Tulsa - Navy Game Preview

Saturday, November 12

Annapolis, Md.

11:00 a.m. (CT)

Tulsa

Navy

Tulsa - Navy Game Preview

11/11/2016 9:53:00 AM | Football

By: Don Tomkalski

Game 10: Tulsa (7-2, 4-1 The American) vs. Navy (6-2, 4-1 The American)
Date/Time:	Saturday, Nov. 12/ 12 p.m. (ET)/ 11 am (CT)
Site:	Annapolis, Maryland
Stadium:	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000)
Coaches:	Tulsa – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 2^nd year Navy – Ken Niumatalolo (Hawaii '89), 9^th year
TV:	CBS Sports Network
Talent:	John Sadak (pxp), Randy Cross (analyst), Sheehan Stanwick Burch (sidelines)
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM
Talent:	Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sidelines)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Navy leads 2-1
First Meeting:	Sept. 18, 2004, Navy won 29-0 @ Tulsa, Okla.
Last Meeting:	Nov. 21, 2015, #16 Navy won 44-21 @ Tulsa, Okla.
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Navy \| American Athletic Conference

Tulsa travels to the East coast Saturday in a "big stakes" game for both the Golden Hurricane and the Navy Midshipmen as the teams are tied for first-place in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference with identical 4-1 records.

It's an early start for the two teams as kickoff is slated for 12 noon (ET) from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, in a game televised on CBS Sports Network.

The Hurricane has an overall 7-2 mark with its only losses coming against 4^th-ranked Ohio Sate and #12 Houston, while Navy's two losses have come at Air Force and home against a powerful South Florida team. The Midshipmen handed a 6^th-ranked Houston team its first loss of the season, 46-40, in early October.

"Navy is a well-coached football team. Ken and his staff do an outstanding job. They play well together as units on both sides of the football," said Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery.

Tulsa will have its hands full with the option attack of the Navy offense, and a defense that has proven to do the basics, like tackling, very well.

The Navy offense starts with the quarterback position, and Will Worth has picked up incredibly well from where Keenan Reynolds left off after leading Navy to an 11-2 record a year ago. The Midshipmen ranks fourth nationally in rushing with an average of 299.5 yards per game, and has also thrown for 135.0 yards.

Worth has rushed for team-highs of 793 yards and 15 touchdowns, while fullback Chris High has gained 484 yards for a 6.7-yard average. Dishan Romine and Toneo Gulley has averaged 8.7 and 8.5 yards per carry, respectively, for the Midshipmen with Romine rushing for 286 yards and Gulley 273 yards.

When Navy throws the ball, it may not be much, but they're effective as Worth has completed 60-percent of his passes for a 129.5 average per game and six TDs. Navy's yardage per completion is an outstanding 18.6 yards per catch. Jamir Tillman has been the most targeted receiver with 27 receptions for 403 yards, but five other Navy receivers have caught at least three passes for an average of over 21.0 yards per catch for each of those five pass-catchers.

The Tulsa defense has shown it can play disciplined football, and if there was every a week that the Hurricane must play assignment football and tackle the ball this is it.

"We have to play very disciplined, we've got to be technique-sound and we have to really tackle well because Navy puts you in situations where you have to make one-on-one tackles if you're going to be able to stop them," said Montgomery.

"I think (Will) Worth is playing at a very high level right now. He's operating that offense as well as it was operated last year. We've got our hands full," Montgomery added.

In the last two games, Tulsa's defense has totaled 17 TFLs, 10 QB sacks, 11 pass breakups and seven QB hurries. Given that Navy only averages 12 passes per game, the Hurricane won't have many chances to add to its sack and breakup totals, but the main emphasis this week will be on one simple word "tackle".

Senior linebacker Trent Martin leads the Hurricane defense with 65 tackles, and is followed by fellow linebackers Matt Linscott with 58 and Craig Suits with 55 stops. The trio has combined to tally 15.5 stops for -67 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 Jeremy Smith and Jesse Brubaker will be the starters up front for the Hurricane. The foursome has combined to total 120 tackles and 25 TFLs for -121 yards through nine games.

In addition to playing the run, the secondary will have to be careful with a big-play passing game as despite not throwing the ball much, the Midshipmen average an impressive 18.6 yards per catch.

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 returned to the lineup last week after missing two games with an injury, has tallied 45 tackles, three pass-breakups and one interception. Whitfield has 48 stops and Mitchell has compiled 31 tackles and a team-high eight pass break-ups.

Patrolling the corners is junior Kerwin Thomas and red-shirt freshman Reggie Robinson, as junior Keanu Hill is out for the remainder of the season. Thomas has 38 tackles and seven pass breakups, while Robinson has totaled 23 stops and three pass breakups.

With Navy's knack for long drives and milking the play clock, the Tulsa offense will have to be efficient and score points when on the field. In a win last week, Navy restricted Notre Dame to just six offensive possessions.

Although the two offenses are quite different, the Hurricane run game has been able to manufacture yards in its spread offense, like Navy has in its option attack. Tulsa's offense has been explosive this season and averages 42.4 points to rank 11^th nationally, and 512.1 total yards for a No. 9 national ranking.
Tulsa ranks 13^th nationally in rushing with 253.3 yards per game and throws for another 258.8 yards, which ranks 41^st in the nation.

The Tulsa ground game, which has rushed for 300+ yards in six 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, is ranked one-two in the American Athletic Conference this year with averages of 122.9 and 120.0 yards per game. The tandem has averaged 242.9 of Tulsa's 253 yards on the ground this year

Flanders went over 1,000 yards for the season last week, while Brewer has 983 yards and with 17 more yards, he and Flanders will become just the second pair of Tulsa running backs to reach the 1,000-yard plateau in the same season. Micheal Gunter and Ken Lacy each ran for over 1,000 yards in 1982.

Senior Dane Evans guides the Golden Hurricane offense from the quarterback position. Evans has thrown for 2,244 yards and 18 touchdowns, and now with 10,595 career yards is just 360 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 93.9 yards and has nine TDs on 60 receptions, while Atkinson has caught 54 passes for 714 yards and Hobbs has 480 yards on 36 receptions.

Like Evans, Lucas is approaching some school milestones as well. With 2,915 receiving yards, he is 428 yards shy of tying Howard Twilley (1963-65) for the career mark, and with 26 career TDs is six away from Twilley's and Steve Largent's record of 32 receiving touchdowns.

The offensive line has been at full strength the last two weeks after missing Blake Belcher at guard and sophomore Willie Wright at tackle, both on the right side, for two games. The left side of the offensive line is manned by sophomore guard Tyler Bowling and junior tackle Evan Plagg, while sophomore Chandler Miller is the anchor in the middle.

Navy's defense is a very disciplined unit and has held its' opponents to 28.6 points per game. Opposing offense have thrown for 247 yards and gained 180 yards on the ground.

"Defensively, they've got 11 guys that do exactly what you tell them to do. They don't give up big plays. They tackle very well in space. As you start looking at their game films, they just don't miss tackles. But they're very sound across the board and it's hard to find those little crevices in there that you're trying to steal and make yards," Montgomery said.

Linebacker Micah Thomas leads the Middies defense with 58 tackles, while Josiah Powell, D.J. Palmore and Hudson Sullivan help anchor the linebacker corps. Palmore has a team-best eight stops for -50 yards and five sacks for -49 yards, while totaling 36 tackles. Powell has been credited with 38 tackles and Sullivan has 35 stops.

The pair of Alohi Gilman and Sean Williams has been active from the safety position. Gilman has tallied 47 stops, four pass break-ups and has recovered two fumbles, while Williams has 44 tackles and two break-ups. Tyris Wooten and Daiquan Thomasson hold down the corner slots for the Midshipmen

It should be an interesting match-up on Saturday in Annapolis with two teams that have starkly, but productive offenses, competing in a game that has first-place in The American's West Division on the line. It's expected to be sunny with cool conditions as temperatures are expected to reach the mid-50s.

The Official Tulsa Watch Party will be held at Mamadou's Restaurant & Sports Bar in downtown Tulsa at the Aloft Hotel.