Tulsa Football Opens at Home Thursday

Tulsa Football Opens at Home Thursday

8/28/2023 7:59:00 PM | Football

Golden Hurricane hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 7 pm at Chapman Stadium

TULSA HOSTS UAPB THURSDAY NIGHT

GAME #1
TULSA (0-0, 0-0 AAC) vs. Arkansas-PB (0-0, 0-0 SWAC)
Thursday, Aug. 31, 7:00 pm (CT)
Stadium: H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000)
TV: ESPN+
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

FOR FULL GAMES NOTES PACKAGE, CLICK HERE

TULSA 0-0, 0-0 The American
Head Coach: Kevin Wilson
                               (North Carolina '84)
                              1st year at Tulsa
Career Record: 26-47 (6 years)
TU Record:           0-0

UAPB 0-0, 0-0 Southwestern Athletic
Head Coach:        Alonzo Hampton
                          (UL Monroe '96)
1st year at UAPB
Career Record:    0-0
UAPB Record: same

THE STORYLINES . . .
•     Tulsa enters its 127th season of football in 2023 … the first year of Tulsa football, known then as Henry Kendall College, was
in 1895.
•     Four AAC schools have had a football program since the 1800s… Navy has the oldest, fielding a team since 1879, followed by Tulane (1893), Temple (1894) and Tulsa (1895).
•     Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with a total enrollment of 3,777 students in 2022 … Tulsa is followed by Rice, Air Force, Navy and Army for smallest enrollments.
•     This is the first game in the Kevin Wilson era for Tulsa, while it is also the first game for UAPB Head Coach Alonzo Hampton.
•     This is the first meeting on the gridiron between Tulsa and Arkansas Pine Bluff.

TULSA IN SEASON OPENERS . . .
•     In the 126-year history of Tulsa football, the Golden Hurricane has posted a 70-53-2 record in season openers.
•     Tulsa has lost its last four season openers, but only one of those was at home … the road losses came at #18 Michgian State (2019), #19 Oklahoma State (2020) and at Wyoming (2022).
•     The home loss came in 2021, dropping a 19-17 decision to Cal Davis.
•     Tulsa's last season-opening win came in 2018 with a 38-27 home win over Central Arkansas.

IN HOME OPENERS . . .
•     Tulsa has a 67-26 record for a .720 winning percentage in home openers at Skelly Field since it was built in 1930 (no matter if it was the season opener or not).
*     The Hurricane is 16-7 in home openers since the 2000 season, including winning 14 of its last 17 home openers since 2006 … the only losses over the past 17 years have come against Oklahoma State (2011 and 2019) and Cal Davis (2021)
•     Tulsa was scheduled to open the 2020 season at home vs. Toledo, but that game was canceled due to Covid-19 … that year, Tulsa did not open the home season until Oct. 30 with a 34-30 win over East Carolina … it was Tulsa's fourth game of the season.

KEVIN WILSON IN FIRST YEAR LEADING TULSA FOOTBALL PROGRAM . . .
•     Kevin Wilson (North Carolina '84) was introduced as The University of Tulsa's 34th head football coach on December 6, 2022.
•     He spent the past six seasons as the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at The Ohio State University.
•     Before his stint at Ohio State, Wilson spent six years as the Indiana head coach.
•     He posted a 26-47 record at Indiana and led the Hoosiers to two straight bowl games.
•     He also coached at Oklahoma, Northwestern, Miami (Ohio), North Carolina A&T, Winston Salem and
his alma mater, North Carolina, as a graduate assistant.
•     Wilson has been a part of 13 seasons with 10 or more victories and has coached in four national championship games, including three at Oklahoma and one with Ohio State.

OFFENSIVE PLAY CALLING RECOGNITION . . .
•     Last year, as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State Kevin Wilson was selected as one the inaugural recipients of the GRAPHITE Award.
•     THe GRAPHITE Award recognizes excellence in Offensive Play Calling Efficiency, presented by RII Sports Technology.
•     His Play Calling Efficiency Rating (PCER) of 80.2% during the 2022 campaign was the highest in the Big 10 Conference and ranked in the 96th percentile among all FBS programs.

SCHEDULE FEATURES THREE TOP-25 TEAMS . . .
•     The 2023 Golden Hurricane schedule features three of the nation's top-25 teams, including two non-conference foes.
•     Tulsa will face two of the three in the first three weeks of the season, including N0. 10-ranked Washington and #20 Oklahoma.
•     AAC opponent Tulane comes into the season ranked 24th in the AP poll.
•     Washington ended the 2022 season with an 11-2 record and a Valero Alamo Bowl win over Texas.
•     Despite a losing record at 6-7 in 2022, the Sooners look to get back to its stronghold on the Big 12 Conference before its switch to the SEC.
•     Tulane finished the 2022 season with a 12-2 record, including a Cotton Bowl win over USC.

ABOUT THE OFFENSE . . .
•     Tulsa offensive coordinator Steve Spurrier Jr. has a rather young and talented group on the offensive side of the ball, led by sophomore Braylon Braxton at quarterback.
•     Although Tulsa lost its starting running back and three starters at receiver, prospects look good for 2023.
•     The receiving corps is led by Malachai Jones, who finished third in receiving a year ago with 470 yards, while two-time Oklahoma High School Player of the Year Braylin Presley brings outstanding game-breaking ability to the receiving unit.
•     Running backs Jordan Ford, Bill Jackson and Anthony Watkins have all had eye-opening big plays in their Tulsa careers.
•     The offensive line returns three starters in the likes of Will Farniok, Chester Baah and Tautai Li'o Marks, while tight end Ethan Hall played a major role last year.

ABOUT THE DEFENSE . . .
•     Defensive coordinator Chris Polizzi was hired from Tennessee-Martin, where he had one of FCS football's most advantageous units in 2023, one that led the nation for turnovers gained (28) and interceptions (17) through the regular season.
•     The defensive unit returns eight players with past starting experience, and led by senior safeties Kendarin Ray, who had the third-most tackles last year with 86, LJ Wallace and defensive linemen Joseph Anderson, who is the leading returning TFL leader in 2023, and Jayden Simon.
•     A strong contingent of transfers include linebackers Julien Simon from USC, Division II All-American Coleton Smith form Southwest Baptist College and Oklahoma State's Ben Kopenski. Keuan Parker (Arkansas), Xavier Lanier (UAB) and Oklahoma State transfers Demarco Jones and Kanion Williams will shore up an already strong secondary.

BRAXTON GOES 2-1 IN STARTS . . .
•     Braylon Braxton made a number of appearances throughout the 2022 season and took over the starting spot for the final three games, posting a 2-1 record with wins over South Florida and Houston.
•     Braxton set a new freshman passing record with two 300+ yard passing games on the year, coming against USF and Houston.
•     His 302 yards against USF was the first 300-yard passing game for a Tulsa freshman since T.J. Rubley's 386 yards against Oklahoma State in the 1987 season opener.
•     A week later, he became the only freshman in a Tulsa uniform to throw for two 300+ yards with 316 against Houston in the season finale.

THE GRADUATES . . .
•     Tulsa's roster has 19 players who have already earned their undergraduate degrees.
•     Joe Anderson, Chester Baah, Bryce Bray, Mitchell Kulkin, Jaise Oliver, Kendarin Ray and LJ Wallace earned their bachelor's degree at Tulsa.
•     Twelve players earned their degrees at other universities before transferring as graduate students to Tulsa.
•     Those players include Izuchukwu King Ani (Mississippi State), Donte Burton (Wisconsin), Will Farniok (Nebraska), Zaid Hamden (Ohio State), Kai-Leon Herbert (Miami, Fla.), Demarco Jones (Oklahoma State), Ben Kopenski (Oklahoma State), Xavier Lanier (UAB), Austin Ortega (Nevada), Darrell Simpson (Oklahoma), Coleton Smith (Southwest Baptist) and Kanion Williams (Oklahoma State).

K-RAY ENTERS 2023 WITH OVER 200 TACKLES . . .
•     Safety Kendarin Ray enters the 2023 season with 222 career tackles in 39 games and 26 starting assignments.
•     He has added 13 pass breakups, four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and one interception.
•     Ray has totaled seven career 10+ tackle games, including four last season.
•     He had a career-high 13 stops and his first career pickoff for a 23-yard return against No. 19 Tulane.
•     Ray's three forced fumbles in 2022 tied for second in the AAC with an 0.25 average.

BROTHERS FIND HOME IN TULSA . . .
•     The Simon brothers find themselves on the field together for the first time since high school in 2018.
•     Jayden Simon found his way to Tulsa last year after three seasons and eight games at Colorado.
•     This year, Jayden's younger brother, Julien, enrolled at Tulsa for the spring 2023 semester, after two years at Southern Cal.
•     The two are listed as starters on the first-game depth chart, Jayden on the defensive line and Julian at linebacker.
•     It will be the first time that the two brothers are on the field together since the 2018 season at Lincoln High School in Tacoma Washington … Jayden's last prep season was 2018, while Julien's was 2020.

THE TRANSFERS . . .
•     A total of 30 players on the Tulsa roster are transfers, including 26 with FBS experience, one FCS, two NCAA Division II and one NAIA.
•     Among 14 transfers this year, 12 are scholarship transfers… included in that group are 4 players from Oklahoma State (Demarco Jones, Ben Kopenski, Braylin Presley and Kanion Williams) … one each from FIU (Rey Burnett), Penn (Chase Meyer), Nevada (Austin Ortega), Arkansas (Keaun Parker), USC (Julien Simon), UAB (Xavier Lanier), SIU/Ohio State (Zaid Hamden) and DII Southwest Baptist (Coleton Smith).