TULSA FOOTBALL NOTES : #19 SMU GAME

Tulsa Hosts No. 19-Ranked SMU Mustangs in just the Second Home Game of the Season

GAME #5
TULSA (3-1, 3-0 AAC) vs. #19 SMU (7-1, 4-1 AAC)
Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020 • 6:00 p.m. (CT)
H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000), Tulsa, Okla.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

FOR FULL GAME NOTES PACKAGE, CLICK HERE

TULSA 3-1, 3-0 The American
Head Coach:      Philip Montgomery
                         (Tarleton State '95)
                         6th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 28-38 (6 years)
TU Record: same

#19 SMU 7-1, 4-1 The American
Head Coach:      Sonny Dykes
                         (Texas Tech '93)
                            3^rd year at SMU
Career Record: 63-57 (10 years)
SMU Record: 22-12 (3 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•   Tulsa is in its 121st season of football.
•   Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,269 undergraduate students … SMU's enrollment is 11,739.
•   Tulsa's 3-0 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 5-1 in its last 6 AAC games dating back to 2 wins in its final 3 games in 2019.
•   SMU is the 3rd top-20 opponent Tulsa will face this year, marking the 4th season in Montgomery's 6 years to play 3 top-25 foes.

THE SERIES . . .
•   This is the 27th meeting between Tulsa and SMU.
•   The 24th-ranked Mustangs won last year's meeting in Dallas by a 43-37 score in overtime.
•   Tulsa is 7-5 against the Mustangs at home, winning its last 4 games and 7 of the last 8 meetings at home … SMU won the first 4 games played in Tulsa.
•   Tulsa has an 11.2-win margin in its home victories over the Mustangs.
•   The Hurricane has a 4-2 mark against SMU since the two teams have been members together in the AAC.

BEST START SINCE 2016 . . .
•      Tulsa is off to a 3-1 start this season for its best start since Philip Montgomery's second season in 2016.
•      The Hurricane posted a 4-1 mark after its first five games with the only loss coming against #4-ranked Ohio State on the road.
•      Tulsa's lone loss this season has come on the road at #11-ranked Oklahoma State.

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 either cancelled 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.

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 9 games, but have just played 4 seasons.
• 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).

COLLINS NAMED AAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK TWICE IN FIRST THREE GAMES . . .
•      Zaven Collins has garnered the AAC's Defensive Player of the Week award twice this season, coming after his performances against UCF and USF.
•      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.

ZAVEN OFF TO ALL-AMERICA START . . .
• After the first 4 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 4 games, including 2 against two 11th-ranked opponents, Oklahoma State and UCF, Collins has registered 28 tackles, including 21 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.

COMEBACKS . . .
•      In 2 of its 3 wins this season, Tulsa has had to come back from first-half double-digit deficits (18 and 14-point deficits).
•      In the Philip Montgomery era, Tulsa has come-from-behind 14 times since 2015 … in 12 of those 14 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 this year was at home on Oct. 30 against ECU … Tulsa scored 31 points in the second half after trailing 17-3 at halftime.
•      Tulsa's 18-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.

IN THE RED ZONE . . .
•      Defensively, Tulsa's opponents have crossed the red zone 16 times and have scored 75-percent of the time, but only 37.5 percent of the time having scored a touchdown.
•      Tulsa has held the opposition to 6 TDs, 6-of-8 FGs, forced a fumble and held on one 4th down attempt.
•      On offense, Tulsa has scored 91.7 percent of the time in the red zone with 11 scores in 12 attempts, including 7 TDs and 4-of-5 FGs.

COMING OUT AFTER HALFTIME . . .
•   The Tulsa offense has come out of halftime this year rejuvenated.
•   After averaging 10.8 points in the first two quarters, the Hurricane has come out after halftime and has scored 18.5 points (7 of those points on defense) in the second half.
•   In the 3rd quarter, Tulsa has also averaged 121.5 yards of total offense and has had zero turnovers in the period.

THE FINAL THREE QUARTERS . . .
•   In the first 4 games, Tulsa's offense gotten off to a slow first quarter, totaling only 315 yards for a 4.0 average per play and scoring only 10 points (2 additional points came from a defensive safety).
•   In the final three quarters, the Hurricane has totaled 1,290 yards on 93 attempts for a 6.8 average per play and scored 105 points.
•   Against OSU in the first quarter, offensively Tulsa had 46 yards on 16 plays and zero points … over the last 3 quarters Tulsa gained 231 yards on 43 plays and scored 7 points.
•   In the first quarter at UCF, Tulsa gained only 52 yards on 23 plays and had a 2-point defensive safety … over the final 3 quarters, Tulsa had 386 yards on 50 plays and tallied 32 points.
•   In the 3rd game of the year against USF, Tulsa opened with a touchdown on its first possession and ended the first quarter with 159 total yards on 19 plays for an 8.4 average per play.
•   Against ECU, Tulsa scored only 3 points and gained 53 yards in the first quarter, while scoring 31 points and gaining 375 yards over the final three stanzas.

TULSA FOOTBALL NOTES : #19 SMU GAME

Players Mentioned

Zaven Collins

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