FOOTBALL NOTES: SOUTH FLORIDA GAME

TULSA HOSTS #23-RANKED USF FRIDAY NIGHT

GAME #6
TULSA (1-4, 0-2 The American) vs. #23 USF (5-0, 1-0 The American)
Friday, Oct. 12, 2018 • 6:00 pm (CT)
H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000) • Tulsa, Okla.
TV:ESPN
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), 4th year
Career Record:      19-24 (4 years)
TU Record: same

USF BULLS
Head Coach: Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas), 2^ndyear
Career Record:      68-39 (9 years)
USF Record:          15-2 (2 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•      Tulsa returns to H.A. Chapman Stadium after two road games.
•      This is the third straight weeknight game for Tulsa … Tulsa played Temple on Thursday, Sept. 20, and after an open date played at Houston on Thursday, Oct. 4, and hosts USF this week.
•      Tulsa, a private institution, has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,343 students, while USF has an enrollment of 50, 557.
•      This is the second straight season that Tulsa will face USF, when the Bulls were ranked 23^rdin the country.
•      In USF, Tulsa faces its 5th of 8 teams that made a bowl game in 2017.

THE TULSA-USF SERIES . . .
•      This is the third meeting between Tulsa and USF, as the Bulls lead the overall series 2-0.
•      The first meeting came in 2014 in Tulsa as USF claimed a 38-30 win.
•      Last year, Tulsa's comeback bid against #23 USF fell short 27-20 in Tampa.

QUICK HITS . . .
•      Tulsa senior offensive linemen have combined to start 113 combined games, including 43 for Chandler Miller, 40 for Willie Wright and 30 for Tyler Bowling.
•      Junior LB Cooper Edmiston has totaled 3 interceptions in the last 2 games.
•      Tulsa's defense had a season-high 3 takeaways at Houston, all in the first half.
•      Red-shirt freshman QB Seth Boomer made his first career start at Houston, where he passed for 227 yards … that total was the second-most ever for a Tulsa freshman making their collegiate debut … second only to TJ Rubley's 386 yards vs. Oklahoma State as a true freshman in 1987.
•      Boomer's 227 yards ranks as the 11th highest passing game for a freshman QB.
•      Senior safety McKinley Whitfield has gone over 200 career tackles and now has 223 career stops, the most for any current Tulsa defender.
•      True sophomore RB Shamari Brooks has 14 rushing touchdowns and 6 100+ rushing games in his first 13 career games.
•      Senior PK Nate Walker had a season and career-high 4 field goals at Houston
•      Sophomore RB Corey Taylor II had a new career-highs with 152 yards and 33 carries at Houston.

TULSA-USF LAST YEAR . . .
•      Tulsa senior RB D'Angelo Brewer became the American Athletic Conference's and Tulsa's all-time leading rusher in the nationally-televised game against USF, although the Hurricane dropped a 27-20 decision.
•      Brewer needed 110 yards to set the AAC record and 152 yards to set the Tulsa mark               … he ended the game with 163 yards.
•      After giving up 21 first quarter points to USF, Tulsa held the Bulls to just two field goals the rest of the way.

BOOMER, TAYLOR GET FIRST STARTS . . .
•      Red-shirt freshman Seth Boomer made his first collegiate appearance as the starting QB at Houston, while sophomore RB Corey Taylor II made his first start as well.
•      Boomer threw his first career TD on his first possession in a Tulsa uniform … it was a 33-yard TD pass to Keenen Johnson … he completed 13 passes for 227 yards for the game.
•      Boomer's 227 yards passing was the second-most ever for a Tulsa freshman making their collegiate debut … he is 2nd only to TJ Rubley's 386 yards against Oklahoma State as a true freshman in 1987.
•      Boomer's 227 passing yards rank as the 11th highest passing game for a Tulsa freshman quarterback.
•      Taylor had a new career-highs with 152 yards and 33 carries… his previous career highs were 111 yards at Oklahoma State in 2017 and 23 carries at Temple in Tulsa's last game.
•      The 152 yards were Taylor's 3rd career 100+ rushing game, and 2nd on the season … it was also a season-high for Tulsa running backs this year.

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.
•      Taylor has gained 411 yards and 4 TDs in 5 games this year, while Brooks has totaled 375 yards and 4 TDs in 4 of 5 games played.
•      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 added his 6th career 100+ rushing game with 115 yards vs. Arkansas State and now has 6 100+ rushing games in 13 career games.
•      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 786 of Tulsa's 1,034 rushing yards this year, as well as 8 of Tulsa's 9 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 42 tackles and 3 interceptions this year.
•      He had a season-high 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 166 career tackles.
•      He totaled 106 tackles to rank second in 2017 to McKinley Whitfield's 113 stops.
•      Edmiston has 8 career double-figure tackle games, including 6 last year with a career-best 17 stops at UConn.

A LOOK AT THE DEFENSE . . .
•      In the first 5 weeks of the season, the Tulsa defense has allowed its opponents (UCA, Texas, Arkansas State, Temple, Houston) an average of 380.8 yards per   game … whereas last year, Tulsa's first 5 opponents (Oklahoma State, Louisiana, Toledo, New Mexico, Navy) gained an average of 575.4 yards per game.
•      That's a difference of 194.6 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 478 yards at Texas.

FOOTBALL NOTES: SOUTH FLORIDA GAME

Players Mentioned

Seth Boomer

Tyler Bowling

D'Angelo Brewer

Shamari Brooks

Cooper Edmiston

Keenen Johnson

Chandler Miller

Corey Taylor II

Nate Walker

McKinley Whitfield

Willie Wright

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