TULSA FOOTBALL NOTES: OKLAHOMA STATE GAME
9/14/2020 1:00:00 PM | Football
Tulsa Opens Season Against Oklahoma State in Bank of Oklahoma Turnpike Classic Saturday
GAME #1
TULSA (0-0, 0-0 AAC) vs. #12/11 OKLAHOMA STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12)
Bank of Oklahoma Turnpike Classic
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020 • 11:00 a.m. (CT)
Boone Pickens Stadium (55,509), Stillwater, Okla.
TV: ESPN
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM
FOR FULL GAME NOTES PACKAGE, CLICK HERE
TULSA 4-8, 2-6 The American
Head Coach: Philip Montgomery
(Tarleton State '95)
6th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 25-37 (5 years)
TU Record: same
OKLAHOMA STATE 8-5, 5-4 Big 12
Head Coach: Mike Gundy
(Oklahoma State '90)
16th year at OSU
Career Record: 129-64 (15 years)
OSU Record: same
THE STORYLINES . . .
• Tulsa is in its 121st season of Tulsa football.
• Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,269 undergraduate students … Tulsa's overall enrollment is 4,380 … OSU's enrollment is 24,649.
• This is the latest season-opening game for Tulsa in 51 years, since Tulsa opened the 1969 campaign on September 20 at Colorado.
• This is the fourth time in school history that Tulsa and OSU have played in the season opener … previous season-opening games were in 1987, 1990 and 2017.
THE SERIES . . .
• This is the 74th meeting between Tulsa and Oklahoma State
• The Cowboys lead the series 41-27-5 and has won the last seven meetings … Tulsa's last win came in 1998 by a score of 35-20 in Tulsa.
• Tulsa last won in Stillwater in 1951 by a score of 35-7 … OSU has won the last 21 meetings on its home field.
TULSA'S RUNNING BACK GROUP SECOND IN NATION ONLY TO CLEMSON . . .
• Tulsa's returning running back corps has the second-highest rushing yards and rushing TD totals in the nation returning in 2020, which is second only to Clemson.
• Tulsa's running back room returns 4,541 career yards and 51 TDs, while Clemson returns highs of 5,887 career yards and 74 rushing TDs.
• For the Hurricane, Shamari Brooks leads the way with 2,700 career yards and 23 TDs followed by Corey Taylor II with 1,490 yards and 22 TDs.
• T.K. Wilkerson has gained 315 yards and 6 TDs on the ground, while Christian Lovick has 36 rushing yards.
NOT HOME UNTIL . . .
• Tulsa will not open the home season until October 17 when the Hurricane hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats.
• It's the latest home opener in 51 years since October 18, 1969 when Tulsa fell to Florida State 38-20 at Skelly Stadium.
• The last time Tulsa opened with 3 straight road games was in 2009, and went 2-1.
TULSA IN SEASON OPENERS . . .
• In the 120-year history of Tulsa football, the Golden Hurricane has posted a 69-50-1 record in season openers.
• The most consecutive seasons in which Tulsa won the season opener is seven, winning the openers from 1925 to 1931.
• Tulsa's last season-opening win on the road came in 2009 with a 37-13 win over Tulane … the Hurricane has lost six road openers since then.
PHILIP MONTGOMERY ENTERS SIXTH YEAR LEADING TULSA FOOTBALL PROGRAM . . .
• Philip Montgomery enters his 6th season as the Golden Hurricane head coach in 2020 with an overall 25-37 head coaching record.
• Montgomery completed his second season in 2016 leading the Tulsa football program to a 10-3 record and a win in the Miami Beach Bowl.
• He became the 29th head coach in school history on Dec. 11, 2014.
• Montgomery claimed his first career head coaching victory in the 2015 season opener with a 47-44 overtime win over FAU.
• In his first year, Montgomery led Tulsa to six wins and to the 2015 Camping World Independence Bowl.
• Before coming to Tulsa, he spent seven years at Baylor, where he spent the final three seasons as the offensive coordinator/QB coach.
QUICK LOOK AT THE OFFENSE . . .
• Tulsa returns 100-percent of its rushing, passing and total offense yards, 85-percent of its receiving yards and 89-percent of its touchdowns.
• Nine starters return for the Golden Hurricane offense.
• This is the first time since the 2016 season that Tulsa has had the same starting QB returning.
• QB Zach Smith threw for 3,279 yards and 19 TDs with just 9 INTs last year as a first-year starter.
• The RB duo of Shamari Brooks and Corey Taylor II have combined for 4,190 yards and 45 touchdowns in their careers.
• Tulsa had a 1,000-yard rusher (Brooks) and 1,000-yard receiver (Stokes) in 2019.
ON DEFENSE . . .
• Tulsa returns just 4 starters, but an 7 additional players who have started at least one game during their careers.
• One starter returns on the defensive front (Jaxon Player), one at linebacker (Zaven Collins), and two in the secondary, including nickel safety (Cristian Williams) and cornerback (Allie Green IV).
• Collins is Tulsa's leading returning tackler with 97 stops … he is also the returning leader for TFLs and sacks
• Corner Akayleb Evans, who has started 14 games, returns this year after sitting out most of last year with an injury.
• Nose guard Tyarise Stevenson has the second-most starts on defense behind Zaven Collins with 18 career starting assignments
BROOKS RANKS 5th ON ALL-TIME RUSHING CHART . . .
• Senior running back Shamari Brooks enters the 2020 season ranked 5th on the school's career rushing list and 11th for career rushing TDs.
• He has played in 32 career games and has 2,700 total rushing yards and 23 TDs.
• Brooks enters this season needing 1,217 yards to tie D'Angelo Brewer (2014-17, 3917 yards) for the school's all-time rushing record.
• He became just the 16th Tulsa player to gain over 2,000 career rushing yards.
• Brooks had 4 100+ rushing games in 2019 and now has 12 career 100+ rushing games.
• He had a career-high 202 yards in the season finale at ECU.
PRACTICE PAUSE . . .
• Tulsa began preseason camp on August 7 … practiced 4 days before a scheduled day off on August 11.
• Practice was paused for 9 days due to COVID-19 testing and multiple positive tests on August 12.
• Practice resumed on August 21 … Tulsa practiced 3 more times before classes began on August 24 … Tulsa practiced just 7 times in the 17 days of preseason camp.
Up until this Monday of game week (Sept. 14), Tulsa will have practiced 21 times in 38 days since beginning preseason camp.
