Tulsa Kicks Off Saturday at 1:30 PM Against UAB

Saturday, November 2

Birmingham, AL

1:30 PM

Tulsa

UAB

Photo by: BRETT ROJO, For the University o

Tulsa Kicks Off Saturday at 1:30 PM Against UAB

11/1/2024 10:46:00 AM | Football

TULSA LOOKING FOR SECOND STRAIGHT AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WIN ON UAB'S HOMECOMING WEEKEND

GAME 9: TULSA (3-5, 1-3 American) at UAB (1-6, 0-4 American)
Date/Time:	Saturday, November 2, 1:30 p.m. (CT)
Site:	Birmingham, Ala.
Stadium:	Protective Stadium (42,354)
Coaches:	TULSA – Kevin Wilson (North Carolina '84), 2nd year UAB – Trent Dilfer (Fresno State), 2nd year
TV:	ESPN+
Talent:	Courtney Lyle (pxp), Leger Douzable (analyst), Smacker Miles (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 4-0
Game Notes:	Tulsa \| UAB \| American Athletic Conference

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –– Coming off of a 28-point comeback win last week, Tulsa enters Saturday's road game against the UAB Blazers looking for its second consecutive victory in American Athletic Conference play.

Game time for UAB's Homecoming Game against the Golden Hurricane is set for 1:30 p.m. (CT) at Protective Stadium and can be seen on ESPN+.

Tulsa (3-5, 1-3 AAC) outscored UTSA 39-10 in the final 30 minutes last week for a 46-45 victory. Following an open week, UAB (1-6, 0-4 AAC) will be looking to snap a six-game losing streak after opening the season with a 41-3 win over Alcorn.

UAB has faced a strong league schedule facing the three top AAC teams – Army (7-0), Navy (6-1) and Tulane (6-2).

This will be the fifth meeting between the two teams and the first as members of the American Athletic Conference. Tulsa holds a 4-0 series lead, including two wins in Birmingham.

The two teams have shown brilliance at times this season, but both are looking to establish consistency on the offensive side of the ball. UAB averages only 21.0 points and 373 yards per game, while the defense is allowing just 387 yards to its opponents. A total of 15 turnovers has been the nemesis for the Blazers.

Tulsa's defense will look to take advantage of UAB miscues, while the offense hopes to take its second-half momentum from a week earlier into Saturday's game. The Hurricane offense averages just over 378 yards per game and 25.2 points but has allowed opponents to put up 438 yards while scoring 35.8 points.

Like the Hurricane, UAB has used multiple quarterbacks this year. Redshirt junior Jalen Kitna, a transfer from Florida and son of former NFL signal-caller Jon Kitna, has started the last three games. Kitna is coming off a game at South Florida in which he set career highs in completions (33), attempts (56), yards (384) and touchdowns (2).

He has completed 78-of-136 for 865 yards, four touchdowns 288.3 yards per game and six interceptions overall.

Senior Jacob Zeno, who started the first four games, is the most accurate passer in UAB history and one of the most prolific passers ever at the school. He has completed 69.5 percent of his passes this season for 819 yard and six TDs

The favorite receiving targets this year have been a pair of underclassmen – sophomore Amare Thomas and freshman Kam Shanks. Thomas has pulled in 34 catches for 370 yards and six receiving touchdowns, while Shanks has caught 36 passes for 333 yards and one TD.

Lee Beebe leads the ground game for the Blazers with 450 yards, a 4.9 average and three touchdowns, while upfront upperclassmen Brady Wilson, Jondarius Morgan and DJ Jones hold down center to right tackle, as a freshmen duo start on the left side of the offensive line.

Tulsa's defense will look to be physical again this week and get takeaways from a Blazers offense that has been vulnerable to turnovers this year.

The Hurricane is led by linebackers Gavin Potter and Zach Marcheselli, both hailing from nearby Broken Arrow High School. The duo has combined for 87 tackles and 14.5 TFL for -39 yards in their first seasons in a Tulsa uniform. Potter has a team-high 52 stops and eight TFL for -26 yards while Marcheselli has 35 stops and 6.5 tackles for -13 yards.

The defensive front is young in the interior and relies on veteran ends Myles Jackson, Owen Ostroski and Vontroy Malone to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Ostroski has 25 tackles, Jackson 24 and Malone 22 while combining for 15.5 stops for -76 yards.

Safety Dayne Hodge anchors a Tulsa secondary that has seen 12 different starters between the five positions, including three true freshmen. Hodge has tallied 50 tackles, three pass breakups and one interception to lead the group.

Fellow safety Malachai Jones, who is in his first year on defense after making the switch from receiver, has 28 stops and three pass breakups Corners Tyree Carlisle, NuNu Campbell and Keuan Parker have combined for 63 tackles and seven pass breakups.

Freshman safety Zach Williams, in a starting role last week, had a team-high 10 tackles from his safety position

The UAB defense is led by a veteran group with six seniors and three juniors in the starting lineup. The interior of the UAB defensive front is held down by a trio of 300-pounders in the likes of Derrick Sheppard, Kevin Penn and LD Cox, while the linebacking corps has been active.

Senior linebacker Michael Moore is coming off back-to-back games with 11 tackles and is leading the Blazers with 53 total tackles, including 31 stops in his last three games. Everett Roussaw and OC Brothers compliment Moore at the position as the duo has combined for 64 tackles and five TFL for -20 yards.

Safety Sirad Bryant leads the secondary with 42 stops while nickel Adrian Maddox has 29 stops and is tied with a team-high four pass breakups.
The Hurricane offense will look to establish a more balanced attack against the Blazers. Tulsa averaged 224 yards passing with 14 touchdowns while only gaining an average of 154 yards per game with eight rushing TDs.

Last week, Cooper Legas took over the reins at quarterback when Kirk Francis went out with an injury in the second quarter and proceeded to lead the Hurricane to a 28-point second-half comeback over UTSA. The graduate transfer from Utah State completed 16-of-31 passes for 333 yards and threw for a career-high 5 touchdowns. For his performance, Legas was named the AP National Player of the Week and the AAC Offensive Player of the Week.

Legas has completed 27-of-48 passes for 445 yards and six TDs in seven games this year, while Francis has received the majority of snaps at quarterback this season, completing 59 percent of his passes for 1,249 yards and seven touchdowns.

Two graduate seniors lead Tulsa in run and pass games. Anthony Watkins has rushed for 281 yards and three TDs, while Kamdyn Benjamin leads all receivers with 49 receptions for 625 yards and five TDs.

Benjamin caught seven passes for 125 yards and a career-high three TDs in last week's win, including the final two scores in the final three minutes.

The receiving corp is a young but talented group behind Benjamin. Newcomers Corey Smith with 11 catches for 173 yards, Zion Steptoe with 11 receptions for 153 yards, Joseph Williams with 9 catches for 127 yards and second-year tight end Luke McGary with 116 yards on seven receptions are just a few of the 17 Hurricane players to catch a pass this year.

Tulsa has struggled with its run game in the last two times out, gaining just 69.0 yards per game. Watkins gets help on the ground from junior Bill Jackson with 262 yards and freshmen Lloyd Avant with 192 yards and Viron Ellison with 132 yards. Watkins and Jackson have also been effective in the passing game, combining for 23 receptions, 205 receiving yards and two TDs.

The Hurricane offensive line, which has had five different starting lineups in eight games, will need to establish the line of scrimmage for the run game to have success, while keeping pressure off Tulsa quarterbacks.

Both special teams have scored this year, including UAB once on a punt return and Tulsa returning both a kick and punt for TDs. The punters are averaging over 40 yards, while both field goal kickers have been consistent. UAB's Jonah Delange has made all 14 of his field goals this year, while Tulsa's Seth Morgan is 9-of-11 and has made his last eight.

Temperatures are expected to reach the low 80s with partly cloudy skies in Birmingham for Saturday's 1:30 p.m. kickoff.