FOOTBALL NOTES: HOUSTON GAME

GAME #5
TULSA (1-3, 0-1 The American) vs. HOUSTON (3-1, 0-0 The American)
Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018 • 7:00 pm (CT)
Site: TDECU Stadium (40,000) • Houston, Texas
TV: ESPN
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:      19-23 (4 years)
TU Record: same

HOUSTON COUGARS
Head Coach:         Major Applewhite (Texas '02), 2^ndyear
Career Record: 10-6 (2 years)
Houston Record:  same

THE STORYLINES . . .
•      This game is the second straight conference road game for Tulsa, and the first league contest for Houston this year.
•      Tulsa, a private institution, has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,343 students, while Houston has an enrollment of 43,770.
•      This is the second of 3 straight weeknight games for Tulsa … Tulsa played Temple on Thursday, Sept. 20, and after an open date takes on Houston this week and hosts USF on Friday, Oct. 12.
•      Houston enters the game ranked 1st nationally in total offense (608.5), while Tulsa has allowed 356.8 yards to rank 51st nationally.
•      In Houston, Tulsa faces its 4th of 8 teams that made a bowl game in 2017.
•      The American Athletic Conference is the third league that the two teams have been members of together … the others are the Missouri Valley Conference and Conference USA.

THE TULSA-HOUSTON SERIES . . .
•      This is the 43rd meeting between Tulsa and Houston.
•      Houston leads the series 23-19-0 and has a 14-9-0 record at home.
•      Tulsa won last year's game at home, 45-17, on Homecoming for the Hurricane.
•      Houston has won their last two home games in the series, while the last Tulsa win in Houston came in the 2012 campaign by a score of 41-7.
•      The first meeting in the series came in 1950 as Tulsa claimed a 28-21 road win.

QUICK HITS . . .
•      Senior Chandler Miller has now started 42 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).
•      McKinley Whitfield has gone over 200 career tackles and now has 218 career stops … he had his 9th career double-digit tackle game this season in the Arkansas State game.
•      True sophomore RB Shamari Brooks has 14 rushing touchdowns and 6 100+ rushing games in his first 13 career games.

ON THE DEFENSIVE . . .
•      In the first 4 weeks of the season, the Tulsa defense has allowed its opponents (UCA, Texas, Arkansas State, Temple) an average of 356.8 yards per game … whereas last year, Tulsa's first 4 opponents (Oklahoma State, Louisiana, Toledo, New Mexico) gained an average of 590.3 yards per game.
•      That's a difference of 233.5 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.

TULSA-HOUSTON LAST YEAR . . .
•      On Homecoming, Tulsa overcame a 10-0 deficit and went on for a 45-17 victory over the Houston Cougars on Oct. 14, 2017.
•      Tulsa scored its first touchdown to cut its deficit to 10-7 on a Chad President one-yard run with 4:34 left in the first half.
•      After the intermission, Tulsa scored 17 third quarter points to take a 24-10 lead heading into the 4th period.
•      Houston opened the 4th quarter with a TD, but Tulsa responded with three more scores, including a 70-yard pass from Luke Skipper to Keenen Johnson, a 5-yard Shamari Brooks run and a 3-yard fumble recovery by Petera Wilson.
•      The win snapped a 4-game Tulsa losing streak.

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.
•      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 over that stretch with 2 players each surpassing 100 yards in a single game.
•      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 in just his 12th career game with 115 yards vs. Arkansas State, while Taylor has 2 100+ rushing games in 11 career contests.
•      The duo has combined for 634 of Tulsa's 835 rushing yards this year, as well as 7 of Tulsa's 8 rushing touchdowns.
•      Brooks has a team-leading 375 yards and 4 TDs, while Taylor has rushed for 259 yards and 3 touchdowns.

FOOTBALL NOTES: HOUSTON GAME

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Shamari Brooks

Keenen Johnson

Chandler Miller

Chad President

Luke Skipper

Corey Taylor II

McKinley Whitfield

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