FOOTBALL NOTES: TEXAS GAME

GAME #2
TULSA (1-0, 0-0 The American) vs. TEXAS (0-1, 0-0 Big 12)
Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018 • 7:00 pm (CT)
DKR - Texas Memorial Stadium (100,119) • Austin, Texas
TV: Longhorn 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:      19-20 (4 years)
TU Record: same

TEXAS  LONGHORNS
Head Coach:         Tom Herman (Cal Lutheran '97), 2nd year
Career Record:      29-11 (4 years)
Texas Record:       7-7 (2 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•      Both schools have played football for more than 115 years … Tulsa is in its 119th season of football, while Texas is in its 126th season.
•      Tulsa, a private institution, has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,343 students, while Texas has an enrollment of 51,331 to rank among the top-10 largest public universities.
•      Tulsa is coming off of 38-27 home win over UCA last Saturday, while Texas fell on the road to Maryland 34-29.
•      Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery and Texas' Tom Herman received their first collegiate head coaching job the same year in 2015 and in the same conference, the American Athletic Conference … Montgomery at Tulsa and Herman at Houston.

THE TULSA-TEXAS SERIES . . .
•      This is the first meeting between Texas and Tulsa on the gridiron.

TULSA OFF TO 1-0 START . . .
•      Tulsa defeated the FCS' 15th-ranked UCA Bears last Saturday by a score of 38-27 at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
•      Tulsa trailed 13-7 at the end of the first quarter and again at the 11:08 mark of the 4th quarter when UCA recovered a fumble in the end zone for a 27-24 lead.
•      Tulsa's offense kicked it into high gear on the subsequent series, going 75 yards in 7 plays as Luke Skipper connected with tight end Cole Neph on a 14-yard touchdown toss.
•      Tulsa added to the score after recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and two plays later Shamari Brooks scored on his second one-yard TD run.

TEXAS INFLUENCE . . .
•      The state of Texas is represented the most on the Tulsa football roster with 57 of Tulsa's full roster of 114 players … Oklahoma is next with 40 players and that leaves 17 roster players not from either Texas or Oklahoma.
•   Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery is from Eastland, Texas, while nine of Tulsa's 10 full-time assistant coaches were born in Texas.

TEXAS IS THE ONLY ONE . . .
•      Texas is the only team in the current Big 12 Conference that Tulsa hasn't faced in its previous 118 seasons of football.
•      Tulsa has faced Baylor (4-5-0), Iowa State (1-3-0), Kansas (6-4-0), Kansas State (11-6-1), Oklahoma (7-20-1), Oklahoma State (27-39-5), TCU (5-14-0), Texas Tech 12-11-0), West Virginia (0-1-0).
•      Tulsa has an overall 73-103-7 record against current Big 12 schools.

QUICK HITS . . .
•      Senior Chandler Miller has now started 39 consecutive games at center, ever since his first game as a red-shirt freshman in 2015.
•      It's the third straight year that Tulsa has had a different quarterback starting the opener with 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 opener had 2, covering 49 and 14 yards.
•      Tulsa had two 100-yard rushers for the third time in the last 11 games.
•      It was the second season opener that Corey Taylor II, coming off the bench, has rushed for 100+ yards.
•      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.
•      Senior placekicker Nate Walker saw his first career action in the season opener and responded with a 40-yard field goal and 5-of-5 on PATs.
•      Senior tight end Cole Neph, in his second season at Tulsa, caught his first pass of his Tulsa career, a one-yarder in the 2nd quarter, and caught his first TD, a 14-yarder in the 4th quarter to give Tulsa the lead for good.

WHAT A DEFENSIVE EFFORT; 0-10 ON THIRD DOWNS . . .
•      There wasn't any gaudy individual defensive statistics for the Tulsa defense in the season opener, but it was a solid team effort for the Golden Hurricane.
•      Tulsa held UCA to under 100 yards rushing, 82 ayrds on 32 attempts for a 2.6 average per carry … however, you don't have to go back to far to see when the Hurricane held someone lower than  82 yards … it was last year at UConn when the Huskies gained 69 yards on 42 carries.
•      UCA's 247 total yards was the lowest for a Tulsa opponent since UCF's 235 yards in the 2012 regular season.
•      An astounding stat was holding UCA to 0-for-10 on 3rd down conversions … the last time a Tulsa opponent went 0-for on 3rd downs was the Ladainian Tomlinson-led #11-ranked TCU in 2000, when the Horned Frogs, despite winning the game 17-3, was 0-for-10 on third downs … the 0-for10 performance ranks 1st in the NCAA this week, as four other teams allowed just one third down conversion.

SWEET SIXTEEN . . .
*      Tulsa opened the season with Shamari Brooks (129) and Corey Taylor II (110) going over 100 yards.
•      It marked the 16th straight game that Tulsa has had at least one running back go over 100 yards in a game.
•      In that span, there have been 2 running backs in 4 games that have each gone over 100 yards.
•      The 16-game streak dates back to the UCF game on Nov. 19, 2016.

ONE-TWO PUNCH . . .
•      Last year, Tulsa had 4 players amass a combined 15 100-yard rushing games, and in three games two players rushed for over 100 yards.
•      Since 2015, there have been 10 games with 2 100-yard rushers … Tulsa is 9-1.
•      In the opener, sophomores Shamari Brooks and Corey Taylor II turned in a double 100-yard game as Brooks had 129 yards and 2 TDs and Taylor totaled 110 yards.
•      It marked the 5th 100+ rushing game for Brooks in just 10 career games and the 2nd career 100+ game for Taylor in just 9 career contests.

FOOTBALL NOTES: TEXAS GAME

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Shamari Brooks

Chandler Miller

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Chad President

Luke Skipper

Corey Taylor II

Nate Walker

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