TULSA FOOTBALL NOTES: TULANE GAME

Tulsa Hosts Tulane on Thursday Night ESPN Prime Time Game

GAME #6
#25 (AP) TULSA (4-1, 4-0 AAC) vs. TULANE (5-4, 2-4 AAC)
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020 • 6:30 p.m. (CT)
H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000), Tulsa, Okla.
TV: ESPN
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

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TULSA 4-1, 4-0 The American
Head Coach:      Philip Montgomery
                       (Tarleton State '95)
                       6th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 29-38 (6 years)
TU Record: same

TULANE 5-4, 2-4 The American
Head Coach:      Willie Fritz
(Pittsburg State '83)
5^th year at Tulane
Career Record: 183-100 (23 years)
Tulane Record: 28-31 (5 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•          Tulsa is in its 121st season of football.
•          Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,269 undergraduate students … Tulane's enrollment is 13,449.
•          Tulsa's 4-0 AAC record marks the best league start in its 7 years as an AAC member … it is also the best conference start for a Tulsa team since a 7-0 start in Conference USA in 2012.
•          Tulsa is 6-1 in its last 7 AAC games dating back to 2 wins in its final 3 games of the 2019 season.
•          What should be the 11th game of the season for Tulsa is just the 6th contest of the 2020 campaign … Tulane is playing its 10th game.

TULSA RANKED IN AP TOP-25 . . .
•          Tulsa moved into the Associated Press' top-25 with a ranking of No. 25 following a 28-24 win over No. 19 SMU last Saturday.
•          The ranking for Tulsa is the first in the AP poll since ending the 2010 season ranked 24th nationally.
•          Before that, Tulsa was ranked in the AP poll for three weeks in 2008.
•          In addition, Tulsa ended the 2012 season ranked 25th in the USA Today Coaches poll.

THE SERIES . . .
•          This is the 17th meeting between Tulsa and Tulane.
•          Tulsa leads the series 11-5 … after losing the first game of the series, Tulsa then won 8 straight contests
•          Tulane has won the last 3 games, including the last game in Tulsa, 24-17, in 2018.
•          In Tulsa's 11 wins, the Hurricane has scored 43.5 points and held Tulane to 17.4 points … Tulane has a 32.6 to 18.6 scoring edge in its 5 victories.

BEST START SINCE 2016 . . .
•          Tulsa is off to a 4-1 start this season for its best start since Philip Montgomery's second season in 2016.
•          The Hurricane posted a 4-1 mark in 2016 after its first five games with the only loss coming against #4-ranked Ohio State on the road.
•          The last time Tulsa had better than a 4-1 record was starting 7-1 in 2012.
•          Tulsa's lone loss this year has come on the road at #11-ranked Oklahoma State.

TAKING DOWN TWO TOP-20 TEAMS . . .
•          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.
•          When Tulsa defeated No. 19 SMU on Nov. 14, it marked the first time in school history that Tulsa defeated two ranked teams in the same season.

COLLINS NAMED AAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK THREE TIMES . . .
•          Zaven Collins has garnered the AAC's Defensive Player of the Week award three times this season, coming after his performances against #11 UCF, USF and #19 SMU.
•          Against 11th-ranked UCF, Collins had 10 tackles, 3.5 TFLs for -11 yards, 2 PBUs, one interception and one safety in Tulsa's 34-26 comeback win on Oct. 3.
•          In the USF game, Collins totaled 6 tackles, including 5 solos, forced one fumble and returned an interception 38 yards for a TD in Tulsa's 42-13 win on Oct. 23.
•          Collins had 6 tackles, 2 TFLs for -10 yards, one sack for -10 yards and the interception that sealed Tulsa's win over #19 SMU.

COMEBACK KIDS . . .
•          In 3 of its 4 wins this season, Tulsa has had to come back from first-half double-digit deficits, trailing by 18, 14 and 21 points.
•          In the Philip Montgomery era, Tulsa has come-from-behind 15 times since 2015 … in 13 of those 15 comebacks Tulsa had trailed by double digits.
•          The first comeback this year was on the road Oct. 3 against the 11th-ranked UCF Knights when the Hurricane trailed by 18 points (23-5) with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half.
•          The second comeback was at home on Oct. 30 against ECU … Tulsa scored 31 points in the second half after trailing 17-3 at halftime.
•          Tulsa trailed No. 19-ranked SMU 21-0 early in the second period and 24-7 at halftime, but outscored the Mustangs 21-0 in the second half for a 28-24 win.
•          Tulsa's 21-point comeback is the second largest come-from-behind victory in the Montgomery era, behind overcoming a 31-0 deficit against Fresno State in 2016 for a 48-41 win … the 18-point win is the third largest deficit Tulsa has come back from in that time.

AN UNUSUAL SEASON . . .
•          When Tulsa hosted ECU on Friday, Oct. 30, it was the latest home opener ever in Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium's 90-year history.
•          A total of 341 days had passed since Tulsa had played a home game … Tulsa's last game at Chapman Stadium before that was on Nov. 23, 2019.
•          Three home games were planned before Oct. 30, but were canceled or postponed.
•          The latest home opener in school history was played 102 years ago when on Nov. 23, 1918 Tulsa, then known as Henry Kendall College, played Oklahoma A&M at Lee Stadium.
•          Tulsa had games on back-to-back weekends only once this season previously to this week … that came on Oct. 23 at USF and Oct. 30 at home against ECU.
•          The Hurricane had 2 weeks between facing #11 OSU (Sept. 19) and #11 UCF (Oct. 3) … 3 weeks between UCF (Oct. 3) and USF (Oct. 23) … 2 weeks between ECU (Oct. 30) and #19 SMU (Nov. 14).

COVID-19 IMPACTS TULSA SCHEDULE . . .
•          A total of 6 Tulsa games have been affected by the COVD-19 pandemic … 2 games were canceled and 4 have been postponed … 2 of the postponements have or will be played (OSU and Cincinnati) … 2 others are to be determined (ASU and Navy).
•          At this point of the season, Tulsa would have played 10 games, not 5 contests.
•          The Toledo (Sept. 5) and Northwestern State (Sept. 19) games were canceled before the year due to their Conferences initially canceling the 2020 football season.
•          The Tulsa-OSU Game scheduled for Sept. 12 was moved back to Sept. 19, an open week for both schools. It was not because of positive COVID cases that week, but because of limited practice for TULSA due to COVID in the preseason. (In attempting to deal with COVID-19 protocols effectively, the Tulsa football team has been limited in practice sessions since the beginning of preseason camp on August 7. Tulsa had a nine-day pause due to multiple positive tests and was limited to seven practices in the 17 days of preseason camp).
•          The Arkansas State game (Sept. 26) was postponed due to Arkansas State's stated inability to assemble a two-deep depth chart at one position group that would allow the game to be played safely. (make-up date not likely).
•          The Cincinnati home game (Oct. 17) was postponed due to positive Cincinnati COVID cases and ensuing quarantine of student-athletes. (rescheduled for Dec. 5).
•          The Navy game (Nov. 7) in Annapolis, Md., was postponed due to positive U.S. Naval Academy COVID cases and ensuing contact tracing of student-athletes. (make-up date TBA).

ZAVEN HAVING ALL-AMERICA SEASON . . .
•          After 5 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 (UCF), the PFF National Defensive Player of the Week (USF) and twice named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week (UCF, USF).
•          In 5 games, including 3 against top-20 opponents, #11 Oklahoma State, #11 UCF and #19 SMU, Collins has registered 33 tackles, including 24 solos, 10 TFLs for -45 yards, 4 sacks for -25 yards, 3 interceptions for 56 return yards including a 38-yard TD, 2 pass breakups, one forced fumble and one safety.
•          Collins' interception with just over one minute remaining in the SMU game ended the Mustang's comeback bid after Tulsa took its first lead … for the game, he also had 6 tackles, 2 TFLs for -10 yards, one sack for -9 yards and one QB hurry.
•          Against ECU, Collins missed most of the first half after suffering an injury, but returned in the second half and ended the game with 6 tackles.
•          In the 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 #11 UCF, Collins totaled 10 tackles, 3.5 TFLs for -11 yards, 2 PBUs, one INT and one safety.
•          For his performance against 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.

TULSA FOOTBALL NOTES: TULANE GAME

Players Mentioned

Zaven Collins

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