Saturday, November 23
Tampa, FL
2:30 p.m.
Tulsa
at
South Florida
Photo by: BRETT ROJO, For the University o
Tulsa Takes on South Florida Saturday in Tampa
11/21/2024 11:00:00 PM | Football
Tulsa in Tampa Saturday to Take on South Florida Bulls
| GAME 11: TULSA (3-7, 1-5 American) vs. SOUTH FLORIDA (5-5, 3-3 American) | |
|---|---|
| Date/Time: | Saturday, November 23, 2:30 p.m. (CT) / 3;30 p.m. (ET) |
| Site: | Tampa, Fla. |
| Stadium: | Raymond James Stadium (65,000) |
| Coaches: | TULSA – Kevin Wilson (North Carolina '84), 2nd year SOUTH FLORIDA – Alex Golesh (Ohio State '06), 2nd year |
| TV: | ESPN+ |
| Talent: | Jason Ross Jr. (pxp), Tyoka Jackson (analyst) |
| 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: | Series tied 3-3 |
| Game Notes: | Tulsa | South Florida | American Athletic Conference |
TAMPA, Fla. –– With just two weekends remaining in the season, Tulsa will look to end on a strong note beginning this Saturday in Tampa against the South Florida Bulls. Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. local time / 2:30 p.m. (CT) from the home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers Raymond James Stadium.
The game will be aired digitally on ESPN+.
While Tulsa's season ends after next week's home game against FAU, USF's season could be extended with a victory against the Hurricane. The Bulls enter the game with a 5-5 overall record and 3-3 American Athletic Conference mark looking to be bowl eligible. USF schedule has been a tough won as their five losses have come against teams who have compiled an .807 winning percentage with a 42-10 record, including currently ranked Alabama, Miami (Fl.) and Tulane.
Even though the Tulsa-USF series is even at 3-3, it's been unordinary, in that Tulsa owns a 2-1 record in Tampa, while the Bulls are 2-1 at Chapman Stadium. The Golden Hurricane has won the last three meetings after USF began the series with three straight wins.
Tulsa (3-7, 1-5 AAC) will need to get off to a quick start offensively against a team that controls possession time, 35:07 to 24:52, and has a run game that has averaged 298.4 yards in its five wins.
USF has amassed a fairly balanced 386.5 yards of total offense with 187 coming on the ground and 199 through the air, but in its five wins the running game has taken over. The Bulls are coming off a school record 425-yard rushing performance in last week's 59-24 win over Charlotte.
The Tulsa defense will get tested on the ground by the Bulls three-headed monster at running back and one of two quarterbacks who has been productive on the ground as well.
USF has three running backs who have combined for 1,346 yards, 20 touchdowns and a 5.8 average per carry. Kelley Joiner's 616 yards and nine TDs leads the way, while coming off a career-best 140 yards and two TDs last week. Nay'Quan Wright with 432 and Ta'Ron Keith with 298 yards have also been integral in the Bulls' potent run game.
The run game is paved by an experienced offensive front with all five starters either graduates or seniors, while averaging 6'5" and 318 pounds.
USF has used two quarterbacks – Byrum Brown and Bryce Archie – this season with Brown starting the first five contests and Archie in the starting position in the last five. Brown has completed 59 percent of his passes for 836 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 269 yards and three TDs. Archie has thrown for 1,147 yards and six touchdowns and has rushed for only 70 yards.
A total of 10 receivers have totaled more than 100 yards apiece for the Bulls, while the favorite target has been Sean Atkins with 54 receptions for 499 yards and one TD.
Tulsa will combat USF's stout run game with a run defense that has held opponents to 149 yards per game, while giving up 309 passing yards.
The Hurricane is led by graduate transfer linebackers Gavin Potter and Zach Marcheselli, both hailing from nearby Broken Arrow High School. The duo has combined for 102 tackles and 15.5 TFL for -43 yards in their only season in a Tulsa uniform. Potter has a team-high 64 stops and nine TFL for -30 yards while Marcheselli has 38 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. Jackson has 31 tackles, Ostroski 30 and Malone 24 while combining for 17 stops for -83 yards. Sophomore starting tackles Tai Newhouse and RJ Jackson Jr. have combined for 62 tackles and are each coming off 6-tackle performances a game ago.
The Tulsa secondary is extremely young with four true freshmen getting more and more playing time as the season has progressed, while there have been a total of 12 different starters between the five positions.
Four of the freshmen – Buddha Garrett, Zach Williams, Ashton Williams and Elijah Wilson – have combined for 92 tackles, seven pass breakups and two interceptions. Garrett and Williams have each totaled 31 stops on the year. A week ago, Garrett had a pick-off for 25 yards and recovered one fumble, while Wilson also grabbed an interception.
Veteran safety Dayne Hodge leads the secondary with 54 tackles, three pass breakups and one interception from his safety position. Fellow safety Malachai Jones, who is in his first year on defense after making the switch from receiver, has 37 stops and three pass breakups.
NuNu Campbell and Keuan Parker has started the majority of games at corner, combining for 50 tackles, six breakups and two interceptions. Parker in his return last week after missing three games with an injury had a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The USF defense is a veteran group with 10 of the starters being at least a junior in athletic standing. The Bulls have faced some potent offenses this year in the likes of Alabama, Memphis, Miami (Fla.), Navy and Tulane and has given up 421 yards overall, including 155 yards on the ground and 265 passing yards.
The front six in the 3-3-5 defense are seniors or graduates and four are transfer students. Linemen Doug Blue-Eli, Bernard Gooden and Decarius Hawthorne tip the scales at an average of 295 pounds, while the Bulls' starting linebacker corps has totaled 144 tackles, 17.5 stops for -81 yards and 11 QB hurries.
Mac Harris is the leader of the linebacking corps with a team-leading 62 tackles, followed by Jamie Pettway's 48 stops, Jhalyn Shuler with 41 and Rico Watson III with 31 stops.
USF's secondary is led by junior transfer corners DeShawn Rucker and Brent Austin, who have combined for 75 tackles and 13 pass breakups, while safeties Tawfiq Byard and Tavin Ward have 44 and 43 stops, respectively.
The Hurricane offense, averaging only 3.4 points in the first quarter this year, will need to establish itself early. USF has allowed 9.4 points in the opening period while also scoring just 4.7 points itself, so early points for either team will be an advantage.
In its' six AAC games, Tulsa has scored just 6.8 points in the first half while giving up 26.5 points before intermission. In Tulsa's three AAC losses, the Hurricane has been outscored 86 to 10 in the first 30 minutes.
Overall, Tulsa averages 232 yards passing with 20 touchdowns while gaining 152 yards on the ground with eight rushing TDs.
Tulsa's offense has mainly seen two quarterbacks through the season with Kirk Francis starting the year out as the starter and graduate transfer Cooper Legas has seen most of the snaps in each of the last three games.
Legas has passed for 856 yards and 10 TDs in those three contests with just two interceptions. Overall, Legas has completed 68-of-118 passes for 968 yards and 11 TDs, while rushing for 204 yards, one TD on 69 carries in nine games this year. On the year, Francis has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,249 yards and seven touchdowns in nine games with seven starts.
Graduate Kamdyn Benjamin leads all receivers with 58 receptions for 694 yards and five TDs, while true freshman Joseph Williams has become another go-to receiver for Tulsa quarterbacks. Williams is coming off two straight 100-yard receiving games including a career-best 158 yards and three touchdowns last week against East Carolina.
Another true freshman Corey Smith has tallied 179 yards and two TDs, while sophomore Luke McGary with 170 yards on 12 receptions leads Tulsa's tight ends.
Tulsa's run game is "by committee" as four running backs have each gained 200+ yards on the season. Junior Bill Jackson leads the way with 318 yards, graduate Anthony Watkins has 285 yards and a team-high three TDs, while the freshman duo of Lloyd Avant and Viron Ellison Jr. have combined for 456 yards, including Avant with 236 and Ellison 220.
The quartet has also been effective in the pass game, combining for 47 receptions for 340 yards and four touchdowns.
The Hurricane offensive line, which has had six different starting lineups in the 10 games, will need to establish the line of scrimmage for the run game to have success, while keeping pressure off Tulsa quarterbacks.
The temperature for kickoff at Raymond James Stadium is expected to be in the high-60s with sunny skies.
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