Photo by: American Athletic Conference
TULSA FOOTBALL NOTES: ECU GAME
10/26/2020 7:00:00 AM | Football
Tulsa Hosts ECU Pirates in Friday Night AAC Matchup
GAME #4
TULSA (2-1, 2-0 AAC) vs. EAST CAROLINA (1-3, 1-2 AAC)
Friday, Oct. 30, 2020 • 8:00 p.m. (CT)
Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000), Tulsa, Okla.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM
FOR FULL GAME NOTES PACKAGE, CLICK HERE
TULSA 2-1, 2-0 The American
Head Coach: Philip Montgomery
(Tarleton State '95)
6th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 27-38 (6 years)
TU Record: same
ECU 1-3, 1-2 The American
Head Coach: Mike Houston
(Mars Hill '94)
2nd year at ECU
Career Record: 85-36 (11 years)
ECU Record: 5-11 (2 years)
THE STORYLINES . . .
• Tulsa is in its 121st season of football.
• Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,269 undergraduate students … ECU's enrollment is 28,718.
• Tulsa's 2-0 AAC record marks the best league start in its 7 years as an AAC member.
• Tulsa has played its first 3 games this season on the road.
• The Hurricane has won 2 straight road games for the first time since the 2012 season, defeating UAB and Marshall.
• Tulsa is 4-1 in its last 5 AAC games dating back to 2 wins in its last 3 games in 2019.
• Tulsa has won its last 3 AAC road games dating back to the 2019 season finale at ECU.
• The Hurricane held USF to 13 points, which is the fewest for a Tulsa opponent since Dec. 19, 2016, when Tulsa held Central Michigan to just 10 points in the Miami Beach Bowl.
THE SERIES . . .
• This is the 16th meeting between Tulsa and ECU … the Pirates lead the overall series 8-7.
• Tulsa has won the last two meetings, including last year's game in Greenville 49-24 in the season finale … Tulsa won the last meeting at home in the 2016 season by a score of 45-24,
• Before Tulsa's last two wins, ECU won six straight games in the series.
• The Hurricane won the first 3 meetings of the series (1984, 1985 1993) and 5 of the first 7 games.
• Tulsa has an 19.6 margin in its 7 wins, 39.1 to 19.5 points … in ECU's 8 wins the Pirates have a 14.9-win margin over Tulsa, 38.7 to 23.8.
341 DAYS SINCE LAST HOME GAME . . .
• When Tulsa and ECU play Friday night it will be 341 days, dating back to Nov. 23, 2019 against Houston, since Tulsa last played a home game at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
• Tulsa was ready to open the home season in the first game of the year against Toledo on Sept. 5 until the MAC cancelled its season.
• Then Tulsa was going to open the home campaign on Sept. 19 against Northwestern State until the Southland Conference cancelled its season.
• A third home opener for Oct. 17 was postponed when #8 Cincinnati had COVID-19 cases.
LATEST HOME OPENER SINCE . . .
• This game is the latest home opener ever in Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium's 90-year history.
• The latest home opener was played 102 years ago when on Nov. 23, 1918 Tulsa, then known as Henry Kendall College, played Oklahoma A&M at Lee Stadium.
THEN AND NOW . . .
• There are some similarities between now and 1918 when Tulsa played its latest home opener.
• In 1918, Tulsa played its home opener on Nov 23 … that fall, Tulsa, known then as Henry Kendall College, played only 3 games … the government established the Student Army Training Corps units because of World War I, so no October games were played.
• Because of the Spanish influenza, Kendall was further compelled to cancel two of the November dates … this year, college football has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Tulsa played 3 games that year on Nov. 2, 23 and 28.
ZAVEN OFF TO ALL-AMERICA START . . .
• After the first 3 games this season, junior LB Zaven Collins is smack in the middle of the conversation for All-America honors as well as consideration for some of the nation's top defensive player awards.
• Announcing Tulsa's win over USF, ESPN analyst Andre Ware said about Collins "you gotta be crazy if this guy isn't on your All-America team."
• Collins has already been named the Bednarik National Defensive Player of the Week and the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
• In 3 games, including 2 against two 11th-ranked opponents, Oklahoma State and UCF, Collins has registered 22 tackles, including 18 solos, 8 TFLs for -35 yards, 3 sacks for -16 yards, 2 interceptions for 51 return yards including a 38-yard TD, 2 pass breakups, one forced fumble and one safety.
• In that USF game, Collins had 6 tackles, including 5 solos, one forced fumble when USF was at the Tulsa 6-yard line and an INT return for a TD and a 35-13 Tulsa lead.
• Against UCF, Collins totaled 10 tackles, 3.5 TFLs for -11 yards, 2 PBUs, one INT and one safety.
• For his performance against #11 UCF, Collins was named the AAC's Defensive Player of the Week.
• Against OSU, Collins totaled 6 tackles, all solos, with 4 of those for a loss of 24 yards, including 3 TFLs for -16 yards, and that came in just a little over 2 quarters of the game since he left in the 3rd period with an injury.
• For his OSU performance, Collins was named the Chuck Bednarik National Defensive Player of the Week, while also being named to the AAC's weekly honor roll.
• Collins earned preseason fourth-team All-America honors by Phil Steele's magazine.
• He was also named to the preseason watch list for the Bednarik Award which is presented to the nation's top defensive player.
• Collins was left off of the Dick Butkus preseason watch list for the nation's top LB.
TAKING DOWN A TOP-15 TEAM . . .
• Tulsa's 34-26 win over #11 UCF was the first for the Hurricane against a ranked opponent since handing #24 Hawaii a 62-35 loss in the 2010 Hawaii Bowl.
• It was the first win over a top-15 opponent since Tulsa defeated No. 15 Texas A&M 35-34 in Sept. 1991.
• Before that, it was 1971 that Tulsa defeated a higher ranked team with a 21-20 win over #7 Arkansas.
• The win also snapped a 21-game home winning streak for UCF … the last team to defeat UCF on its home field was the 2016 Tulsa team on Nov. 19, 2016, 35-20.
90 YEARS FOR H.A. CHAPMAN STADIUM . . .
• H.A. Chapman Stadium celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.
• Oil man and longtime friend of The University of Tulsa, William Skelly, gave $125,000 to the Stadium Fund Drive in the spring of 1930 … the remaining $175,000 was raised by Tulsa businessmen who organized the Stadium Corporation of Tulsa.
• Ground-breaking ceremonies for Skelly Field were held on May 11, 1930.
• The inaugural game came on October 4, 1930, as Tulsa hosted Arkansas on that date and posted a 26-6 victory.
• On the opening kickoff, Arkansas fumbled and Johnny Potts recovered for Tulsa.
• Billy Boehm scored on the very next play for the first touchdown in the north end of the stadium … Chet Benefield scored the first TD in the south end zone.
• The Golden Hurricane won its first six games at the new stadium that year.
• Skelly Field became known as Skelly Stadium in 1964 when enlarged to 40,235 seats.
• It was announced in 2007, that Skelly Stadium would have a new name – H.A. Chapman Stadium and in 2008 the stadium went through a complete renovation.
• The renovated stadium opened on Sept. 20, 2008 with a 56-14 victory over New Mexico.
SLOW START, NO MORE . . .
• Tulsa's offense had not scored a point in the 1st quarter of the first 2 games … the only points in the 1st quarter in those games was a 2-point safety.
• Against USF, Tulsa scored on its first possession, going 65 yards in 4 plays for its first TD in the 1st period this season.
• Tulsa's 21 first-half points was 2 points more than Tulsa had gained in the first half of its first 2 games … Tulsa scored only 19 points in the first-half coming into the USF contest.
Players Mentioned
Linebacker
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