FOOTBALL NOTES: UCONN GAME

Celebrate Homecoming This Saturday as Tulsa Hosts UConn

GAME #9
TULSA (1-7, 0-4 The American) vs. UCONN (1-7, 0-4 The American)
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018 • 6:02 pm (CT)
Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000) • Tulsa, Okla.
TV: CBS SN
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), 4^th year
Career Record:      19-27 (4 years)
TU Record:            same

UCONN HUSKIES
Head Coach:         Randy Edsall (Syracuse '80), 2^nd/14^th year
Career Record:      100-120 (19 years)
UConn Record:       78-86 (14 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•    This week's game is Homecoming for Tulsa.
•    Tulsa and UConn each come in to this game with one win on the season.
•    Tulsa, a private institution, has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,343 students, while UConn has a student enrollment of 31,624.
•    In American Athletic Conference rankings, Tulsa is 2nd in pass defense (165.9 ypg), 4th for total defense (390.2 ypg) and 5th for scoring defense (28.5 ppg).

THE TULSA-UCONN SERIES . . .
•    This is only the second meeting in the series.
•    UConn won the first meeting a year ago in Hartford by a score of 20-14.
•    Tulsa scored all of its 14 points in the 4th quarter, and a Tulsa pass in the end zone was knocked down as time expired to preserve UConn's win.
•    In his first career start, Shamari Brooks rushed for a career-best 164 yards and 2 TDs on 31 carries in last year's game.
•    Cooper Edmiston had a career-high 17 tackles for the Tulsa defense last year.

TULSA ON HOMECOMING . . .
•    Tulsa has posted an overall 51-38-2 record on Homecoming.
•    Tulsa's first Homecoming game came in 1926 as Tulsa defeated Arkansas, 14-7.
•    Tulsa has won its last two Homecoming games, defeating Houston 45-17 last year and Tulane 50-27 in 2016.
•    The Hurricane has won 11 of its last 16 Homecoming games dating back to 2002.

QUICK HITS . . .
•    Tulsa's senior offensive linemen have combined to start 120 games, including 46 for Chandler Miller, 43 for Willie Wright and 31 for Tyler Bowling.
•    Miller has started all 46 games since his first start in 2015 … Bowling has missed the last two games with an injury, snapping a streak of consecutive game starts at 31 when he missed the Arkansas game.
•    Junior LB Cooper Edmiston has had a takeaway in 4 of the last 5 games.
•    Senior safety McKinley Whitfield has gone over 200 career tackles and now has 249 career stops, the most for any active Tulsa defender.
•    Edmiston needs just one tackle to join Whitfield as the only current Tulsa players to have 200 career tackles.
•    True sophomore RB Shamari Brooks has 16 rushing touchdowns and 7 100+ rushing games in his first 15 career games.
•    RS Freshman LB Zaven Collins has totaled 37 tackles in the last 3 games for a 12.3 average.
•    Edmiston ranks in a tie for 1st in the nation for fumble recoveries with three, while punter Thomas Bennett's 46.8 average ranks 5th nationally.

COOPER RANKS AMONG NATION'S TOP-40 IN FIVE DEFENSIVE CATEGORIES . . .
•    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 ranks among the nation's leaders in 5 different defensive categories –– fumbles recovered (1st), forced fumbles (8th), interceptions (14th), interceptions per game (21st) and total tackles (40th).
•    This year, Edmiston has a team-leading 75 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries and 2 fumbles caused
•    Edmiston now has 199 career tackles and his 5 fumble recoveries is just one shy of the school's all-time record.

McKINLEY MAKING MOST OF SENIOR SEASON . . .
•    Senior safety McKinley Whitfield came into his senior year with 193 career tackles, and now has 249 career tackles.
•    Whitfield turned in an outstanding defensive performance at Arkansas two weeks ago, registering 11 tackles, including 8 solos, 3 pass break-ups and an interception return for 18 yards.
•    He now has 10 double-figure tackles games in his career.
•    In addition to his 249 career tackles, Whitfield now has 19 pass breakups and 3 INTs in his career.
•    This year, he has 56 tackles, a team-high 7 pass break-ups, one INT and one fumble recovery.
.•   Whitfield has two double-digit tackle games this year, including a career-best of 14 tackles against Central Arkansas.

ONE-TWO PUNCH IN TULSA BACKFIELD . . .
•    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 623 yards and 6 TDs in 7 games played, while Taylor has gained 498 yards and 4 TDs in 7 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 had 115 yards vs. Arkansas State and 100 vs. #23 USF
•    Brooks now has 7 career 100+ rushing games in 16 career contests.
•    Taylor had career-highs of 152 yards on 33 carries at Houston … he now has 3 career 100+ rushing games in 15 career contests.
•    The duo has combined for 1,121 of Tulsa's 1,522 rushing yards this year for a 73.7 percentage of Tulsa's run game, as well as scoring 10 of Tulsa's 12 rushing TDs.

ALL-AMERICA FRESHMAN!! . . .
•    Since being inserted into the starting lineup, red-shirt freshman linebacker Zaven Collins has made a solid statement with his play on the field to be under     consideration for freshman All-America honors.
•    The 6'4", 250-pount linebacker moved into the starting WILL linebacker spot in the 3rd game this year vs. Arkansas State due to a Robert Revels injury … moving      over from his back-up role at the MIKE position.
•    In his 6 starts, Collins has totaled 53 tackles, 6.5 TFLs for -23 yards, 3 QB hurries and one INT.
•    Over the last 3 games – #23 USF, Arkansas and Tulane – he totaled 37 stops, 3 TFLs for -10 yards and 2 QB hurries.
•    Collins has 4 double-digit tackles games in his 6 starts – 12 vs. Arkansas State, 11 vs. #23 USF, season-best 14 at Arkansas and 12 vs. Tulane.

PUNTER BENNETT RANKS FIFTH IN NCAA . . .
•    Tulsa junior punter Thomas Bennett ranks 5th in the NCAA for punting average with a 46.8 average on 37 punts.
•    He has had 11 punts travel 50 yards, including two 60+ yarders (68 and 66 yards), and six inside the 20-yard line.
•    His best average was 54.5 yards on 4 punts at Houston with 2 inside the 20.

FOOTBALL NOTES: UCONN GAME

Players Mentioned

Thomas Bennett

Tyler Bowling

Shamari Brooks

Zaven Collins

Cooper Edmiston

Chandler Miller

Corey Taylor II

McKinley Whitfield

Willie Wright

Related Videos