GAME NOTES: THE TEMPLE GAME

TULSA TRAVELS TO FACE TEMPLE IN FRIDAY NIGHT GAME ON ESPN2

GAME #7
TULSA (2-4, 0-2 AAC) vs. TEMPLE (2-4, 0-2 AAC)
Friday, Oct. 21, 6:30 pm (CT) / 7:30 pm (ET)
Stadium: Lincoln Financial Field (69,596), Philadelphia, Pa.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

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TULSA 2-4, 0-2 The American
Head Coach: Philip Montgomery
                                (Tarleton State '95)
                                8th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 40-50 (8 years)
TU Record: same

TEMPLE 2-4, 0-2 The American
Head Coach: Stan Drayton
                                (Allegheny '93)
                                1^st year at Temple
Career Record: 2-4 (1 year)
Temple Record: same

THE STORYLINES . . .
•   Tulsa is in its 126th season of football in 2022.
•   Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with a total enrollment of 3,705 students … Temple's enrollment is 41,000 students.
•   The teams have played a total of six times previously, but only four times as members of the American Athletic Conference.
• Both teams passing games have led the way for their offenses as Tulsa averages 327.8 yards passing and Temple 204.8 … Tulsa rushes for only 109.5 yards, while Temple has gained only 79.7 yards on the ground.
•   Tulsa was idle last week, while Temple was off the prior Saturday.

THE SERIES . . .
•   This is the seventh meeting between Tulsa and Temple.
•   The series is tied 3-3 … Temple has a 2-1 record at home, while Tulsa is 2-1 at home.
•   Tulsa won last year's meeting by a score of 44-10 in Tulsa.
•   Tulsa has won by a margin of 15.3 points, while Temple has won by a 14.6 average.

STOKES 28 YARDS SHY OF TYING HOWARD TWILLEY FOR NO. 1 ON TULSA'S ALL-TIME RECEIVNG CHART . . .
•   Keylon Stokes entered the season ranked ninth on the school's all-time receiving chart with 2,550 career yards.
•   With 765 yards in 6 games, Stokes has moved into second place with 3,315 yards.
•   Stokes needs 28 yards to tie Howard Twilley's (1963-65) school record of 3,343 yards.
•   With 152 yards against Navy in his last outing, Stokes entered in 5th place and surpassed Keyarris Garrett (2011-15), his brother Keevan Lucas (2013-16) and Dan Bitson (1987-89, '91), TUs current director of player development, for second place.
•   Stokes is just the fifth player in American Athletic Conference history to reach 3,000 career receiving yards … he currently ranks fourth overall and needs 275 yards to tie Memphis' Anthony Miller (2105-17) for third place … he is 634 yards shy of tying the AAC career leader James Proche (2016-19) who totaled 3,949 yards at SMU

STOKES AMONG NATION'S TOP RECEIVERS . . .
•   Keylon Stokes is ranked second in the nation for receiving yards per game with a 127.5 average behind Old Dominion's Ali Jennings' 129.2-yard average.
•   His 765 yards is third in the FBS behind Trey Palmer's (Nebraska) 781 yards and Jennings' 775 yards.
• Stokes also ranks sixth for receptions per game (7.3), 13th for all-purpose yards (140.7) and 42nd for punt return yards (6.3).
• He was added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List on Oct. 5.

BRIN MAKES CUT ON JOHNNY UNITAS GOLDEN ARM LIST . .
•   The original list of 76 candidates on the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list has been reduced to the nation's Top 25 quarterbacks.
•   Tulsa's Davis Brin is the only AAC quarterback to make the top 25 list.
•   Limited somewhat due to injury, Brin still ranks among the nation's top-15 for passing yards per completion (5th), passing yards per game (11th) and yards per attempt (15th)
•   After the first 3 weeks, before suffering an injury in the 4th game, Brin led the nation in passing yards (1,206), passing yards per game (402.0), passing TDs (11) and total offense (397.0).

RUN GAME LOOKING FOR OLE MISS NUMBERS . . .
•   With an entirely new starting offensive line and inexperience at the running back slot to start the season, the Tulsa run game improved each of the first four weeks of the season and in that fourth game against #13-ranked Ole Miss rushed for a season-high of 262 yards.
•   The Hurricane had just 61 yards in the season opener at Wyoming for an average of only 1.9 yards per rush.
•   A week later, Tulsa rushed for 126 yards and a 3.4-yard average per carry vs. Northern Illinois … Tulsa's running game had its third straight jump in yardage a week later against Jacksonville State with 164 yards and a 4.6 average per attempt.
•   Against that Ole Miss defense, Tulsa gained its 262 yards for a 6.1 average per carry against the nation's 15th-ranked rush defense.
•   The Hurricane jumped 65 yards from game 1 to game 2, 38 yards from game 2 to game 3 and 98 yards from game 3 to game 4.
•   However, in the last 2 contests against two of the league's top-4 rush defenses, Tulsa only managed a total of 61 yards, including 36 yards against Cincinnati and 25 yards at Navy.

COMPLIMENTING STOKES . . .
•   Keylon Stokes is not the only receiving weapon for the Hurricane …JuanCarlos Santana, Malachai Jones and Isaiah Epps have also made an impact this season.
•   Stokes has a team-high 765 yards and 4 TDs for a 127.5 average per game, while Tulsa's next three receivers have totaled 1,108 yards for an average of 184.7 yards per game and 10 touchdowns
•   Santana is next with 480 yards, Jones has 323 yards and Epps has 305 yards.
•   With Stokes, the four receivers have combined for 14 touchdown receptions … Stokes, Santana and Epps each lead the way with four TDs … the four receivers also have at least one reception for over 30 yards this season.

200 TACKLES . . .
•   Three Tulsa defenders entered the season within reach of the 200+ career tackle mark –– LB Justin Wright, NKL Bryson Powers and SAF Kendarin Ray.
•   Wright entered the season with 152 career tackles, Powers with 144 and Ray with 136.
•   Against Navy, Wright's 13 tackles put him over the 200-tackle plateau with 203 stops in 43 career games.
•   Powers now has 195 career stops in 52 games and Ray has totaled 177 stops in 33 career games.

POWERS & WRIGHT SHARE TEAM LEAD, RANK AMONG AAC LEADERS . . .
•   Nickel Bryson Powers and linebacker Justin Wright share the team-lead in tackles with 51 stops apiece.
•   In the first six games, it's either been Powers or Wright who has led Tulsa in tackles … Powers has led Tulsa in tackles in 4 games –– NIU, JAX State, Ole Miss and Cincinnati –– while Wright has led Tulsa in stops at Wyoming and Navy.
•   They each have had two double-figure tackles games this year… Wright had 13 stops at both Wyoming and Navy … Powers had double-digit tackles against NIU (13) and Ole Miss (11).
•   Both Powers and Wright also have 4 career double-figure tackle games.

BRIN PUTS UP NUMBERS . . .
•   Tulsa quarterback Davis Brin was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Week for Sept. 10 after connecting on back-to-back passes for 55 yards with under two minutes to set up the game-winning touchdown in Tulsa's 38-35 victory over NIU.
•   Brin finished the game with 322 yards and a career-high four TDs on 19-of-32 passing.
• A week earlier, Brin opened the season with his second 400+ yard career passing game when he passed for 460 yards at Wyoming, for the 6th-best passing performance in school history and most since David Johnson's 469 yards against New Mexico in 2008.
•   Brin had his third career 400+ passing game with 424 yards vs. JAX State and tied his career-high with 4 TDs.
•   In the first three games, Brin completed 64-percent of his passes (76-of-119) for 1,206 yards, 402 yards per game and 11 TDs to lead the nation in passing yards, passing yards per game and passing TDs.
•   In the 4th game, Brin played the first four series against #13 Ole Miss before leaving the game with an injury … he completed 7-of-13 passes for 112 yards and one TD in those four series.

NEVER BEFORE HAS TULSA HAD THREE GO FOR 100 . . .
•   Never before in school history had three Tulsa players each go over 100 yards receiving in a single game.
•   Tulsa has had two 100-yard receivers in a single game 26 times dating back to the first time in 1964 when Howard Twilley had 146 yards and Eddie Fletcher 105 yards,
•   But, in the 2022 season opener at Wyoming the Hurricane set the school record with three 100+ yard receivers when Keylon Stokes led with way with 169 yards, followed by Malachai Jones with 103 and JuanCarlos Santana with 102 yards … they each caught a TD in the game as well.

OFFENSIVE LINE MUSICAL CHAIRS . . .
•   Coming into the season opener, Tulsa's first game starting lineup had zero career starts among the offensive linemen with just 23 game appearances in a Tulsa uniform.
•   Two of Tulsa's 5 starters from last year were NFL draft picks – LT Tyler Smith was the Dallas Cowboys' first round pick and RT Chris Paul was drafted in the seventh round by the Washington Commanders.
•   Only Tulsa and Virginia came into the season with no starters returning on the O-Line.
•   Through six games, Tulsa has had the same starting offensive line in three games –– NIU, Cincinnati and Navy –– with RT Jaden Muskrat, RG Tai Marks, C Will Farniok, LB Chester Baah and LT Dillon Wade.
•   Only the left tackle spot has had the same starter – Dillon Wade – in each of the first six games.
•   The opening game lineup featured LT Dillon Wade, LG Chester Baah, C Will Farniok and two FBS transfers – RG Darrell Simpson and RT Kai Leon Herbert.
•   Herbert suffered a first half injury and was replaced by Jaden Muskrat, who had 8 previous game appearances with one start, coming in the 2020 Bowl game against Mississippi State.
•   Of the seven players who have offensive line starting assignments – only Wade has started all six games … Farniok, Marks, Simpson, Baah and Muskrat each have five starts.
•   Simpson has started games at right guard and left guard, while Marks has started at right guard and center.

GAME NOTES: THE TEMPLE GAME

Players Mentioned

Chester Baah

Davis Brin

Isaiah Epps

Will Farniok

Malachai Jones

Tautai Lio Marks

Jaden Muskrat

Chris Paul

Bryson Powers

Kendarin Ray

JuanCarlos Santana

Darrell Simpson

Tyler Smith

Keylon Stokes

Dillon Wade

Justin Wright