TULSA – CINCINNATI GAME PREVIEW

Saturday, October 19

Cincinnati, Ohio

2:30 PM (CT)

Tulsa

Cincinnati

Photo by: Brett Rojo

TULSA – CINCINNATI GAME PREVIEW

10/18/2019 5:15:00 PM | Football

Tulsa and #21 Cincinnati Square-Off on Saturday Afternoon

GAME 7: TULSA (2-4, 0-2 American) vs. #21 CINCINNATI (5-1, 2-0 American)
Date/Time:	Saturday, October 19, 2:32 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Cincinnati, Ohio
Stadium:	Nippert Stadium
Coaches:	TULSA – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 5th year CINCINNATI – Luke Fickell (Texas A&M '92), 3rd year
TV:	ESPNU
Talent:	Kevin Brown (pxp), Andre Ware (analyst), Taylor Davis (sideline)
Tickets:	To purchase tickets, Click Here
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM or Online
Talent:	Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sidelines)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Tulsa leads 17-14-2
First Meeting:	Nov. 2, 1946 (Tulsa 20, Cincinnati 0), Tulsa, Okla.
Last Meeting:	Nov. 25, 2016 (Tulsa 40, Cincinnati 37), Tulsa, Okla.
Game Notes:	Tulsa (PDF) \| Cincinnati (PDF) \| American Athletic Conference (PDF)

Tulsa faces another ranked opponent for the second time in as many road games. In the last road contest, Tulsa took 24^th-ranked SMU into overtime, while this week an even bigger task faces the Hurricane, as the No. 21 Cincinnati Bearcats await Tulsa at Nippert Stadium.

As college football celebrates its 150^th year, these two storied schools also have been on the gridiron for a lengthy time. Cincinnati is in its 132^nd season, while this marks the 120^th year for Tulsa football.

55885 — Nippert Stadium is site of the Tulsa-Cincinnati game Saturday afternoon.

The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. (ET)/2:30 p.m. (CT) and will be carried live on ESPNU as well as heard on the Hurricane Radio Network, 99.5 FM Big Country in Tulsa.

The two schools were once members together of another conference – the Missouri Valley Conference – in the 1950s and '60s. Tulsa leads the series 17-14-2 and won the last meeting in Tulsa, 40-37, in the 2016 campaign. However, the Bearcats won the previous 5 games in the series.

The two teams have the toughest schedules in The American, as Cincinnati's schedule is ranked 19^th this week in the Cody Kellner ratings index, while Tulsa has the 24^th hardest schedule. The only loss for the 5-1 Bearcats came at #5-ranked Ohio State, while UC upended 18^th-ranked UCF earlier this month.

Third-year coach Luke Fickell has his Bearcats hitting on all cylinders at the season's midway point. Although Cincinnati is in the middle of The American pack for most team statistical categories, the Bearcats stand out in forcing turnovers with 14 on the year and a +6 margin.

The Bearcats average 29.3 points, 178.2 rushing yards and 216.8 yards passing. Michael Warren leads the run game with 463 yards and a 4.6 average per carry, and is a solid pass catcher, grabbing 14 passes for a 7.6 average and 2 TDs, as well.

Desmond Ridder is the signal-caller for Cincinnati. The 6'4" sophomore has completed 61-percent of his passes for 1,227 yards and 13 TDs, and has used 14 different receivers on the year. The receiving corps is led by tight end Josiah Deguara, who has a team-high 19 receptions for 269 yards and a team-best 4 TDs, and 6'3" outside receiver Alec Pierce with a team-highs of 347 yards and a 20.4 average per catch.

Cincinnati's offensive line, led by two graduate students – left tackle Chris Ferguson and right guard Morgan James – average 6'5" and 314 pounds.

Tulsa's defense will need to limit the big plays of a balanced Cincinnati offense to have success against the Bearcats.

Tulsa defensive end Trevis Gipson, who has totaled 23 tackles with 8.5 of those stops resulting in lost yardage, leads a veteran defense. Joining Gipson upfront is nose tackle Jason Player, who has 122 stops and 4.5 TFLs, and Shemarr Robinson starts at tackle in Tulsa's 3-3-5 defensive alignment with 21 stops. Juniors Tyarise Stevenson, Cullen Wick, Jajuan Blankenship and Cade Baumann, sophomore Deven Lamp and red-shirt freshman Anthony Goodlow all get playing time in the rotation.

The Tulsa linebacker corps is led by senior MIKE backer Cooper Edmiston, who has a team-leading 56 tackles. WILL linebacker Zaven Collins has tallied 48 stops this year, including a season-best 13 tackles last week against Navy.

Last season, Edmiston was the team leader for tackles (113), interceptions (4) and fumble recoveries (4), while Collins was named Freshman All-America by USA Today and the FWAA after totaling 85 tackles and a team-high 9.5 TFLs.

At the STAR linebacker position, senior Diamon Cannon and junior Yohance Burnett have both been effective in sharing playing time at that spot. Burnett has totaled 24 tackles and 2.5 TFLs, while Cannon has 18 stops and 2 TFLs on the season.

Tulsa's secondary is long, athletic and experienced – Reggie Robinson II and Allie Green –man the corners, while the safeties are seniors Manny Bunch and Brandon Johnson. The nickel safety position is controlled by Cristian Williams and Bryson Powers.

Johnson has 47 tackles to rank third on the team, while his 32 solo stops ranks among the nation's top-30. Bunch has 36 stops and one fumble recovery on the year. Green and Robinson have combined for 38 tackles and 7 pass break-ups. Johnson and Robinson share the lead for pass breakups with 5 apiece.

The Cincinnati defense has been effective in forcing turnovers with 9 interceptions and 5 fumbles, while holding the opposition to just 21.7 points per game. The Bearcats are coming off of a game that saw them intercept 4 Houston passes last week.

Safety Darrick Forrest leads all tacklers with 51 stops on the year, which is 22 more than linebacker Bryan Wright's 29 stops, Cincinnati's second-leading tackler.

Forrest is joined in the secondary by sophomore safety Ja'Von Hicks and cornerbacks Coby Bryant and Cam Jefferies. Bryant has 27 stops has added Hicks adds 20 tackles, while the trio have 5 of Cincinnati's 9 interceptions.

The linebacker corps are led by Wright, but he's joined by senior Perry Young and junior Darrian Beavers. Young has 26 tackles, 2 interceptions and one pass break-up, while Beavers has 14 stops.

There's not a senior among Cincinnati's front 4, as end Michael Pitts is the most active with a total of 22 tackles, including 7.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks on the season to lead Cincinnati. Elijah Ponder at tackle and Jabari Taylor at nose do a good job of shutting down running lanes.

Tulsa's offense will need to eliminate turnovers and penalties that negate big plays against the Bearcats. As a young offensive line and receiving corps has progressed throughout the season, so too has the entire Tulsa offense. In the last 5 games, Tulsa has reached the 500-yard mark for total offense twice, while over the past 3 contests the passing game has averaged 318 yards and 2.3 touchdown tosses per game.

Zach Smith has settled into the role of starting quarterback. Smith ranks third in the American Athletic Conference for passing and total offense. He has thrown for 1,618 yards, an average of 269 yards per game, and 10 touchdowns.

Five different receivers have become key targets for Smith. Four of those have caught passes for over 200 yards, while the fifth is just 6 yards short. Junior Keylon Stokes has a team-leading 467 yards, 17.3 yards per game and 4 TDs. Sophomore Sam Crawford, Jr. has 370 yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 receptions, while senior Keenen Johnson has 254 yards, JuanCarlos Santana 214 and Josh Johnson with 194 yards.

The running game has not gotten into the rythym of what has become accustom the last three seasons of averaging over 200+ rushing yards a game. The rushing attack with have to put significant yards up against the Bearcats defense.

Shamari Brooks leads the Hurricane with 464 yards and 4 TDs and has had over 100 yards in two games –– going for 140 yards at San Jose State and 107 yards against Oklahoma State. Corey Taylor II was slowed by injury in the first 3 games and has gained 160 yards on the year. Red-shirt freshman TK Wilkerson has also seen playing time in the backfield, gaining 137 yards for a 5.5 average per carry.

Tulsa's offensive front is made up of 3 sophomores, one red-shirt freshman and one senior. Tulsa came into the season with just 27 career starts from the offensive line after losing three players who started 128 games.

The lone senior Chris Ivy, Jr. leads the trenches at his left tackles spot, while he and sophomore left guard Chris Paul has combined for 32 of the entire starting offensive linemen's 48 career starts. Red-shirt freshman right tackle X'Zauvea Gadlin has started all 6 contests this season, while sophomore center Gerard Wheeler and sophomore right guard Dante Bivens have been entrenched as starters since the second game of the year.

The day in Cincinnati looks to be a fantastic afternoon for football with clear skies and temperatures in the 70's.