TULSA – ECU GAME PREVIEW

Saturday, November 30

Greenville, NC

11:00 AM (CT)

Tulsa

ECU

Photo by: Brett Rojo

TULSA – ECU GAME PREVIEW

11/29/2019 8:00:00 AM | Football

GAME 12: TULSA (3-8, 1-6 American) vs. ECU (4-7, 1-6 American)
Date/Time:	Saturday, November 30, 12 p.m. (ET) / 11 a.m. (CT)
Site:	Greenville, North Carolina
Stadium:	Bagwell Field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (50,000)
Coaches:	TULSA – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 5th year ECU – Mike Houston (Mars Hill '94), 1st year
TV:	ESPNU
Talent:	Mike Couzens (pxp), Kirk Morrison (analyst)
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:	ECU leads 8-6-0
First Meeting:	Oct. 13, 1984 (Tulsa 31, ECU 20), Tulsa, Okla.
Last Meeting:	Nov. 5, 2016 (Tulsa 45, ECU 24), Tulsa, Okla.
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| ECU \| American Athletic Conference

Tulsa Closes Season on the Road at East Carolina

Tulsa will close out the season on the road Saturday as the Golden Hurricane faces the East Carolina Pirates in Greenville, North Carolina.

The game kicks off at 12 pm (ET) / 11 am (CT) from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and will be aired on ESPNU.

The two teams will be looking to end the season on a positive note as Tulsa (3-8, 1-6 AAC) will be trying to close out the season winning 2 of its last 3 games, while the Pirates (4-7, 1-6 AAC) look to end the season with a 2-game winning streak.

East Carolina is yet another team that has potent capability on the offense side of the football. The Pirates average 434.5 yards per game, while passing for 287.1 yards and running for another 147.4.

Sophomore Holton Ahlers guides the Pirates offense by averaging 309.4 of ECU's 434 yards of total offense. He has passed for 279.9 yards and rushed for another 29.5 yards per game, while throwing for 18 touchdowns and running for another 6 TDs.

Ahlers' main targets have been a pair of freshmen –– true frosh C.J. Johnson with 767 yards and red-shirt freshman Tyler Snead with 704 receiving yards –– as the duo has combined for 8 TDs. Fellow freshman Dmtrius Mauney has a team-high 428 rushing yards for the Pirates.

ECU's offensive line is led by seniors Brandon Pena at center and left guard Fernando Frye.

Tulsa's defense has put up some impressive performances this year, including the last outings. Against UCF, the Hurricane limited the nation's #2-ranked offense to 94 yards under its season average and 15.3 points under its 5^th-ranked scoring offense. Last week, Tulsa held Houston to just 231 total yards, 163 yards under its season average, and totaled a season-high of 10.5 tackles for lost yardage.

A pair of seniors for the Hurricane anchor the defensive front –– Trevis Gipson and Shemarr Robinson.

Gipson has tallied 44 tackles and 15 of those stops resulting in lost yardage from his end position, while Robinson has 28 stops and 2 TFLs. Nose guard Jason Player returned to the starting lineup last week after missing 3 games with an injury. Player returned with 5-tackle and one TFL performance against Houston and has totaled 31 stops and 6 TFLs on the year. Junior Tyarise Stevenson, who shares time with Player, has 17 tackles, while fellow juniors Cullen Wick, Jajuan Blankenship and Cade Baumann, sophomore Deven Lamp and red-shirt freshman Anthony Goodlow all get playing time in the front-line rotation.

The Tulsa linebacker corps is led by senior MIKE backer Cooper Edmiston, who is on the verge of his third 100-tackle season. He has a team-leading and American Athletic Conference high of 99 tackles and has 336 career tackles. Sophomore WILL linebacker Zaven Collins, a 2018 Freshman All-American, ranks behind Edmiston with 88 stops and had 7 TFLs and 3 pass break-ups.

At the STAR linebacker position, senior Diamon Cannon and juniors Treyvon Reeves and Yohance Burnett have all been effective in sharing playing time at that spot. Cannon has 34 stops and 3.5 TFLs on the season, while Burnett has totaled 33 tackles and 2.5 TFLs, and Reeves has tallied 11 tackles this 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. Cristian Williams and Bryson Powers control the nickel position.

Robinson has been a "big-play" performer for the Hurricane with team-highs of 4 interceptions and 9 pass break-ups to go along with 35 tackles. Green has totaled 41 tackles and 4 pass break-ups.

Johnson has 62 tackles to rank third on the team, including 41 solo stops, and also has 5 pass break-ups. Bunch has 56 stops, 3 PBUs, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on the year, while Williams has 55 tackles, including a 10-tackle, one interception performance against UCF.

For Tulsa's offense, the Hurricane average nearly 400 yards per game with 276.8 coming through the air and 120.2 yards on the ground.

Quarterback Zach Smith has thrown for 2,948 yards, an average of 268 yards per game, and 14 touchdowns, while ranking 5^th in the American Athletic Conference for passing and total offense.

Five different receivers have become key targets for the Hurricane quarterback, with 4 of the 5 totaling more than 400 yards. Junior Keylon Stokes has a team-leading 964 yards, 16.6 yards per game and 5 TDs. Sophomore Sam Crawford, Jr. has 684 yards and 4 touchdowns on 54 receptions, while senior Keenen Johnson has 536 yards and Josh Johnson 440.

Stokes and Crawford each went over 100 yards receiving last week with 144 and 102 yards, respectively.

The 1-2 running back punch of Shamari Brooks and Corey Taylor II has combined for 1,238 yards and 11 touchdowns and is just 79 yards shy of hitting the 4,000-yard career-rushing plateau. Brooks leads the way with 844 yards and 6 TDs and has had over 100 yards in three games, while Taylor II has gained 394 yards on the year. Red-shirt freshman TK Wilkerson has also seen playing time in the backfield, gaining 185 yards and 6 TDs on the year, including 5 on the ground and one receiving.

Tulsa's starting offensive front is made up of 2 sophomores, one red-shirt freshman, one junior 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 on the offensive line, Chris Ivy, Jr., missed the UCF game at left tackle with an injury, but returned last week against Houston. When he was out true freshman Tyler Smith filled in solidly. Other than Ivy's 22 career starts, left guard Chris Paul has the most starts among Tulsa's young offensive front with 19 career starting assignments.

Red-shirt freshman right tackle X'Zauvea Gadlin has started all 11 contests this season, while sophomore center Gerard Wheeler has started since the second game of the year. Guards Dylan Couch and Dante Bivens have handled snaps on the right side, while Couch has started the last 3 games.

The ECU defense has given up 451.2 yards of total offense, ranking 108^th nationally. Opposing offenses have gained 255 yards through the air and 195.9 yards on the ground, but the Pirates have been impressive in the 'big-play' department with 67 tackles for lost yardage and 16 takeaways.

The Pirates front seven is led by inside linebacker Xavier Smith and end Kendall Futrell. Smith leads ECU in tackles with 77 tackles, while adding 4 pass breakups. Futrell has been a key player for the Pirates defense as he has totaled 60 tackles, 15 TFLs for -75 yards, 10 sacks for -63 yards and 11 quarterback hurries.

Linemen Alex Turner and Chance Purvis have also turned in big defensive plays for the Pirates. Turner has 11 TFLs and Purvis has turned in 12 TFLs.

The ECU secondary has been led by free safety Davondre Robinson, who has 61 tackles, while cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian has a team-leading 9 pass breakups and 3 interceptions.

In addition to ESPNU's coverage, fans can listen to the contest on the Hurricane Radio Network, 99.5 FM Big Country, in Tulsa. Fans can also download the Tune-In App to listen to all Golden Hurricane games this year.