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Photo by: Brett Rojo
FOOTBALL NOTES: TEMPLE GAME
9/16/2018 8:54:00 PM | Football
GAME #4
TULSA (1-2, 0-0 The American) vs. TEMPLE (1-2, 0-0 The American)
Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 • 7:30 pm (ET)/6:30 pm (CT)
Lincoln Financial Field (68,596) • Philadelphia, Pa.
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: 19-22 (4 years)
TU Record: same
TEMPLE OWLS
Head Coach: Geoff Collins (Western Carolina '94), 2ndyear
Career Record: 8-8 (2 years)
Temple Record: same
THE STORYLINES . . .
• This game is the American Athletic Conference opener for both schools.
• Tulsa, a private institution, has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,343 students, while Temple has an enrollment of 41,000.
• This is the first of 3 straight weeknight games for Tulsa … following an open date next week, Tulsa plays at Houston on Thursday, Oct. 4, and hosts USF on Friday, Oct. 12.
• These two teams ended American Athletic Conference play against each other last year, and open league play this season.
• In Temple, Tulsa faces its third of 8 teams that made a bowl game in 2017.
THE TULSA-TEMPLE SERIES . . .
• This is the 5th meeting between Tulsa and Temple.
• The series is tied 2-2 as the two teams have split on their home fields.
• Tulsa won the first two games in the series as non-conference opponents, and Temple has won the last two meetings as members of the AAC.
• Tulsa won the first game in Philly, 24-17, in 1987, and a year later won in Tulsa 15-10.
• Temple claimed a 35-24 win as AAC members in 2014, and won last year's regular season finale for both teams in Tulsa, 43-22.
QUICK HITS . . .
• Senior Chandler Miller has now started 41 consecutive games at center, ever since his first game as a red-shirt freshman in 2015.
• Tulsa began its third straight year with a different quarterback starting the opener ––Luke Skipper (2018), Chad President (2017) and Dane Evans (2016).
• QB Luke Skipper came into the season with only 3 TD passes last year, and in the first 3 games surpassed that total with 4 TD passes, covering 49, 14, 35 and 10 yards.
• McKinley Whitfield has gone over 200 career tackles and now has 215 career stops … he had his 9th career double-digit tackle game vs. Arkansas State.
• True sophomore RB Shamari Brooks has 14 rushing touchdowns and 6 100+ rushing games in his first 12 career games.
ON THE DEFENSIVE . . .
• In the first 3 weeks of the season, the Tulsa defense has allowed its opponents (UCA, Texas, Arkansas State) an average of 376.7 yards per game … whereas last year, Tulsa's first 3 opponents (Oklahoma State, Louisiana, Toledo) gained an average of 638.3 yards per game.
• That's a decrease in 261.6 yards of total offense per game from last year to this season.
• 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.
1st-2nd HALF "D" COMPARISON . . .
• Tulsa's defense has played solid through its first 3 games, but the Hurricane 'D' has stepped up during critical crunch time in the second half.
• In the first half of games this year, opponents have gained 217.7 yards, but in the second half Tulsa's defense has held the opposition to an 159.0 yard average.
• The Hurricane defense has only allowed the opponent an average of 15.7 points in the first half of games this year, giving up 5 TDs and 4 field goals.
• But, in the second half, the Tulsa defense has allowed only 21 points –– giving up only 7 points by each of Tulsa's 3 opponents.
DOUBLE DIGIT TACKLES . . .
• Tulsa had 4 players with double-digit tackles against Arkansas State, including 14 for both McKinley Whitfield and TieNeal Martin, while Zaven Collins totaled 12 and Cooper Edmiston had 11 stops.
• Martin and Collins were starting their first career games for the Hurricane … Martin also did not have a tackle coming into the game.
• In their careers, the double-digit tackle game was the 9th for Whitfield and 7th for Edmiston.
Players Mentioned
Running Back
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Linebacker
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Linebacker
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Linebacker
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Center
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Quarterback
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Quarterback
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Safety
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