TULSA, Okla. –– This season hasn't turned out the way either Tulsa or FAU had imagined as the year comes to a close Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Both teams enter the contest with interim head coaches while looking to snap losing streaks. Tulsa will look to send out its 24 seniors with a victory on SENIOR DAY.
The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. (CT) and will be aired digitally on ESPN+.
Tulsa's Ryan Switzer will be making his head coaching debut, while FAU's Chad Lunsford is leading the Owls for the second game but has previously served five seasons as the Georgia Southern head coach. Switzer is just in his second season on the Golden Hurricane staff as receivers coach following a six-year NFL career.
FAU (2-9, 0-7 AAC) has lost six straight contests, not having won since September 28. Meanwhile, Tulsa (3-8, 1-6 AAC) is looking to snap a three-game losing streak and striving for its first win since Oct. 26, when the Hurricane posted a 28-point comeback in a 46-45 win over UTSA.
The first quarter has not been productive for either Tulsa or FAU. The Hurricane has been outscored 108 to 34 in the first quarter and by a total of 141 points for the entire first 30 minutes. FAU has scored only 41 points in the first period and just 133 in the first half.
The Owls offense averages 201 passing yards and 173 yards on the ground for a total for 373 yards per game.
The quarterback position for the Owls appears to be in the hands of Tyriq Starks and Kasen Weisman as leading passer Cam Fancher appears to be out. Fancher has thrown for 1,528 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for another 365 yards and three TDs.
Starks has thrown for 256 yards and one touchdown in four games, while Weisman has completed 39 passes for 416 yards and two touchdowns in six appearances.
CJ Campbell, a Florida State transfer, leads FAU's run game with 744 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, which is ranked fifth on the school's single-season list. Campbell also ranks second for receiving with 36 catches for 348 yards and two TDs. Zuberi Mobley also adds to the FAU ground game with 487 yards for a 5.3 average per carry.
Receiver Omari Hayes has been the main target for FAU quarterbacks with 39 receptions for 590 yards and three TDs.
The Owls offensive line is led by seniors Alex Atcavage, Andre Lamas and Malcolm Lamar.
The young Tulsa defense has to control the Owls run game, limit big plays and capitalize on FAU turnovers. 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 114 tackles and 18.5 TFL for -50 yards in their only season at Tulsa. Potter has a team-high 68 stops and 10 TFL for -31 yards while Marcheselli has 45 stops and 8.5 tackles for -19 yards.Zach Marcheselli
Fellow linebacker Chris Thompson Jr. has totaled 42 tackles and 2.5 TFL for -3 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 33 tackles, Jackson 32 and Malone 25 stops while the trio has combined for 18 stops for -84 yards. Sophomore starting tackles Tai Newhouse and RJ Jackson Jr. have combined for 66 tackles and 7.5 stops for -29 yards.
The Tulsa secondary is extremely young with five true freshmen getting more and more playing time as the season has progressed, while there has been a total of 12 different starters between the five positions.
Five of the freshmen – Buddha Garrett, Zach Williams, Dax Collins, Ashton Williams, Elijah Wilson – have combined for 127 tackles, seven pass breakups and three interceptions. Garrett and Williams lead the way with 36 and 33 tackles, respectively. Over the past two games, Garrett has pick-off for 25 yards and recovered one fumble, while Wilson has had two interceptions.
Veteran safety Dayne Hodge leads the secondary with 54 tackles, three pass breakups and one interception from his safety position but is questionable after an injury kept him off the field a week ago. Fellow safety Malachai Jones, who is in his first year on defense after making the switch from receiver, has 46 stops and three pass breakups.
Although plagued by injuries, NuNu Campbell, Keuan Parker and Tyree Carlisle have the majority of starts at cornerback. The trio has combined for 79 tackles, seven breakups and two interceptions.
On offense, the Hurricane will look to put points on the board early to establish momentum, unlike six previous games in which Tulsa had gone scoreless in the first period. Tulsa averages 234 yards passing with 21 touchdowns while grounding out 159 rushing yards with 11 TDs.
Tulsa has mainly used two quarterbacks through the season with Kirk Francis starting the year out as the starter while graduate transfer Cooper Legas has seen most of the snaps in each of the last four games.
Legas has thrown for 969 yards and 11 TDs in those four contests, while overall on the year he has completed 78-of-143 passes for 1,081 yards and 12 TDs and rushed for another 218 yards and one TD on 74 carries in 10 games this year. On the year, Francis has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,359 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games with seven starts. Joseph Williams
Graduate Kamdyn Benjamin leads all receivers with 62 receptions for 755 yards and five TDs, while true freshman Joseph Williams has become another go-to receiver for Tulsa quarterbacks. Williams is coming off tying a school record with three straight 100-yard receiving games including a career-best 158 yards and three touchdowns two games ago against East Carolina. He had 126 yards and one TD on six receptions a week ago against South Florida.
Another true freshman Corey Smith has tallied 179 yards and two TDs, while sophomore Luke McGary with 193 yards on 14 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. Graduate Anthony Watkins leads the way after last week's 101-yard performance with 386 yards and four TDs on the year. Junior Bill Jackson is next with 319 yards followed by the freshman duo of Lloyd Avant and Viron Ellison Jr., having combined for 550 yards, including Ellison with 293 yards and Avant with 257.
The quartet has also been effective in the passing game, combining for 50 receptions for 353 yards and four touchdowns.
The Hurricane offensive line, which has had six different starting lineups this year, will need to establish the line of scrimmage for the run game to have success, while keeping pressure off Tulsa quarterbacks.
For FAU's defense, freshman safety CJ Heard leads the Owls with 78 tackles and has a team-leading three games with double-digit stops, including a career-high 13 vs. South Florida. Fellow safety Phillip Dunnam has 56 stops with a team-high three interceptions for 141 return yards. The corner is managed by 6'3 senior Buggs Brown with 40 stops and a team-high six pass breakups and 5'11" senior Daedae Hill with 24 tackles and three breakups.
Three graduate linebackers have been active on the FAU defense with Jackson Ambush leading the way with 70 tackles, 4.5 TFL for -11 yards and one interception. Eddie Williams and Desmond Tisdol have 51 and 34 stops, respectively.
FAU's interior defensive front uses a four-man rotation that stand 6'3" and averages 294 pounds to clog the middle. Senior starters Devonta Davis and Jaden Wheeler have combined for 59 tackles and 9.5 TFL.
The temperature for kickoff at Chapman Stadium is expected to be in the low 50s with sunny skies.
