Tulsa on the Road at FAU Saturday at 5 PM

Saturday, October 7

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:00 PM (CT)

Tulsa

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: BRETT ROJO, For the University o

Tulsa on the Road at FAU Saturday at 5 PM

10/6/2023 9:00:00 PM | Football

TULSA VISITS FAU FOR THE OWLS INAUGURAL AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE GAME

GAME 6: TULSA (3-2, 1-0 American) vs. FAU (1-3, 0-0 AMERICAN)
Date/Time:	Saturday, October 7, 6:00 p.m. (ET) / 5:00 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Boca Raton, Fla.
Stadium:	FAU Stadium (29,495)
Coaches:	TULSA – Kevin Wilson (North Carolina '84), 1st year FAU – Tom Herman (Texas '99), 1st year
TV:	ESPN+
Talent:	Matt Schumacker (pxp), Taylor McHargue (analyst)
Tickets:	Contact FAU Ticket Office
Radio:	Big Country 99.5 FM or Online
Talent:	Bruce Howard (pxp), Rick Couri (analyst), Jeremie Poplin (sideline)
Live Stats:	Live Stats
Series:	Series tied 1-1
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| FAU \| American Athletic Conference

BOCA RATON, Fla. –– Tulsa looks to move to 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play on Saturday as the Golden Hurricane travels to south Florida to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls in a 6 p.m. (ET/ 5 p.m. (CT) matchup. The Owls will be playing its inaugural game in The American after 10 years in Conference USA.

The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on the Golden Hurricane Sports Network, including in the Tulsa area on Big Country 99.5 FM Radio.

Tulsa is off to an overall 3-2 start, while FAU has a 1-3 season record and is coming off an open week. Two of FAU's three losses were on back-to-back weekends at Clemson and Illinois, falling only by six points to the Big Ten's Illini. The Hurricane dropped its two games against Washington and home against Oklahoma but has won its last two over Northern Illinois (22-14) and Temple (48-26).

FAU, under head coach Tom Herman, will use its passing game with one of the nation's top receivers Lajohntay Wester to move down the field. The Owls complete better than 60 percent of its passes with backup Daniel Richardson taking the controls after a season-ending injury to starter Casey Thompson. Tulsa fans may be familiar with Richardson, a transfer from Central Michigan, who passed for 424 yards a year ago against Oklahoma State.

Wester has 401 yards and two TDs receiving, while ranking second in the nation with over 10 receptions per game. Wester is not Richardson's only target as Tony Johnson and Je'Quan Burton have gone over 100 yards between them while each scoring two TDs this year. The Owls run game, behind a veteran offensive line with three juniors and two seniors leading the way, has Larry McCammon carrying the load for 237 yards and a 6.4 average per carry.

Tulsa's front seven will look to get pressure in the passing game and control the Owls run game. The combination of Ben Kopenski, Owen Ostroski, Vontroy Malone, Joe Anderson, Jayden Simon, Everitt Rogers and Zaid Hamdan hold down the front line, while the linebacking duties will mostly be shared by Julien Simon, Mitchell Kulkin, Coleton Smith and Dorian Hopkins.

Safety Kendarin Ray leads the Tulsa secondary and has an American Athletic Conference leading 46 tackles. The Hurricane has used its depth in the secondary with eight players seeing considerable playing time.

On offense, injuries have affected the quarterback position for the Hurricane. The season's starter Braylon Braxton was injured in the first half of the season opener and after an impressive performance by Cardell Williams, Williams was injured in the Washington game in his first start. Roman Fuller started the Oklahoma game a week later, while Williams managed to come in and play most of the second quarter and the entire second half.

Williams lead Tulsa to the last two wins over NIU and Temple as the starter and is coming of a Temple performance that earned him the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week award. He accounted for 334 yards, including 244 passing and 90 rushing, and four touchdowns in the Temple victory.

On the year, Braxton has only attempted four passes in his brief time behind center, while Williams and Fuller have combined to complete 64% of their passes for 961 yards and 10 touchdowns. Williams has thrown for 840 of those yards and eight TDs.

In the run game, Tulsa uses a quartet of running backs – Anthony Watkins, Tahj Gary, Jordan Ford, and Bill Jackson – to pound out its 193.4 yards per game. Watkins leads the way with 320 rushing yards, followed by Ford with 237, Jackson at 196 and Gary with 134 yards.

The offensive line has helped pave the way for Tulsa ranking second in The American for rushing yards as it's been the identical starting lineup for the last four games. Graduate tackle Kai Leon Herbert will have a homecoming, hailing from nearby Plantation, Fla.

A young receiving corps, who's having to replace three starters that combined for 2,512 yards and 20 touchdowns a year ago, have shown positive strides. Sophomore Marquis Shoulders and freshman Devan Williams have caught the bulk of balls for the Hurricane, combining for 548 yards and seven TDs on 25 receptions. The tight end group has also been targets of Tulsa quarterbacks, catching 11 passes for 90 yards and two TDs.

The FAU defense has given up just under 400 yards of total offense through four games, allowing 158 yards on the ground and 240 through the air.

The three-man front is led in the middle by 'big man' 6-3, 355-pound Evan Anderson, who has tallied 16 tackles. The Owls use a four-man rotation at linebacker as Jackson Ambush has a high of 28 tackles on the year. The defensive secondary duo of Jarron Morris and Darius McLendon have accounted for 22 of the Owls 81 tackles against Illinois. Morris has totaled 25 tackles and five pass breakup this year for the Owls.

Temperatures expect to be in the low 90s at the local kickoff time of 6 p.m.