GAME NOTES: MYRTLE BEACH BOWL

TULSA FACES OLD DOMINION...
MYRTLE BEACH BOWL GAME IS 23^rd BOWL APPEARANCE FOR GOLDEN HURRICANE

GAME #13: MYRTLE BEACH BOWL
TULSA (6-6, 5-3 AAC) vs. OLD DOMINION (6-6, 5-3 C-USA)
Monday, Dec. 20, 1:30 pm (CT) / 2:30 pm (ET)
Stadium: Brooks Stadium (20,000), Conway, S.C.
TV: ESPN
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

CLICK HERE: GAME NOTES

TULSA 6-6, 5-3 The American
Head Coach: Philip Montgomery
             (Tarleton State '95)
7th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 37-46 (7 years)
TU Record: same

OLD DOMINION 6-6, 5-3 Conference USA
Head Coach: Ricky Rayne
(Cornell '02)
2^nd year at ODU
Career Record: 6-5 (11 year)
ODU Record: same

THE STORYLINES . . .
•   Tulsa is in its 125th season of Tulsa football … Old Dominion is in its 13th year with a football program and ninth on the FBS level.
•   Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 2,929 undergraduate students (based off 2020-21 statistics) … Tulsa's overall enrollment
is 3,961 … Old Dominion is 19,622.
• Tulsa finished in a 3rd-place tie in the AAC after being picked 6th in the preseason … Tulsa has placed in the top-3 in back-to-back years.
•   This is the first meeting between Tulsa and Old Dominion.
•   The Myrtle Beach Bowl is Tulsa's 23rd bowl game appearance in school history, while Old Dominion is making its second bowl appearance.
•   Both teams are on winning streaks – Tulsa three games and ODU five games.
•   Coastal Carolina is 322 miles from Conway, while Tulsa is 1,137 miles.
•   Tulsa senior RB Shamari Brooks needs 29 more yards to move into a second-place) on the school's all-time rushing list … he is currently third with 3,622 yards.

TULSA'S BOWL GAME HISTORY . . .
•   Tulsa is making its 23rd bowl game appearance in school history.
•   The Hurricane has 10-12 bowl record and has won 5 of its last 8 bowl contests.
•   Tulsa is making its 12th bowl appearance in the last 19 seasons.
•   Tulsa was the first school to appear in five straight New Year's Day Bowl Games –1942 Sun Bowl (1-1-42), 1943 Sugar Bowl (1-1-43), 1944 Sugar Bowl (1-1-44), 1945 Orange Bowl (1-1-45) and the 1946 Oil Bowl (1-1-46).
•   This is the first bowl game in the state of South Carolina for Tulsa … the Hurricane has played seven bowl games in Texas, five in Louisiana, three in Florida, two in Alabama and Tennessee and one each in Idaho, California and Hawaii
•   Tulsa has played in six bowl games multiple times –– Sugar Bowl (1944, '45), Bluebonnet Bowl (1964, '65), Independence Bowl (1976, '89, 2015), Liberty Bowl (2005, '12), Armed Forces Bowl (2006, '11, '20) and the GMAC Bowl (2008, '09).

ABOUT THE OPPONENT . . .
•   Old Dominion is located in Norfolk, Virginia.
•   The Monarchs did not have a season in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
•   After six seasons at Penn State, Head Coach Ricky Rayne (pronounced Ronnie) is in his second at ODU, but 2021 was first time the Monarchs played under his tutelage.
•   ODU began its football program as an FCS program in 2009 … the Monarchs transitioned to the FBS in 2013, entered Conference USA in 2014.
•   Old Dominion made the schools only other FBS bowl game appearance in the 2016 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, defeating Eastern Michigan by a 24-20 score.

MONTGOMERY IN BOWL GAMES . . .
• Philip Montgomery is making his fourth bowl game as Tulsa's head coach.
•   Montgomery's four bowl appearances rank as the second-most bowls for a Tulsa head coach in school history… Henry Frnka's five appearances from 1941-45 is the best.
•   Montgomery's team defeated Central Michigan 55-10 in the 2016 Miami Beach Bowl and fell to Virginia Tech 55-52 in the 2015 Independence Bowl and 28-26 to Mississippi State in the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl.
• In 19 years as a collegiate coach, this is Montgomery's 13th bowl game appearance.

COMEBACKS . . .
•   In the regular season finale at SMU Tulsa trailed by 17 points in the second quarter and mounted its third come-from-behind victory of the season.
•   Tulsa also had comeback wins this year against Arkansas State (7 points), Memphis (6) and 14 at South Florida.
•   In the Montgomery era, Tulsa has had 20 comebacks since 2015.
*   The largest comeback in school history and the second biggest in NCAA DI history (at the time) was coming back from a 31-0 deficit to defeat Fresno State 48-41 in overtime in the 2016 season.
•   In the past seven seasons, 17 of the comeback wins were from double-digit deficits.

BROOKS IS 29 YARDS SHY OF SECOND PLACE ON TULSA'S CAREER RUSHING CHART . . .
• 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).
•   Brooks ranks third on the school's all-time rushing chart with 3,622 yards on 767 career attempts in 44 career games … his 767 carries is a school record.
•   He surpassed both Trey Watts (3,515, 2010-13) and Micheal Gunter (3,536, 1980-83) with 60 yards against Temple for third place.
•   Brooks needs 29 more yards to tie Tarrion Adams (3,651, 2005-08) for second place on the career list.
•   Brooks also needs 78 yards to reach 1,000 yards on the season, which would give him two 1,000-yard rushing seasons … he had 1,046 yards in 2019 before missing last season with an ACL injury … it will be the 22nd time in school history a runner went over 1,000 yards in a single season and he would be the sixth to do it twice.
• 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 has 16 career 100+ rushing games, including four this season –– 132 yards at Cincinnati, 145 yards at South Florida, 126 yards vs. Memphis and 155 yards vs. Arkansas State.
•   He has scored six rushing TDs this season to give him 29 career rushing touchdowns … he is now in 5th place on the school's career list for rushing TDs, and one shy of moving into 4th place.
•   Brooks has a total of 30 touchdowns – 29 rushing and one receiving – to rank 9th on the school's all-time TD chart.

REVISITING CONFERENCE USA . . .
• Tulsa is playing in its 23rd bowl game, but it's the first time the Hurricane has faced a Conference USA team in a bowl.
•   Tulsa was a member of Conference USA from 2005-2013 before moving to the American Athletic Conference.
•   As a C-USA member, Tulsa posted a 49-23 record, won the C-USA West Division in four seasons outright and shared one West division crown as a 9-year league member.
•   Tulsa played in four C-USA Championship games … Tulsa defeated UCF in Orlando in its first year as a league member in 2005 and defeated UCF again in 2012 for the league title … Tulsa fell to UCF in 2007 and East Carolina in 2008 in the championship game.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS . . .
•   Tulsa had two second-team all-AAC selections as voted by coaches –– DL Jason Player and OT Tyler Smith … both players were first-team performers in 2020.
•   The Hurricane had two honorable mention selections, including OT Chris Paul and LB Justin Wright … both Paul and Wright earned second team honors a year ago.

QUICK HITS . . .
•   Tulsa has six players who have played in 50 career games – Robert Revels III (59), Adam Higuera (57), Tyarise Stevenson (55), Cristian Williams (55), Tiller Bucktrot (52) and Treyvon Reeves (52).
•   The 17-point comeback win at SMU was the fourth of the year and second on the road.
•   Tulsa has ahd a different defensive starting lineup in all 12 games this season.
•   Tulsa's 44 points vs. Temple was a season-high and the most since scoring 49 points in the 2019 season finale at East Carolina … it was also the most points scored at home since scoring 49 points vs. UConn on Nov. 3, 2018.
•   Tulsa has six 200+ rushing games this year, – 247 vs. UC Davis, 308 vs. Arkansas, 235 vs. Memphis, 269 vs. USF, 297 vs. No. 9-ranked Cincinnati defense and 216 vs. Temple.
•   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 … he now has 2,984 yards on the season to rank 10th on the school's single season passing chart.

THIRD DOWN DEFENSE . . .
• Although Tulsa's third down conversion defense has been pretty good this season, the final three weeks was outstanding … Tulsa's third down defensive conversion rate is .380 for the season.
•   In the final three regular season games, Tulsa's defense has held its opponents to just a 17.8-percent third down conversion rate.
•   In the previous nine games, the opponents third down conversion percentage was .452 (57-of-126).
•   Tulsa held Tulane, Temple and SMU to a combined 8-of-45 on third downs, including 1-of-14 at Tulane, 2-of-14 by the Owls and 5-of-17 at SMU.
•   Tulsa's defense held its last three opponents to 14 three-and-outs on 38 possessions.

MISSING PIECES . . .
•   Tulsa has missed some integral pieces of its offense and defense this year.
•   Defensively, starters DE Cullen Wick (6), SAF Kendarin Ray (6), NKL Cristian Williams (4), SAF TieNeal Martin (1), LB Justin Wright (1) and NG Tyarise Stevenson (1) have all missed games this season … Ray (Ohio State 1st half) and Jaxon Player (Houston 1st half) missed one half of a game due to targeting calls.
• On offense, WR Keylon Stokes (8), RB Deneric Prince (3), WR Sam Crawford Jr. (3), RT Chris Paul (2) and LT Tyler Smith (1) have missed games.
•   Ray, Stokes, Crawford as well as Deven Lamp and Dante Bivens will miss the Myrtle Beach Bowl, while Wick and Paul are questionable.
•   Tulsa is also without defensive coordinator/LB coach Joseph Gillespie and offensive line coach Zach Hanson, both of whom have taken other coaching positions.

COMEBACK OVER SMU IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE . . .
•   Tulsa took on the AAC's top offense (471.4) in the season finale and the second-best scoring offense (39.1) on SMU's home field.
•   The Hurricane handed the Mustangs their first home loss of the season and only the second loss in their last 14 games with a 34-31 victory.
•   Tulsa trailed 17-0 in the second quarter, but finished the first half by scoring twice in the final 1:06 … the first coming on a 7-yard Anthony Watkins run that capped a 10-play, 89-yard drive … the second on a 32-yard TD toss from Davis Brin to Josh Johnson that capped a 2-play, 50-yard drive in just 0:16.
•   Tulsa opened the second half with a 75-yard, 9-play scoring drive to take a 21-17 lead and never relinquished that lead, making it 28-17 and 31-17 before SMU would score again.
•   SMU gained 405 yards, 66.4 yards below its season average, and was held to 8.1 yards below its scoring average.

GADLIN AWARDED $10,000 IN TUITION FROM CFP FOUNDATION AND DR PEPPER . . .
• Tulsa offensive lineman X'auvea Gadln was named by the AAC, in partnership with the CFP Foundation, the conference's Go Teach Dr Pepper Tuition Giveaway grand prize recipient.
• Gadlin will receive a $10,000 scholarship as the conference's winner in addition to a $2,500 scholarship as Tulsa's institutional nominee.
• The tuition giveaway awards one grand prize from each FBS conference to student-athletes pursuing careers in education.
• On Nov. 23, Gadlin was surprised by the AAC on a zoom call, which he thought was just a normal interview
• Gadlin said, "Great teachers inspire students to become just like them and they can provide life-changing experience for students. Some of the greatest people I've ever known have been my teachers and I just want to be able to give that to students.
• He added, "This lets me know that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and I'm where I'm supposed to be. I am honored and excited to be the recipient."
• Gadlin has played in 28 career games with 21 starts, including seven starts this year at left guard.

THE WRIGHT CHOICE . . .
•   Junior linebacker Justin Wright leads Tulsa in tackles with 77 stops, despite missing the season opener.
*   Over the last seven games, Wright has totaled 61 tackles, 5.5 TFL for -20 yards, 3.5 sacks for -16 yards, one forced fumble, one PBU, one fumble recovery, one QB hurry and was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week twice.
     Wright was an AAC honorable mention all-conference selection.
•   Against Tulane, Wright totaled 12 tackles, including 10 solos, and had one TFL for -3 yards.
•   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 20 games and has tallied 132 tackles in those starts … he has also totaled 14.5 TFL for -43 yards in those 20 starts.
•   Earlier this year, Wright had his first career interception, a 55-yard TD return against Oklahoma State.

JJ 15 YARDS AWAY FROM 1,000 RECEIVING YARDS, 21 FROM 2,000 CAREER YARDS . . .
• Josh Johnson enters the Myrtle Beach Bowl needing 15 more yards to hit the 1,000-yard plateau on the season.
•   He has caught 75 passes for 985 yards and five TDs, all season highs.
•   Johnson would become just the 22nd player in school history to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.
•   He also is just 21 yards shy of reaching the 2,000 career receiving mark at Tulsa … he would become the 19th receiver in school history to reach 2,000 career yards.
•   Johnson currently has 1,979 career yards and 12 TDs on 157 receptions.

BRIN NEARING 3,000 PASSING YARDS . . .
• Before this year, Davis Brin's only significant playing time resulted in a 266-yard performance last year against Tulane.
•   Brin became the 15th different player in school history to surpass 2,000 passing yards in a single season and the 25th time it has happened.
•   In his 11 career starts, all coming this year, Brin has completed 222-of-377 passes for 2,984 yards and 16 TDs.
•   He has thrown for over 200 yards in eight of 12 starts, including two games over 350 yards … he has surpassed 200+ yards in the first half in three games this season.
•   Brin threw for 355 yards against Arkansas State, giving him his second straight game throwing for over 350 yards … he also threw for a career-high three TDs in the ASU game, as his TD throws covered 88, 34 and 17 yards.
•   A week before, Brin had a career-best 428 yards and two TDs against No. 9-ranked Ohio State in just his 7th career game.
•   The 428 yards is the 11th best passing performance in school history and just the 19th time a Tulsa quarterback went over the 400-yard plateau.
•   Brin's 31 completions and 54 attempts at OSU were also career highs for the Tulsa junior.
•   His 428 yards was the most passing yards for a Tulsa quarterback since Dane Evans threw for 421 yards against Memphis on Oct. 23, 2015 against #17 Memphis.

GAME NOTES: MYRTLE BEACH BOWL

Players Mentioned

Dante Bivens

Davis Brin

Shamari Brooks

Tiller Bucktrot

Sam Crawford Jr.

Adam Higuera

Josh Johnson

Deven Lamp

TieNeal Martin

Chris Paul

Jaxon Player

Deneric Prince

Kendarin Ray

Treyvon Reeves

Robert Revels III

Tyler Smith

Tyarise Stevenson

Keylon Stokes

Anthony Watkins

Cullen Wick

Cristian Williams

Justin Wright

Related Videos