TULSA GAME NOTES: HOUSTON GAME

No. 24 Tulsa Visits Rival Houston for 11 AM Kick-off Saturday

GAME #7
#24/25 TULSA (5-1, 5-0 AAC) vs. HOUSTON (3-3, 3-2 AAC)
Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020 • 11:00 a.m. (CT)
TDECU Stadium (40,000), Houston, Texas
TV: ESPNU
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

FOR FULL GAME NOTES PACKAGE, CLICK HERE

TULSA 5-1, 5-0 The American
Head Coach: Philip Montgomery
                        (Tarleton State '95)
6th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 29-38 (6 years)
TU Record: same

HOUSTON 3-3, 3-2 The American
Head Coach: Dana Holgorsen
                        (Iowa Wesleyan '93)
2^nd year at Houston
Career Record: 68-42 (10 years)
Houston Record: 7-11 (2 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•   Tulsa is in its 121st season of football.
•   Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,269 undergraduate students … Houston's enrollment is 46,000.
•   Tulsa's 5-0 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 has won 5 straight games after a season-opening loss … it is the longest winning streak for Tulsa since 7 straight wins in the 2012 season.
•   Tulsa is 7-1 in its last 8 games dating back to 2 wins in its final 3 games of the 2019 season.
•   What should be the 12th and final game of the season for Tulsa is just the 7th contest … Houston is also playing in just their 7th game.

TULSA RANKED NO. 24 IN AP POLL . . .
•   Tulsa moved into the Associated Press' top-25 with a ranking of No. 25 following a 28-24 win over No. 19 SMU on Nov. 14 … this week Tulsa jumped to No. 24 after a win over Tulane.
•   Tulsa also moved into the No. 25 slot in the USA Today Amway Coaches poll.
• The AP ranking this year is the first time Tulsa has been ranked in the AP poll since ending the 2010 season ranked 24th nationally … before that, Tulsa was ranked in the AP poll for three weeks during 2008.
•   The last time Tulsa was in the USA Today Coaches poll was at the conclusion of the 2012 season when the Hurricane was ranked No. 25.
•   Tulsa was receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches polls since the Oct. 4 rankings.

THE SERIES . . .
•   This is the 45th meeting between Tulsa and Houston.
•   Houston leads the series 25-19-0 and have won 5 of the last 6 meetings, including a 24-14 win in Tulsa last week.
•   UH leads the series at home 15-9 and has won its last 3 home games.
•   Tulsa's last win in the series came in 2017 in a 45-17 at home.
•   The Hurricane last won in Houston in the 2012 season by a score of 41-7.

COLLINS NAMED NATIONAL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK THREE TIMES . . .
• Tulsa has played only 6 games, but 6'4" junior linebacker Zaven Collins has been named the National Defensive Player of the Week three different times this year, once each by the 3 main awards handed out for that category.
• Collins is one of only 2 players to earn each National Defensive Player of the Week honor this year, but the only one to earn the award in different weeks … Texas Joseph Ossai won all 3 on the same week, Oct. 31.
• Collins was named the Bednarik National Defensive Player of the Week against No. 11-ranked UCF on Oct. 3.
• He was selected as the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week by the FWAA for his performance against #19 SMU.
• Collins was the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week award winner after his 15-tackle, game-winning pick 6 against Tulane.

COLLINS ALSO NAMED THE AAC'S DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOUR TIMES . . .
•   Zaven Collins garnered the AAC's Defensive Player of the Week award 4 times this season, coming after his performances against #11 UCF, USF, #19 SMU and Tulane.
• 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.
•   His 4th weekly award came after a 15-tackle and game-winning 96-yard interception return for a TD performance against Tulane.

BEST START SINCE 2016 . . .
•   Tulsa is off to a 5-1 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 5-1 record was starting 7-1 in 2012.
•   Tulsa's lone loss this year came on the road at #11-ranked Oklahoma State.

TAKING DOWN TWO TOP-20 TEAMS FOR FIRST TIME . . .
•   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.

KARDIAC KIDS . . .
•   Borrowing the moniker from the 1980 Cleveland Browns, Tulsa has been the college version of the Kardiac Kids this year.
•   In 4 of its 5 wins this season, Tulsa has had to come back from double-digit deficits, trailing by 18, 14 and 21 points all in the first half, and then 14 points at the end of 3 quarters.
• In the Philip Montgomery era, Tulsa has come-from-behind 16 times since 2015 … in 14 of those 16 comebacks Tulsa 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.
•   A week later, Tulsa trailed Tulane 14-0 after 3 quarters and then 21-14 with 1:38 left in the game … Tulsa, with its third QB of the game, Davis Brin, scored 21 4th quarter points and 9 in overtime for a 30-24 win.
•   Tulsa's 21-point comeback vs. SMU 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.

BRIN BRINGS BACK HURRICANE . . .
•   After starting QB Zach Smith went out in the first quarter and backup Seth Boomer left the game late in the third quarter, both with injuries … trailing 14-0, redshirt sophomore Davis Brin took the reins of the offense with under 3 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter.
•   On Tulsa's first possession of the 4th quarter, Brin guided Tulsa to an 84-yard, 10-play drive and ran the final 18 yards for the first Tulsa score at the 9:17 mark.
• After the Tulsa defense held Tulane to 8 yards in 5 plays, Brin again took the Hurricane down the field and on a 4th-and-15 completed a 19-yard pass to Josh Johnson in the back of the end zone to tie the game at 14-14 with the PAT with 3:16 left in the contest.
•   Trailing 21-14, Tulsa took possession with 1:38 on the game clock from their own 25-yard line … Brin marched the Hurricane down the field by completing 5-of-8 passes to reach the Tulane 37-yard line with just 0:06 remaining on the clock.
•   Brin took the snap on 3rd-and-7, avoided a tackler and launched a 'Hail Mary' pass to the right corner of the end zone to a waiting JuanCarlos Santana for a 37-yard completion and after the PAT a 21-21 tie with no time remaining.
• For the game, Brin completed 18-of-28 passes for 266 yards and 2 touchdowns, while rushing for 11 yards and one touchdown on 4 carries.
• For his performance, Brin was named the AAC's co-Offensive Player of the Week.

JC FOR THE TD . . .
•   Junior receiver JuanCarlos Santana entered the Tulane game with 215 receiving yards on the year.
•   He would end the game having half that total with a career-best 132 yards on 8 receptions.
•   Santana made some big catches in the game including a 37-yarder on Tulsa's first scoring drive on a 3rd-and-5.
•   But none were more bigger than the 37-yard in the corner of the end zone as time expired and he pulled in the "Hail Mary" pass from Davis Brin to tie the game after the PAT.
•   The TD was Santana's 3rd of the year and 4th of his career.
• Santana was named to the AAC's weekly honor roll for his career-best performance against Tulane.

RBs MAKING UP FOR LOSS OF BROOKS . . .
• The school's 5th-leading all-time rusher Shamari Brooks' senior season ended before it started with an ACL injury the week of the season opener against OSU.
• In his absence, Tulsa has used a trio of backs –– Deneric Prince, Corey Taylor II and TK Wilkerson.
• These 3 backs have combined to average 152.7 yards per game on the ground … they have combined to total 916 yards on 188 carries for a 4.9 average per attempt this year.
• Prince has a team-leading 386 yards in 6 games, followed by T.K. Wilkerson with 300 yards and Corey Taylor II 260 yards, both playing in 5 games.
• Prince and Taylor have each had a 100+ rushing game this year, while Wilkerson was just 6 yards shy of 100 with 94 yards against #19 SMU.
• Taylor had a season-high 132 yards against Tulane for his first 100+ rushing game since gaining 117 yards on Nov. 10, 2018 against Memphis.
• Prince had a season-high 109 yards and 2 TDs at USF, while Taylor added 67 yards and 2 TDs in that contest.
• Prince led Tulsa with 82 yards on 15 carries vs. #11 OSU, while Wilkerson was Tulsa's leading ballcarrier vs. #11 UCF with 86 yards and one TD on 22 carries and Taylor added 60 yards on 11 carries.
• In back-to-back games against ECU and SMU, Wilkerson totaled 183 yards and 3 TDs in those two games, totaling 89 yards and 2 TDs on 18 carries against ECU and 94 yards and one TD on 21 attempts vs. SMU.

TULSA GAME NOTES: HOUSTON GAME

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Players Mentioned

Seth Boomer

Davis Brin

Shamari Brooks

Zaven Collins

Josh Johnson

Deneric Prince

JuanCarlos Santana

Zach Smith

Corey Taylor II

T.K. Wilkerson

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