GAME PREVIEW: TULSA FACES 13th-RANKED OLE MISS

TULSA FACES NATION'S 13th-RANKED OLE MISS REBELS IN OXFORD

GAME 4: TULSA (2-1, 0-0 American) vs. NO. 13/16 OLE MISS (3-0, 0-0 SEC)
Date/Time:	Saturday, Sept. 24, 3 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Oxford, Miss.
Stadium:	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (64,038)
Coaches:	TULSA – Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 8th year OLE MISS – Lane Kiffin (Fresno State '98), 3rd year
TV:	SEC NETWORK
Talent:	Dave Neal (pxp), Deuce McAllister (analyst), Marilyn Payne (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:	Tulsa leads series 3-0
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| Ole Miss \| American Athletic Conference

OXFORD, Miss. –– The Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-1) faces its toughest test of the season against the nation's No. 13/16-ranked Ole Miss Rebels (3-0) of the SEC this Saturday at 3 p.m. The Rebels are 13^th in the AFCA Coaches Poll and 16^th in the Associated Press Poll.

Temperatures at kickoff are expected to hover around 90 degrees at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on the Mississippi campus.

Both teams are coming off relatively easy victories last Saturday with the Rebels shutting out Georgia Tech of the AAC 42-0, while the Hurricane claimed a 54-17 home win over Jacksonville State.

The Rebels are off to a tremendous start with a defense that has been stifling and an offense that is big upfront and has skilled talent up and down the lineup at receiver and running back. After a season-opening overtime road loss at Wyoming, Tulsa claimed back-to-back home wins in each of the last two weeks.

Tulsa's offense has been explosive with its passing game leading the nation with 423 yards per game. The Ole Miss defense has been just as impressive by allowing only 4.3 points per game to rank second nationally, while its rush defense tanks 10^th and total defense 16^th.

Let's look at the storylines …

FIRST TIME IN OXFORD
Ole Miss and Tulsa are meeting for the fourth time, but it's just the first meeting in Oxford and the state of Mississippi. Tulsa leads the all-time series 3-0 but the teams haven't met in over 55 years. The last meeting was in the finale of the 1964 season as the teams met in Houston, Texas for the Bluebonnet Bowl. The first game, played in 1932, was a 26-0 Tulsa win at home at Skelly Stadium, while the second meeting was played in Memphis, Tenn., in the 1944 season as Tulsa captured a 47-0 victory.

The Rebels have been dominant in its home stadium in recent history. Dating back to Nov. 14, 2020, the Rebels have won 11 straight home games, the longest winning streak in Oxford since winning 12 straight contests from 1960 to 1964. The streak is tied for seventh amongst Power 5 programs.

THE COACHES
Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin is in his third season and helped lead the Rebels to back-to-back bowl appearances in his first two years in Oxford. Kiffin guided the Rebels to a 10-3 record in 2021, the first 10-win regular season in school history. The Rebels finished the season ranked No. 11 in both the AP and AFCA Coaches Poll; its highest final ranking since 2016 Kiffin has also had head coaching stops at USC, Tennessee and FAU.

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).

POINTS GO UP IN DIFFERENT WAYS FOR THE TWO TEAMS
Both teams are averaging 43 points in their first three games. Tulsa has done most of the damage through the air with 12 passing touchdowns and four on the ground. It's nearly the opposite for the Ole Miss with 12 TDs from its vaunted rushing attack and five via its passing game.

THE RUN GAME vs. THE PASS GAME
The two teams are ranked in the top-25 for total offense, Tulsa is eighth and Ole Miss is ranked 22^nd. They have gone about getting those rankings in different ways. The Rebels have put up 271 yards rushing to rank fifth nationally for yards on the ground, while Tulsa ranks first in the FBS with 423 passing yards per game.

THE OLE MISS DEFENSE vs. TULSA'S OFFENSE
Mississippi has perhaps one of the best defensive units in the country this year, ranking second nationally for scoring defense, 10^th for rush defense, 16^th for total defense an 19^th for pass efficiency defense. Dating back to last season, Ole Miss has held eight straight opponents to 21 or fewer points. The Ole Miss defense is also giving up less than 200 yards passing per game and has allowed just one passing touchdown.

Although Tulsa has the nation's passing leader in Davis Brin and two top-10 receivers, Keylon Stokes and JC Santana, the Hurricane offense will need to put together a ground attack against the Rebels to complement its highly active pass game. The Hurricane manages just 110 yards rushing, while Ole Miss allows just 71.7 yards.

THE ONLY ONES
For Ole Miss, Zach Evans (105.7) and Quinshon Judkins (96.3) and are the only pair of teammates in the country averaging 95-plus yards rushing per game. Tulsa's receiving combo of Keylon Stokes (152.3) and JC Santana (108.7) along with Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. (114.0) and Emeka Egbuka (108.0) are the only duos to average over 100 yards receiving this year.

NO POINTS FOR YOU
The 13 total points allowed this season for Ole Miss are the fewest given up by a Rebel squad through the first three games of the year since 1963. Ole Miss also opened the '63 season allowing just 13 points in the season's first three contests. The Rebels have held its opponents to 10, 3 and 0 points through the first three weeks of the season.

100 OR BUST
Both teams have had an individual output of over 100 yards in each of their first three games this year. Ole Miss has had a running back rush for over 100 yards in every game this season, whereas Tulsa has had at least one 100-yard receiver in each of its first three games. For the Rebels, Zach Evans has turned in two 100+ rushing games and Quinshon Judkins has had one. Tulsa had three 100-yard receivers in the first game at Wyoming (Keylon Stokes, JC Santana and Malachai Jones), one (Stokes) a week later against NIU and two (Stokes, Santana) last week vs. Jacksonville State.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE CONTRAST
After losing two offensive linemen to the NFL –– first round choice Tyler Smith and seventh round pick Chris Paul –– Tulsa, along with Virginia, came into the season with the nation's least experienced offensive line. Tulsa's first game starters had zero career starts. Through the first three games Tulsa has had seven different starters as well as a different starting five in each game. On the other hand, Mississippi has been consistent with the same starting five up front in each of its first three games.

GETTING SOME TURNOVERS
Tulsa came into last week's game with just two takeaways on the year but bettered that by one in a single game with three against Jacksonville State for a season total of five takeaways. The Hurricane recovered two fumbles and had one interception a week ago. Ole Miss has forced six turnovers on the year with three interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

NEXT WEEK
Tulsa returns to H.A. Chapman Stadium next Saturday to open the American Athletic Conference schedule against defending champion Cincinnati on Oct. 1. Fans can purchase tickets online at TulsaHurricane.com or call 918.631.4688.

GAME PREVIEW: TULSA FACES 13th-RANKED OLE MISS

Players Mentioned

Davis Brin

Malachai Jones

Chris Paul

Tyler Smith

Keylon Stokes

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