Friday, November 18
H.A. Chapman Stadium
8:00 p.m. (CT)
Tulsa
vs
South Florida
Photo by: Justin Manning
GAME PREVIEW: TULSA HOSTS USF IN HOME FINALE
11/18/2022 8:50:00 AM | Football
TULSA SENIORS PLAYING IN LAST HOME GAME FRIDAY NIGHT
| GAME 11: TULSA (3-7, 1-5 American) vs. SOUTH FLORIDA (1-9, 0-6 American) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time: | Friday, Nov. 8:00 p.m. (CT) |
| Site: | Tulsa, Okla. |
| Stadium: | Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000) |
| Coaches: | TULSA – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 8th year USF – Daniel Da Prato (Louisiana-Monroe '03)), 1st year |
| TV: | ESPN2 |
| Talent: | Roy Philpott (pxp), Andre Ware (analyst), Paul Carcaterra (sideline) |
| Tickets: | Click HERE |
| Radio: | Big Country 99.5 FM or Online |
| Talent: | Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sideline) |
| Live Stats: | Live Stats |
| Series: | USF leads 3-2 |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa | USF | American Athletic Conference I Game Program |
TULSA, Okla. –– Tulsa closes out the home season with a Friday night contest against the South Florida Bulls in a game that both teams will be looking to get back in the win column. It's the final home game for 23 Tulsa seniors.
Tulsa (3-7, 1-5 AAC) comes into the game after a Thursday night loss at Memphis last week, while USF fell to SMU on Saturday. The Hurricane has dropped its last three games, while USF (1-9, 0-6 AAC) is riding an eight-game losing streak
The Bulls will be playing its second game under interim coach Daniel Da Prato.
Each team is desperate for a win to take into the final week of the season in rivalry games for both, Tulsa at Houston and South Florida against UCF.
Let's look at the storylines …
UNUSUAL SERIES
Only five games have been played in the series and only one of those contests has come in Tulsa. The first meeting in the series came the 2014 campaign as USF garnered a 38-30 road win. The next four games were played in Tampa as the Bulls took a 3-0 lead in the series with the first two wis, while Tulsa has won the last two games in South Florida in each of the last two seasons. The Hurricane cruised to a 42-13 win in 2020 and grabbed a last minute 32-31 win a year ago.
WHO WILL BE BEHIND CENTER?
Both teams appear to have a dilemma at quarterback due to injuries heading into Friday night's game. Tulsa starter Davis Brin has been limited the last few games while freshman Braylon Braxton has come in to sub for Brin. Braxton has played in the last six games while throwing for 515 yards and six TDs on the year. Ever since an injury in the second quarter against Ole Miss, Brin has been forced to miss time in each game since. For USF, Gerry Bohanon, with 1,070 passing yards and six TDs, will miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury, while Katravis Marsh, who has thrown for 827 yards and seven TDs for the Bulls, left the SMU game a week ago with a head injury and is questionable for this contest. Backups Byrum Brown or Ryan Bolduc, a freshman and redshirt freshman, respectively, might get the call as the starting signal caller for the Bulls.
BATTIE IMPRESSES IN USF RUN GAME
USF running back, sophomore Brian Battie, is one of the best runners in the American Athletic Conference. He is ranked third in the league with 873 yards, a 6.3 average per carry and six touchdowns and is also the nation's 6th-best for all-purpose yards with a 151-yard per game average. A year ago, Battie was "special" on special teams as he earned All-America honors. He also had a 100-yard return in last year's Tulsa game. USF has gained 181.8 yards on the ground this year with Battie putting up 87.3 of those yards.
TULSA RUNING GAME NEEDS TO COME ALIVE
The Hurricane rushed for just 31 yards last week against the Memphis Tigers, but will need to be much more productive against the Bulls. When the Tulsa run game has been effective the Hurricane has performed solidly. A 262-yard rushing output against the 13th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels put the Hurricane in a position to win the game late before falling 35-27, while Tulsa put up a season-high 299 yards in a 27-16 road win at Temple.
THE COACHES
USF's Daniel Da Prato will be coaching in his second game as the Bulls interim head coach after replacing Jeff Scott. He has been on the USF coaching staff the last three seasons as special teams coach, coming to the Bulls from Arkansas. He has also coached at Colorado, Montana State, Sacramento State and Louisiana-Monroe.
Tulsa's Philip Montgomery is in his eighth year guiding the Hurricane program, his first head coaching position. He has led Tulsa to the second-most bowl games in school history with four and the first Tulsa coach to defeat two top-20 teams in the same season and the first coach to have two No. 1 NFL Draft selections, and that came in back-to-back years (2021, 2022).
LOOKING FOR ANOTHER RECORD
Keylon Stokes became Tulsa's career receiving leader against Temple, breaking a 57-year-old record held by Howard Twilley (1963-65). Twilley's record of 3,343 yards had stood as Tulsa's record since 1965. Stokes now has 3,582 career receiving yards with two games remaining.
Stokes enters the USF game looking to become the American Athletic Conference's all-purpose yardage leader. He is currently has 5,270 yards in 56 career games to rank second behind Navy's Malcolm Perry (2016-19), needing just 50 more yards to tie for the top spot.
Last week, Stokes became just the sixth player in school history to put up two seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards.
DEFENSE NEEDING ANOTHER TOP SHOWING
A week ago, although the Tulsa offense couldn't get in any kind of rhythm, the Hurricane defense turned in a solid performance against Memphis. Tulsa forced two turnovers, while tallying six tackles for lost yardage, five pass breakups, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and held the Tigers to 79 rushing yards. Justin Wright totaled 13 tackles, 2.5 TFL, one breakup and one forced fumble to lead the Hurricane, while cornerback Tyon Davis had eight tackles, two fumble recoveries and three breakups.
UP NEXT FOR TULSA
Tulsa will close out the season against the Houston Cougars next Saturday, Nov. 26. The game time will be either 6 or 6:30 p.m. and will be announced by ESPN following Saturday games.
Players Mentioned
Quarterback
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
Cornerback
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Linebacker
/ FootballFB | UAB Preview
Monday, November 24
FB | Tre Lamb Army Preview
Monday, November 17
FB | Tre Lamb Oregon State Preview
Monday, November 10
FB | Tre Lamb FAU Preview
Monday, November 03