GAME NOTES: THE CINCINNATI GAME

GAME #5
TULSA (2-2, 0-0 AAC) vs. CINCINNATI (3-1, 0-0 AAC)
Saturday, Oct. 1, 6 pm (CT)
Stadium: Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000), Tulsa, Okla.
TV: ESPNU
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

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TULSA 2-2, 0-0 The American
Head Coach: Philip Montgomery
                                (Tarleton State '95)
                                8th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 40-48 (7 years)
TU Record: same

CINCINNATI 3-1, 0-0 The American
Head Coach: Luke Fickell
                                (Ohio State '97)
                                6^th year at Cincinnati
Career Record: 57-23 (7 years)
UC Record: 51-16 (6 years)

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 … Cincinnati's enrollment is 44,783 students.
•      This is the first game in American Athletic Conference play for both teams.
•      Cincinnati is first in the AAC for scoring with 42.5 points, while Tulsa is ranked second at 39.0 points per game.
•      Tulsa is ranked first for total offense in the AAC with 507.0 yards, while Cincinnati ranks third for total defense allowing just 307.7 yards per game.
•      The Hurricane is also first for pass offense (358.5 ypg) and Cincinnati is ranked third (328.2 ypg).

THE SERIES . . .
•   This is the 37th meeting between Tulsa and Cincinnati.
•   The series is tied 17-17-2, while Tulsa has an 11-4-2 mark at home and Cincinnati has posted a home record of 13-6.
•   Cincinnati has won the last three games as a ranked opponent by an average of 7.3 points.
•    As the No. 2 team in the nation last year, Cincinnati claimed a 28-20 win on Nov. 6.
•   A year earlier, Tulsa and #9 Cincinnati played in the AAC Championship Game as the Bearcats won 27-24 on a last second field goal.

STILL AMONG TOPS IN FBS . . .
•   After four weeks, Tulsa has one of the top offenses in the FBS … in team stats, Tulsa ranks fourth for passing offense (358.5), 11th for passing yards per completion (14.7) and 13th for total offense (507.0).
•   Despite playing in just 3.5 games, QB Davis Brin ranks among the top-15 for nine offensive categories, including first for passing yards per completion (15.8), fourth for passing yards (1,318) and fifth for passing yards per game (329.5) … Brin just played four possessions against #13 Ole Miss due to an injury.
•   A week earlier, Brin was ranked No. 1 nationally for passing yards, touchdown passes and total offense.
•   Tulsa WR Keylon Stokes' 507 receiving yards and 126.8 yards per game rank fourth in the NCAA, while he is seventh for receptions per game (7.75).

AGAINST THE ODDS . . .
•   Last Saturday, Tulsa managed to put up another outing with big offensive numbers, but this time it was the run game that took the lead … this time, though, Tulsa's offensive production came against one of the nation's top defenses.
•   The No. 13/16-ranked Ole Miss Rebels came into the Tulsa game ranked second for scoring defense, 10th for rush defense and 16th for total defense.
•   The Hurricane scored 27 points, 22.7 points better than Ole Miss' 4.3 points they had allowed in their first three games.
•   Tulsa rushed for a season-high 262 yards, which was 190.3 yards more than Ole Miss' 10th-ranked defense had allowed this year.
•   The Hurricane also amassed 457 yards of total offense, 192.7 yads more than the Rebels had been giving up this season.

FIRST & TEN . . .
•   Tulsa came into the season with 16 letterwinners and four starters on offense, while the defensive unit returned 21 lettermen and six starters.
•    A total of 13 players have made their first career starts this season in Tulsa's first four games … 10 players saw their first start in a Tulsa uniform in the season opener at Wyoming, including seven on offense and three on defense … three players made their first starts vs. NIU.
•   Tulsa has had a different starting offensive line in its first 4 games this season.
•    Tulsa's 54 points vs. JAX State was the most scored since 66 on Sept. 9, 2017 vs. Louisiana.
•   Punter Lachlan Wilson was named the Ray Guy National Punter of the Week for his performance against JAX State on Sept. 17 … he punted 4 times for 178 yards and a 44.5 average with all 4 downed inside the 15-yard line, including 3 inside the 5-yard line.
•   Tulsa has scored 35+ points in its first three games this year … the last time Tulsa tallied more than 35 points in its first three games of the season came in 2015 when the Hurricane scored 47, 40 and 38 points in its first three games under Philip Montgomery.
•   Tulsa compiled over 600 yards total offense for the 11th time in the Montgomery era with 621 vs. Jacksonville State … it was the most since tallying 663 yards vs. Arkansas State in 2021.
•   Tulsa has gone over 600 yards of total offense in one game in 5 of the last 6 seasons.
•   Tulsa is now 22-5 when scoring over 40 points in the Montgomery era.
*   The Hurricane held a 40-3 halftime lead against Jacksonville State, which was the most first-half points since scoring 48 points vs. North Carolina A&T in 2016… the 54 points is the most points scored since Sept. 9, 2017 against Louisiana.

TULSA AND CINCINNATI, THE LAST TIME . . .
•   Tulsa's comeback bid ended at the one-yard line as the nation's second-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats held off the Golden Hurricane for a 28-20 victory in front of 37,978 fans at Nippert Stadium.
     It was a momentum-filled game as 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, and the Hurricane came back with a dominating fourth quarter.
     Tulsa out-gained the Bearcats 446 to 390 yards in total offense and held a whopping 34:16 to 23:06 advantage in possession time. Tulsa's run game had its way with the country's No. 9-ranked defense by rushing for its second-highest total of the season with 297 yards.
     While Tulsa's offense had success on the ground, the Hurricane defense held Cincinnati to well below its season rushing average with 116 yards. Tulsa's defense also forced three turnovers, had three TFL and two sacks on the day.
     At the 8:10 mark of the fourth quarter, Tulsa made the score 28-20 on a 21-yard pass from Davis Brin to JC Santana and a two-point pass play. From there, Tulsa's defense forced a Cincinnati punt. Tulsa marched to the UC 6-yard line but a 4th-and-5 pass fell one yard short of the first down.
     What looked to be the end for Tulsa resulted in one more chance. 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 a fumble into the end zone was recovered by the Bearcats to end the game.

STOKES REACHES 3,000 YARDS; MOVES UP TO NO. 5 . . .
•   Keylon Stokes entered the season ranked ninth on the school's all-time receiving chart with 2,550 career yards.
•   With 507 yards in four games, Stokes has moved into fifth place with 3,057 yards to become just the fifth player to reach 3,000 career yards.
•   Stokes needs just 15 yards to surpass Keyarris Garrett (2011-15) for fourth place on the career receiving chart (3,072) … he is also 193 yards shy of tying his brother Keevan Lucas (2013-16) for third place (3,250) on the all-time list.
•   He is now just 286 yards shy of all-time leader Howard Twilley's (1963-65) 3,343 yards.
•   Stokes is just the fifth player in American Athletic Conference history to reach 3,000 career receiving yards … he ranks fifth overall and needs 163 yards to surpass SMU's Courtland Sutton (2015-17) for fourth place.

THE RUN GAME GETS GOING . . .
•   The Tulsa run game has improved each week during this four-game stretch to start the season.
•   The Hurricane had just 61 yards in the season opener at Wyoming for an average of just 1.9 yards per rush.
•   A week later, Tulsa rushed for 126 yards and a 3.4-yard average per carry … Tulsa's running game had its third straight jump in yardage a week later with 164 yards and a 4.6 average per attempt.
•   Against #13 Ole Miss, Tulsa gained 262 yards on the ground for a 6.1 average per carry against the nation's 15th-ranked rush defense.

STOKES, SANTANA RANK AMONG TOP 20 . . .
•   Keylon Stokes is not the only Tulsa receiver ranked among the nation's top receivers.
•   Stokes is ranked fourth in the FBS with an average of 126.8 yards, while JuanCarlos Santana has averaged 95.2 yards through four games to rank 20th nationally.
•   Stokes has 507 yards and three TDs on 31 receptions, while Santana had 381 yards and team-high four TDs on 18 catches.
•   Stokes has three 100+ receiving games coming in the first three games and Santana went over 100 yards against Wyoming and JAX State … in their careers, Stokes has 10 100+ yard games and Santana has five games of over 100 yards.

DON'T FORGET ISAIAH AND MALACHAI . . .
•   Keylon Stokes and JuanCarlos Santana are not the only two Tulsa receivers who have made an impact in the first four games this season.
•   Malachai Jones and Isaiah Epps have also made big catches this year for Tulsa and each have caught passes for more than 200 yards … Jones averages 62.0 yards per game and Epps 54.3.
•   Santana, Epps and Stokes each average over 16.0 yards per reception with Jones averaging 11.8 yards … Santana has a team-high 21.2 yards per catch, followed by Epps (16.7) and Stokes (16.3).
•   Those four have also combined for 12 touchdown receptions with Santana and Epps leading the way with four … the four receivers also have at least one reception for over 30 yards this season.

WILSON NAMED NATIONAL PUNTER OF THE WEEK; NEVER PLAYED FOOTBALL UNTIL COMING TO AMERICA . . .
•   In the third game this season, junior punter Lachlan Wilson punted 4 times for 178 yards and a 44.5 average against Jacksonville State … all 4 punts were downed inside the 15-yard line, including 3 inside the 5-yard line.
•   For that performance, Wilson was named the Ray Guy National Punter of the Week.
•   Wilson never played American football before coming to Tulsa, but did play Australian Rules Football for the Heidelberg Football Club.
•   This year, Wilson has averaged 46.7 yards, a long of 61 yards, five punts over 50+ yards and eight inside the 20-yard line.
•   Wilson came to Tulsa in 2019 from Melbourne, Australia, without a scholarship and redshirted that year before receiving a scholarship.
•   In his first season of punting, Wilson averaged 42.9 yards on 42 punts.
•   In 26 career games, Wilson has averaged 44.8 yards (5,243) on 117 punts and 43 have landed inside the 20-yard line.

POWERS LEADING THE WAY . . .
•   Graduate nickel safety Bryson Powers leads the Hurricane with 38 tackles through four games.
•   Powers has had two double-digit tackle-games this season.
•   Powers had a career-best 13 tackles against NIU in the second game of the season, surpassing his previous career-best of 12 tackles from the 2018 season … he was named to the AAC's weekly honor roll for his performance against NIU.
•   He had his second double-figure tackle game this year with 11 stops at #13 Ole Miss.
•   In his fifth season of participation, Powers now has 182 career tackles … he also has six career forced fumbles, six pass breakups and three fumble recoveries.
•   Powers was named to CoSIDA Academic All-District® VII football team in 2021.
•   Powers finished his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering in May 2021 with a 3.72 grade point average … he is currently working on his master's degree in business.
• He has earned AAC academic all-conference honors each year.

K-RAY . . .
•   Starting strong safety Kendarin Ray is back this season after missing seven games last year due to injury.
•   This year, Ray is third on the team in tackles with 25 and has added two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one PBU and one TFL for -2 yards.
•   Ray has 161 career tackles, nine PBUs, four fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles.
•   In the Ole Miss game, Ray tallied eight tackles, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

THE WRIGHT CHOICE . . .
•   LB Justin Wright opened the 2022 season with 13 tackles at Wyoming, just one stop shy of tying his career-high of 14 … he now has 32 tackles to rank second on the team this season.
•   He shared the team-lead for tackles last year with 82 stops.
*   Over the final eight games in 2021, Wright totaled 66 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 honorable mention all-AAC selection last year.
•   Wright has been in the starting lineup since 2020 for 24 games and has tallied 169 tackles in those starts … he has also totaled 16.5 TFL for -46 yards in those 24 starts.
•   He also has three career interceptions, including one this year against JAX State and one in each of the past two seasons.

GAME NOTES: THE CINCINNATI GAME

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Players Mentioned

Davis Brin

Isaiah Epps

Malachai Jones

Bryson Powers

Kendarin Ray

JuanCarlos Santana

Keylon Stokes

Lachlan Wilson

Justin Wright

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