FOOTBALL NOTES: ARKANSAS GAME

GAME #6
TULSA (1-5, 0-3 The American) vs. ARKANSAS (1-6, 4-0 SEC)
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 • 11:01 am (CT)
Razorback Stadium (76,000) • Fayetteville, Arkansas
TV: SEC Network
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

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THE COACHES
TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
Head Coach:          Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 4th year
Career Record:      19-25 (4 years)
TU Record:            same

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS
Head Coach:         Chad Morris (Texas A&M 92), 1st year
Career Record:      15-28 (4 years)
Arkansas Record:    1-6 (1 year)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•      The two teams will each be looking for their first win since the season opener.
•      Tulsa, a private institution, has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,343 students, while Arkansas has an enrollment of 27,558.
•      Each team is coming off of closes losses after leading in the 4th quarter – #23 USF scored 15 points for the win against Tulsa and Ole Miss scored 13 points in the 4th quarter to defeat the Razorbacks.

THE TULSA-ARKANSAS SERIES . . .
•      This is the 73rd meeting between Tulsa and Arkansas.
•      Arkansas leads the series 53-16-3 and has a 40-6 record in Fayetteville.
•      The last 41 meetings have been in Arkansas, including 39 in Fayetteville and 2 in Little Rock.
•      Arkansas has won the last 18 meetings … Tulsa's last win came in 1976 by a 9-3 score.
•      The last time the teams played in Tulsa was in 1952 … Tulsa has a 10-8-2 record in home games.

QUICK HITS . . .
•      Tulsa's senior offensive linemen have combined to start 116 games, including 44 for Chandler Miller, 41 for Willie Wright and 31 for Tyler Bowling.
•      Junior LB Cooper Edmiston totaled 3 interceptions in a 2-game period – Temple and Houston.
•      True sophomore RB Shamari Brooks has 16 rushing touchdowns and 7 100+ rushing games in his first 14 career games.
•      Tulsa's defense had a season-high 3 takeaways at Houston, all in the first half.
•      Red-shirt freshman QB Seth Boomer's 227 yards in his first career game at Houston ranks as the 11th highest passing game for a freshman QB.
•      Senior safety McKinley Whitfield has gone over 200 career tackles and now has 229 career stops, the most for any active Tulsa defender.
•      Senior PK Nate Walker had a season and career-high 4 field goals at Houston.

A LOOK AT THE DEFENSE . . .
•      In the first 6 weeks of the season, the Tulsa defense has allowed its opponents (UCA, Texas, Arkansas State, Temple, Houston, #23 USF) an average of 398.5   yards per game … whereas last year, Tulsa's first 6 opponents (Oklahoma State, Louisiana, Toledo, New Mexico, Navy, Tulane) gained an average of 587.5 yards per game.
•      That's a difference of 189.0 yards of total offense per game from last year.
•      In the opener, Tulsa's defense held UCA to 247 total yards, the lowest output for a Tulsa opponent since holding UCF to 235 yards in a 2012 regular season meeting.
•      In that game, Tulsa also held UCA to 0-for-10 on third down conversions.
•      The most yardage given up by Tulsa this year was 487 yards vs. #23 USF

PROTECTING THE 4th QUARTER . . .
•      In the first 4 games this season, Tulsa allowed just 19 total points for a 4.7 per game average in the 4th quarter.
•      Opponents also averaged just 11.7 points (46) in the entire second half.
•      However, in the last two games against 2 of the nation's more potent offenses – Houston and #23 USF, Tulsa has allowed 19.5 points (39) in the 4th quarter and 23.0 points in the second half (23.0).
•      Tulsa held leads in both the last 2 games heading into the final quarter – 23-17 at Houston and 24-10 against #23 USF.
•      In the Houston game, 2 turnovers turned into 14 Cougar points in the 4th period.

ONE-TWO PUNCH . . .
•      Tulsa has a solid one-two punch in the backfield with sophomore running backs Shamari Brooks and Corey Taylor II toting the ball for the Hurricane, but each has missed one game with an injury.
•      Brooks has totaled 475 yards and 6 TDs in 5 games played, while Taylor has gained 411 yards and 4 TDs in 5 games this year.
•      In the opener, Brooks and Taylor turned in a double 100-yard game as Brooks had 129 yards and 2 TDs and Taylor totaled 110 yards.
•      Brooks has had 115 yards vs. Arkansas State and 100 vs. #23 USF, giving him his 6th and 7th career 100+ rushing games in 14 career contests.
•      Taylor had career-highs of 152 yards on 33 carries at Houston … he now has 3 career 100+ rushing games in 13 career contests.
•      The duo has combined for 886 of Tulsa's 1,254 rushing yards this year, as well as 10 of Tulsa's 11 rushing touchdowns.

YOU CAN COUNT ON COOPER . . .
•      Cooper Edmiston had the task in 2017 of replacing the school's 10th-ranked tackles leader Trent Martin (2012-16) at MIKE linebacker.
•      Edmiston didn't disappoint in just his second season after playing the 2016 campaign as a true freshman.
•      Edmiston is back for his second year as the starting MIKE linebacker … he has a team-leading 54 tackles and 3 interceptions this year.
•      He had a season-high 12 tackles and one PBU vs. #23 USF.
•      Edmiston had 11 stops vs. Arkansas State and Tulsa's first pickoffs of the season with 2 INTs at Temple.
•      At Houston, he had 10 stops and had his third INT on the season, all coming in 2 straight games.
•      Edmiston now has 178 career tackles.
•      He totaled 106 tackles to rank second in 2017 to McKinley Whitfield's 113 stops.
•      Edmiston has 9 career double-figure tackle games, including 3 this year and 6 last year with a career-best 17 stops at UConn.

FOOTBALL NOTES: ARKANSAS GAME

Players Mentioned

Seth Boomer

Tyler Bowling

Shamari Brooks

Cooper Edmiston

Chandler Miller

Corey Taylor II

Nate Walker

McKinley Whitfield

Willie Wright

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