TULSA GAME NOTES: Vs. RICE

TULSA HOSTS OWLS ON THURSDAY NIGHT

Before the game at 4 p.m. on Chapman Commons, Tulsans will have a chance to break a Guinness World Record for the Largest Beer Tasting event.

GAME #7
TULSA (3-3, 1-1 AAC) vs. RICE (3-3, 1-1 AAC)
Thursday, Oct. 7 • 6 pm (CT)
Stadium: H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000)
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

FOR FULL GAMES NOTES PACKAGE, CLICK HERE

TULSA 3-3, 1-1 The American
Head Coach:          Kevin Wilson
                                  (North Carolina '84)
                                  1^st year at Tulsa
Career Record:        29-50 (7 years)
TU Record: 3-3 (1 year)

RICE 3-3, 1-1 The American
Head Coach:          Mike Bloomgren
                                  (Florida State '99)
                                  6^th year at Rice
Career Record:        19-42 (6 years)
RICE Record: same

THE STORYLINES . . .
•        The two teams come into the game with identical 3-3 and 1-1 AAC records
•        Tulsa is in its 127th season of football … Tulsa's first football season was 1895, (TU did not field a team in 1907), while Rice's
first year of football was 1891.
•        Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with 3,777 students, while Rice has a student enrollment of 8,200.
•        This is Tulsa's third straight game against a school nicknamed the Owls … Tulsa has faced the Temple, FAU and Rice Owls.
•        On the field, Tulsa has been balanced offensively with 193.5 yards through the air and 192.0 yards on the ground.
•        In contrast, Rice's passing attack has led the Owls with 316.2 yards per game, while just gaining 79.5 yards on the ground.

THE SERIES . . .
•        This is the 20th meeting between Tulsa and Rice, but the first as members of the AAC.
•        Tulsa leads the series 10-8-1.
•        The last meeting was in 2013 as Rice grabbed a 30-27 OT win in Tulsa.
•        Rice leads the series in Tulsa 5-4, while Tulsa leads in Houston 6-3-1.

QUICK HITTERS . . .
•        Tulsa faced three FBS non-conference opponents who currently sport a combined 15-4 record, including two of the nation's top-10 teams Oklahoma and Washington.
•        Tulsa's defense has 11 takeaways for a 1.8 average per game to rank 32nd nationally for turnovers gained.
•        Tulsa has been efficient in the red zone this season, converting 22-of-24 attempts (91.7%), with 16 of those going for touchdowns.
•        The Hurricane ranks 25th nationally for rushing offense with an average of 193.5 yards per game.
•        Three Tulsa quarterbacks have started at least one game this year due to injuries … Braylon Braxton started the opener, Cardell Williams vs. #8 Washington, NIU, Temple and FAU and Roman Fuller against #19 Oklahoma.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT . . .
•        Before the Rice game, tailgating on Chapman Commons begins at 2:30 p.m. … the Eli Young Band takes the pre-game stage at 4:15 p.m.
•        Tulsans will have a chance to break a world record prior to the Tulsa-Rice game for the Guinness World's Largest Beer Tasting event beginning with the lineup at 2:30 p.m. on Chapman Commons … the beer tasting world record attempt will take place at 4 p.m. … to sign-up go to: https://fevo.me/beertasting.
•        Buy a Game Ticket, Oktoberfest Ticket, and an Official Oktoberfest Beer Stein for ONLY $25 … or, buy a Game Ticket and Oktoberfest Ticket for $20 … or purchase an Official Oktoberfest Beer Stein for $5 … any of these selections will register you for the Guinness World Record attempt.
•        OR, fans can just register for the World Record Attempt for FREE.

HURRICANE WATCH . . .
•        SAF Kendarin Ray leads the AAC with 46 tackles, while ranking 30th in the NCAA.
•        Sophomore PK Chase Meyer leads the The American and shares the NCAA lead for field goal percentage at 100%, connecting on 7-of-7 field goals.
•        Meyer has also converted 19-of-19 PATs.
•        Walk-on SAF Dayne Hodge has gotten the start at safety in each of the last three games and has responded with 19 tackles, one TFL, one interception and caused one fumble … he had two stops and one INT in his first start at NIU and tallied a team-high nine tackles and one forced fumble vs. Temple.
•        RB Tahj Gary had a 17-yard TD run to give Tulsa a 19-14 lead at NIU and broke that career long TD run a week later with a 40-yard score against Temple.
•        JACK Ben Kopenski has team-highs of 5.5 TFL for -26 yards and 4.5 sacks for -24 yards this season after transferring from Oklahoma State.
•        SAF Jaise Oliver has three interceptions this year and five for his career.
•        In Tulsa's last outing, Oliver record 11 stops, one TFL for -3 yards, two PBUs and one INT … nine of his tackles, the TFL, INT and PBUs came in the first half.
•        True freshman TE Luke McGary has caught five passes for 65 yards with two of those going for TDs, covering 35 yards.
•        In the last four games, WR Kamdyn Benjamin has totaled 215 yards on 11 catches after having just five career receptions for 25 yards in his previous 24 games played.
•        LB Julien Simon, after transferring from USC, had a career-high 10 tackles at FAU … in the last three games, Simon has 22 stops, 2.5 TFL and one fumble recovery.
•        PK Chase Meyer has converted 17-of-17 PATs and 6-of-6 field goals for 35 points in his first season at Tulsa after transferring from Penn.
•        In the last five games, LB Dorian Hopkins has come off the bench to register 23 tackles, 5.8 stops per game.
•        Oklahoma State transfers Kanion Williams (SAF) and Demarco Jones (CB) each had their first career interceptions this year … Williams' interception came against UAPB in the opener and Jones' pickoff came against #19 Oklahoma.

TULSA GETS TWO AAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS . . .
•        Tulsa has had two American Athletic Conference Player of the Week selections this year.
•        Kendarin Ray was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance at Northern Illinois on Sept. 23.
•        Ray had a team-high 10 tackles and came up with the game-clinching interception to secure Tulsa's 22-14 win over NIU.
•        A week later, QB Cardell Williams was the Offensive Player of the Week for his outing against Temple on Sept. 28.
•        Williams accounted for 334 yards and four touchdowns (3 pass, one rushing) in Tulsa's 48-26 win over Temple … he completed 82% of his passes (14-of-17) for 244 yards and 3 TDs, while leading Tulsa in rushing with 90 yards on 10 carries.

NEWCOMERS . . .
•        Through the first six games, a total of 25 newcomers have played in at least one game, including 13 transfers and 12 true freshmen.
•        In the season opener there were 20 first-year players that saw action.
•        That number in the opener included 11 transfers and 9 true freshmen, as six of those newcomers were in the starting lineup against UAPB.
•        On offense, transfer WR Braylin Presley and true freshman TE Luke McGary each started in the opener … Presley had 13 rushing yards on three carries, while McGary had 27 receiving yards on two receptions.
•        Defensively, transfers DE Ben Kopenski, CB Demarco Jones, LB Julien Simon and LB Coleton Smith were in the opening day starting lineup and combined for 17 tackles and three TFL for -14 yards.

DEFENSE FACES TWO OF NATION'S TOP OFFENSES . . .
•        Tulsa's defense was tested early this year against two of the nation's top offenses within the first three weeks of the season.
•        The Hurricane faced #8 Washington in week 2 … the Huskies currently rank first in the NCAA for passing yards (424.7), 3rd for total yards (543.7), and 5th for scoring offense (44.3).
•        In week 3, #19 Oklahoma was the Tulsa opponent … the Sooners now rank 4th for pass offense (341.2), 4th for scoring offense (45.2) and 6th in total offense (506.0).
•        Those two top-20 teams averaged 579.0 yards, 465.0 passing yards and 54.5 points against Tulsa.

TULSA DEFENSE VS. EVERYONE ELSE . . .
•        Take away the stats from two of the nation's current top-10 teams, Washington and Oklahoma, Tulsa's defensive numbers are impressive.
•        Tulsa's defense has held its other four opponents – UAPB, NIU, Temple and FAU – to 309.5 total yards, 172.8 yards passing, 136.8 rushing yards and only 16.7 points.
•        The Hurricane defense held UAPB to just 7 points, Temple to 44 rushing yards, NIU to 128 passing yards and UAPB to 252 total yards, all season-lows for Tulsa's opponent

OLIVER PLAYING BIG DEFENSIVELY . . .
•        SAF Jaise Oliver has de a big presence in the Tulsa secondary this year.
•        The fifth-year senior leads Tulsa for interceptions (3) and pass breakups (4), while ranking third for tackles with 28 stops … he has also forced one fumble.
•        Oliver had a career-game with 11 stops, one TFL for -3 yards, two pass breakups and one interception against FAU.

BALANCE . . .
•        Offensively, Tulsa has shown balance as only nine yards separate Tulsa's season totals for rushing (1,161) and passing (1,152) yards.
•        Tulsa has averaged 193.5 yards on the ground and 192.0 yards passing.
•        Of Tulsa's 19 offensive touchdowns, Tulsa has 11 passing TDs and eight TDs on the ground.

TULSA GAME NOTES: Vs. RICE

Players Mentioned

Kamdyn Benjamin

Braylon Braxton

Roman Fuller

Tahj Gary

Dayne Hodge

Dorian Hopkins

Demarco Jones

Ben Kopenski

Luke McGary

Chase Meyer

Jaise Oliver

Braylin Presley

Kendarin Ray

Julien Simon

Coleton Smith

Cardell Williams

Kanion Williams

Related Videos