TULSA GAME NOTES: TULANE GAME

TULSA GOES TO THE BAYOU TO FACE TULANE

GAME #10
TULSA (3-6, 2-3 AAC) vs. TULANE (1-8, 0-5 AAC)
Saturday, Nov. 13, 3:00 pm (CT)
Stadium: Yulman Stadium (30,000), New Orleans, La.
TV: ESPNU
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

CLICK HERE: GAME NOTES

TULSA 3-6, 2-3 The American
Head Coach:     Philip Montgomery
(Tarleton State '95)
7th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 34-46 (7 years)
TU Record: same

TULANE 1-8, 0-5 The American
Head Coach: Willie Fritz
(Pittsburg State '83)
5^th year at Tulane
Career Record: 184-110 (25 years)
TLN Record: 30-41 (5 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .
•      Tulsa is in its 125th season of Tulsa football.
•      Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 2,929 undergraduate students (based off 2020-21 statistics) … Tulsa's overall enrollment is 3,961 … Tulane's enrollment is 13,581.
•      Both teams are looking to snap losing streaks … Tulsa has lost two straight, while Tulane has dropped the last seven contests.

THE SERIES . . .
•      This is the 18th meeting between Tulsa and Tulane.
•      Tulsa leads the series 12-5 … the Hurricane has a 7-1 mark at home, while the series is tied in New Orleans 4-4.
•      Tulane won the first meeting in 1968, then Tulsa went on to win the next eight games.
•      The Green Wave has won three of the last four meetings in New Orleans … Tulsa's last in in New Orleans came in 2015 by a score of 45-34.
•      Tulsa won last year's meeting at home after Tulane had won three straight games.

TULSA TAKES NO. 2 CINCINNATI TO THE WIRE . . .
•      Last week, Tulsa took the nation's second-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats down to the wire in a matchup of last year's American Athletic Conference Championship participants.
•      The Bearcats jumped out to the early 14-0 lead … Tulsa dominated the second quarter to make the halftime score 14-12.
•      UC scored on its first two second-half possessions for a 28-12 lead.
•      At the 8:10 mark of the fourth quarter, Tulsa made the score 28-20 on a 21-yard pass from Brin to JuanCarlos Santana and two-point conversion.
•      From there, the Hurricane defense forced a Cincinnati punt and the offense took possession at their own 23-yard line with 5:28 on the clock. Tulsa marched to the UC 6-yard line and a 4th-and-5 pass fell one yard short of the first down.
•      However, Tulsa had one more chance as Cincinnati fumbled the snap from their own 2-yard line on the first play with 1:11 to play. Tulsa took over from the UC 3-yard line but on 4th-and-1 the ball was fumbled into the end zone and recovered by the Bearcats to end the game.

QUICK HITS . . .
•      Tulsa has five players who have played in 50 career games – Robert Revels III (56), Adam Higuera (54), Tyarise Stevenson (52), Cristian Williams (52), Tiller Bucktrot (51).
•      Tulsa has five 200+ rushing games this year, including a 297-yard performance against the nation's No. 9-ranked defense, Cincinnati, last week.
•      Tulsa has had five plays for scrimmage of 60 yards or more –– 88, 78, 75, 63 and 61 –– including three that went for touchdowns.
•      Anthony Watkins had Tulsa's first special teams score since the 2012 season when he had 97-yard kickoff return against Navy … in 2012, Tulsa had a punt and kickoff return for a TD.
•      Davis Brin is the 15th different quarterback in school history to reach 2,000+ passing yards in a single season.
•      Shamari Brooks is 95 yards shy of moving into fourth place on the school's career rushing chart … he now has 3,420 career yards and 28 career TDs.

TULSA-TULANE LAST YEAR . . .
•      Tulsa had its fourth comeback win of the 2020 season last year in a home game against Tulane.
•      Tulsa scored 30 points in the final period and 2 overtimes to claim a 30-24 win over the Tulane Green Wave in a Thursday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
•      After being shutout through three quarters and trailing, 14-0, Tulsa scored 21 points in the 4th quarter and 9 more in overtime for the win that moved 25th-ranked Tulsa to 5-1 overall and 5-0 in American Athletic Conference play.
•      In overtime, each team scored on field goals in the first OT period and then on Tulane's possession in the second overtime, Tulsa All-American Zaven Collins intercepted a 3rd-and-goal pass and went 96 yards for the game-winning score.
•      In sending the game to overtime, it took a spectacular 4th quarter offensive performance led by third-string quarterback Davis Brin.
•      The sophomore rushed for one touchdown and threw for 2 more in the fourth quarter comeback that put the game into overtime tied at 21.
•      Tulane took a 21-14 lead with less than two minutes left in regulation.
•      Starting from their own 25-yard line, Tulsa took possession with 1:38 left on the game clock. 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, who went up and brought in the 37-yarder for the touchdown and after the PAT a 21-21 tie with no time remaining.

100 . . .
•      Tulsa has had three different runners rush for 100+ yards this season for a total of eight 100+ rushing games.
•      In addition, three Hurricane receivers have combined for six 100+ receiving games.
•      On the ground, Shamari Brooks has four 100-yard rushing games (155 vs. Arkansas State, 126 vs. Memphis, 145 at South Florida and 132 at No. 2 Cincinnati) … Deneric Prince had 151 yards against UC Davis and 110 vs. South Florida … Anthony Watkins had 115 yards against Arkansas State and 105 at No. 6 Cincinnati.
•      There have been three games with two Tulsa running backs each totaling over 100 yards – Arkansas State, USF and No. 2 Cincinnati.
•      Thru the airways, Josh Johnson has had over 100 yards in three games –– 149 vs. Ohio State, 127 vs. Arkansas State and 140 vs. Memphis.
•      Sam Crawford had back-to-back receiving games with 105 vs. Arkansas State and 101 vs. Houston, while JC Santana had his first 100+ receiving game of the season with 109 yards against Navy.

IN THE AMERICAN . . .
•      RB Shamari Brooks is ranked fourth in the AAC for rushing (80.0 ypg)
•      Sophomore punter Lachlan Wilson is ranked second in the AAC for punting with a 46.5 average, trailing Tulane's Ryan Wright's 47.7 average.
•      WR Josh Johnson is fourth in the AAC for receiving yards per game (73.8 ypg) … Johnson is fourth for receptions per game with a 5.78 average.
•      SAF TieNeal Martin is ranked fifth in the league for interceptions with 2 (0.25 pg).
•      PK Zack Long is ranked second for field goals (12-of-13) for a 1.33 average.
•      CB Travon Fuller has team-highs of eight pass breakups and two interceptions to rank fifth in the AAC for passes defended per game with 10 (1.11 pg)
•      QB Davis Brin is third in the league for average passing yards per game (250.5) … Brin is also ranked fifth for total offense (253.5).

BROOKS SURPASSES 3,000 YARDS; NEARING NO. 4 . . .
•      Running back Shamari Brooks, who missed the 2020 season with an ACL injury, became just the fifth player in school history to surpass 3,000 career rushing yards …
•      He reached the 3,000-yard mark on his third carry against Memphis (10/9) and now has totaled 3,420 yards on 719 career attempts in 41 career games.
•      Brooks is now 95 yards shy of moving into a 4th place tie with Trey Watts (2010-13 –– 3,515 yards) on the school's all-time rushing chart.
•      The senior from Tulsa's Union High School came into the 2021 season ranked 5th on the school's career rushing list with 2,700 yards.
•      Brooks had his 16th career 100+ rushing game with 132 yards on 25 carries at Cincinnati. … he also added 145 yards on 23 carries at South Florida, 126 yards on 26 carries against Memphis and 155 yards on 22 carries against Arkansas State.
•      He has scored five rushing TDs this season to give him 28 career touchdowns … he is now in 5th place on the school's career list for rushing TDs.

WATKINS BUSTS OUT . . .
•      Tulsa runners have 12 runs for 20+ yards this season, while Anthony Watkins has four of those, including the two longest runs from scrimmage.
•      Watkins had a 75-yard TD run against Arkansas State and a 78-yard run against Navy.
•      He also added the longest kickoff return since 2012 when he took a kickoff against Navy back 97 yards for a touchdown.
•      On the year, Watkins averages 8.4 yards on 55 rushing attempts and a 24.4 return average on seven kickoff returns.
•      He is second on the team in rushing with 463 yards and has two 100+ rushing games.

THE WRIGHT CHOICE . . .
•      Junior linebacker Justin Wright ranks third on the team in tackles with 51, despite missing the season opener.
*      Over the last 4 games, Wright has totaled 35 tackles, 4.5 TFL for -17 yards, 3.5 sacks for -16 yards, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one QB hurry.
•      In a 32-31 win at South Florida, Wright had a team-high 7 tackles, 2.5 TFL for -9 yards and one QB hurry … he was named the AAC's Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.
•      Against Memphis, Wright had a career-high 14 tackles, while adding two TFL for eight yards, one sack for -7 yards and one forced fumble.
•      Wright has been in the starting lineup since last year for 18 games and has tallied 113 tackles in those starts … he has also totaled 13.5 TFL for -40 yards in those 18 starts.
•      Earlier this year, Wright had his first career interception, a 55-yard TD return against Oklahoma State.

DAVIS LEADING THE WAY
•      Senior cornerback Tyon Davis has taken over the team lead for tackles with a total of 59 stops, including 46 solos.
•      He had a career-high 11 tackles twice this year – Arkansas State and Memphis … Davis had nine solos and two assists vs. ASU and 10 solos and one assist vs. Memphis.
•      He also has seven pass breakups, which ranks second on the team … Davis had a career-high three PBUs against South Florida.

FULLER, THE DEFENDER . . .
•      Texas A&M transfer Travon Fuller is in his first season at Tulsa and has started all nine games at cornerback.
•      Thru nine games, Fuller has 27 tackles, including 16 solos, and team-highs of eight pass breakups and two interceptions.
•      He ranks fifth in the AAC for passes defended with 10.
•      Against Memphis, Fuller had a 44-yard interception return and four pass breakups, while adding four tackles.

JAXON'S A PLAYER . . .
•      Senior defensive tackle Jaxon Player has been a solid force for the Tulsa defense since his true freshman season of 2018.
•      Player has totaled 115 career tackles, 24 TFL for -57 yards, 4.5 sacks for -15 yards, two fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and one PBU in 37 career games.
•      He has totaled 32 tackles, 7 TFL for -18 yards, 1.5 sacks for -9 sacks, five QB hurries, one PBU, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this season.
•      Against South Florida with the Bulls leading 31-26 and 3rd-and-1 from their own 42-yard line he and teammate Treyvon Reeves shut down Jaren Mangham for no gain … on the next play, 4th-and-1 from the same spot, Player made the stop on Mangham again for no gain … Tulsa took possession at the USF 42 and scored the game-winning TD in a nine-play drive.
•      Player was a first-team all-AAC performer last year.
•      He was named to the watch lists for the 2021 Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, going to college football's top defender.

TULSA GAME NOTES: TULANE GAME

Players Mentioned

Davis Brin

Shamari Brooks

Tiller Bucktrot

Zaven Collins

Tyon Davis

Travon Fuller

Adam Higuera

Josh Johnson

Zack Long

TieNeal Martin

Jaxon Player

Deneric Prince

Treyvon Reeves

Robert Revels III

JuanCarlos Santana

Tyarise Stevenson

Anthony Watkins

Cristian Williams

Lachlan Wilson

Justin Wright

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