Zach Abey in yards per game.

Sophomore Luke Skipper runs the offense from the quarterback position. Skipper has 4 starts at quarterback under his belt for the Hurricane and has completed 56-percent of his passes for 1,022 yards and 3 touchdowns in 6 games this year. He has completed 17 of his 47 passes for 20 yards or more this year, including 6 completions going for 50 yards or more.

Chad President, who started the first 6 games, has also played the last 4 games behind center, rushing for 51 yards and 4 touchdowns in those contests. President has gained 416 yards and 9 touchdowns for a 7.2 average per carry for the Hurricane, while throwing for 809 yards and 2 TDs.

Tulsa's line will need to be highly effective for the Hurricane to have success offensively this week. From left to right – Tulsa lines up on the front with red-shirt freshman Waahid Muhammad, who has started in place of the injured Evan Plagg for the last 3 games, junior Tyler Bowling, junior Chandler Miller, senior Zac Uhles and junior Willie Wright. Plagg's return to the lineup is questionable this week.

A young corps of receivers will need to create some plays downfield for the offense to have success against the Bulls defensive unit. Junior Justin Hobbs and sophomore Keenen Johnson lead the way, as the duo has combined for 90 of Tulsa's 136 receptions and 1,282 yards, while senior Nigel Carter has been active the last two games with 7 catches for 74 yards and one TD.

Hobbs is just 21 yards away approaching the 2,000-yard career-receiving plateau. He currently sits with 1,979 yards and 8 TDs in his three years.

Tulsa's offense goes up against a USF defense that ranks 19^th overall for total defense in the NCAA this season, drastically improving its defensive rank from a year ago when the Bulls ranked 120^th nationally for total defense.

USF holds the opposition to 118.2 rushing yards and 201 passing yards per game for a total of 320 total yards.

Not only does USF rank among the leaders for total defense and rush defense, but the Bulls are second nationally for interceptions with 17 on the year and rank fourth in turnover margin, with a 21 takeaways and only eight offensive turnovers.

USF's defense starts up front with two 295-pound senior tackles Deadrin Senat and Bruce Hector, combining for 69 tackles, 18 TFLs for -89 yards and 8 sacks for -54 yards. Senat has 42 tackles, while 11.5 of Hector's 27 tackles have been for lost yards. Ends Greg Reaves and Mike Love are active on the outside as the two have totaled 19.5 TFLs for -75 yards between them.

Linebackers Auggie Sanchez and Nico Sawtelle are one-two for tackles with 60 and 44, respectively. They each also have two interceptions.

The Bulls' secondary has combined for 11 of USF's 17 interceptions, and are led by nickel Deatrick Nichols with 41 stops, 3 interceptions and 8 pass break-ups. Safety Devin Abraham has the team-high in pickoffs with 4 for 78 yards, while adding 36 tackles. Cornerbacks Ronnie Hoggins and Mazzi Wilkins have 5 and 9 pass break-ups, while combining for 58 stops.

This is the third straight game that the Tulsa defense will face an offense that puts up over 500 yards of total offense and scores nearly 40 points per game.

USF's explosive offense is led by Quinton Flowers, one of the top-10 semifinalists for the Johnny Unitas Award, which honors the nation's top quarterback. The senior has 3,345 rushing yards and 7,174 passing yards with 100 TDs responsible for in his career.

Flowers has rushed for 751 yards and 9 TDs, while passing for 1,955 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. His run game is complimented by senior running backs Darius Tice and D'Ernest Johnson. Tice has gained 780 yards and 9 TDs, while Johnson has 631 rushing yards and 7 TDs.

USF's primary deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling leads the receiving corps with 44 catches for 720 yards and 5 touchdowns, while Darnell Salomon has 282 yards in his sophomore season and junior Tyre McCants has 346 yards receiving.

The USF offensive front is led by seniors Cameron Ruff at the center position and guard Jeremi Hill.

Tulsa's defense has been hit hard with injuries this year, but has shown resilience on the field. A total of 7 Tulsa defenders have missed at least one game this year and 21 different players taking on a starting role this year for the Hurricane defense.

Three players who started out the year as starters are sidelined for the remainder of the season, including both safeties, Jordan Mitchell and Many Bunch, and tackle Kolton Shindelar. Mitchell has missed the last 7 games, Bunch 4 and Shindelar has been sidelined for 5 games.

Ends Jesse Brubaker and Jeremy Smith have been the leaders of a young Hurricane defensive front, while combining for 92 tackles and 11.5 TFLs for -78 yards. On the interior, Tulsa has used six players mainly true freshman Garrett Flanary, red-shirt freshman Tyarise Stevenson, true sophomore Shemarr Robinson, juniors Myles Mouton and Payton Prince and the senior Shindelar.

Robinson and Mouton, who made the move inside from end in the 7^th game of the year in a 45-17 win over Houston, come into the game as the starters.

Tulsa's three starting linebackers are ranked 2-3-6 for tackles this year. Sophomore Cody Edmiston has totaled 83 tackles, two fumble recoveries and one interception from his MIKE linebacker position.

Senior Craig Suits has been active from his WILL spot, having totaled 57 stops, a team-leading 9.5 TFLs and has intercepted a team-high 2 passes. Sophomore Diamon Cannon lines up as Tulsa's starting linebacker at the STAR position, and has totaled 46 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 2 pass breakups, while causing and recovering one fumble.

Another linebacker, senior Petera Wilson has shared playing time at the MIKE linebacker spot and also is inserted on pass situations on the edge. Wilson has totaled 54 tackles, 5.5 TFLs for -24 yards, 3 sacks for -17 yards and 2 fumble recoveries, including one for a 3-yard TD run.

Tulsa's leading tackler is junior McKinley Whitfield, who moved over from his STAR linebacker spot to safety when Mitchell went down with the injury. Whitfield has 95 tackles and also leads the team with 7 pass breakups, while returning his one interception for 51 yards.

Sophomores Cristian Williams and Keidrien Wadley, who moved over from corner, have shared starts the last 4 weeks at the other safety spot in place of Bunch. Williams has been credited with 34 stops and Wadley has 9 tackles and one interception.

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 has also seen time at corner. Robinson has 9 starts, Evans has started 6 games and Thomas has 5 starts.

In addition to the ESPN broadcast, the game 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.