Tulsa Football Opens at Home Thursday Against Northwestern State
8/26/2024 7:19:00 PM | Football
TULSA HOSTS NORTHWESTERN STATE THURSDAY NIGHT
GAME #1
TULSA (0-0, 0-0 AAC) vs. NORTHWESTERN STATE (0-0, 0-0 SLC)
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 4-8, 2-6 The American (2023 Record)
Head Coach: Kevin Wilson
(North Carolina '84)
2nd year at Tulsa
Career Record: 30-55 (7 years)
TU Record: 4-8 (1 year)
UAPB 0-6, 0-2 Southland Conference (2023 Record)
Head Coach: Blaine McCorkle
(LSU '00)
1st year at Northwestern State
Career Record: 24-7 (3 years)
NW State Record: 0-0
THE STORYLINES . . .
• The 2024 season is the second for head coach Kevin Wilson.
• Tulsa finished the 2023 season with an overall 4-8 record and
2-6 in the American Athletic Conference.
• Tulsa returns 33 letterwinners to the 2024 roster.
• Northwestern State will be playing its first game since
October 19, 2023, as the remainder of the Demons 2023 season
was cancelled after the death of junior safety Ronnie Caldwell.
• NW State finished the year with an 0-6 mark and was 0-2 in
the Southland.
• The Demons are under the direction of first-year coach Blaine
McCorkle, who previously posted a 31-25 record in six seasons at Belhaven
University.
FIRST & TEN . . .
• Tulsa returns 67 players from the 2023 opening day roster, including 33 returning letterwinners.
• Tulsa is in its 128th season of football in 2024.
• Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with a total enrollment of 3,587 students.
THE SERIES . . .
• This is the second meeting between Tulsa and Northwestern Louisiana.
• Tulsa captured a home win in the previous meeting against the Demons by a 26-19 score on Sept. 17, 1983.
TULSA IN SEASON OPENERS . . .
• In the 127-year history of Tulsa football, the Golden Hurricane has posted a 71-53-2 record in season openers.
• Tulsa snapped a 4-game losing streak in season openers with a 42-7 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last year.
• Among the four losses, three were road losses at #18 Michigan State (2019), #19 Oklahoma State (2020) and at Wyoming (2022) and a 2021 home loss to Cal Davis, 19-17.
IN HOME OPENERS . . .
• Tulsa has a 68-26 record for a .723 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 17-7 in home openers since the 2000 season, including winning 15 of its last 18 home openers since 2006 … the only losses over the past 18 years have come against Oklahoma State (2011 and 2019) and Cal Davis (2021).
MARGARITAVILLE NIGHT – A TRIBUTE TO JIMMY BUFFETT . . .
• TU celebrates the late Jimmy Buffett on Margaritaville Night for the opener.
• The Buffett Beach Band performs at Chapman Commons beginning at 4:45 pm.
• Game tickets can be purchased online at TulsaHurricane.com by calling 918-631-4688 or in person between 8:30-5 pm at the Reynolds Center Ticket Office … single-game ticket prices range from $20-50.
KEVIN WILSON IN SECOND YEAR LEADING THE TULSA FOOTBALL PROGRAM . . .
• Kevin Wilson (North Carolina '84) is in his second
season as the Tulsa head coach.
• He was introduced as The University of Tulsa's 34th
head football coach on December 6, 2022.
• With Tulsa's season opening 42-7 win over UAPB,
Wilson's opening day record improved to 6-1 as a head
coach.
• He finished his first season with a 4-8 overall record
in a year that saw Tulsa take on three top-20 ranked
foes.
• Wilson's career head coaching record is 30-55.
• He spent the previous six seasons as the offensive
coordinator and tight ends coach at Ohio State.
• In 2022, Wilson was selected as one the inaugural
recipients of the GRAPHITE Award, which 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.
• 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.
THE QB CORRAL . . .
• Tulsa has three QBs on the roster who have starting collegiate experience.
• Last year was a perfect example of why having depth at quarterback is essential, as the Hurricane started four different QBs through the 2023 season due to injury.
• This year Tulsa returns two players who saw playing time last year – sophomore Cardell Williams and redshirt freshman Kirk Francis, who are joined by Utah State transfer Cooper Legas.
• The trio has combined for 5,601 passing yards, 48 TDs and 29 interceptions in 34 games with 21 starts.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE QBs . . .
• RS Freshman Kirk Francis played in the final 4 games of 2023 to preserve his redshirt season … he started the final two games.
• Francis completed 68-of-121 passes for 967 yards with 6 TDs, and just 3 INT.
• He had the second-best freshman passing performance in school history with 345 yards and one TD on 22-of-34 attempts at Tulane.
• Cooper Legas is a graduate transfer from Utah State and brings in 3,485 passing yards and 32 TDs on 284-of-454.
• Legas finished the 2023 season completing 138-of-213 passes for 1,815 yards and 19 TDs, with career-highs of 387 yards and 4 TDs against Colorado State.
• Sophomore Cardell Williams saw his first collegiate action as a redshirt freshman in 2023 and finished the year completing 79-of-132 passes for 1,149 yards and 10 TDs in nine games.
• He completed his first 13 passes in a reserve role vs. UAPB in the opener, finishing 13-of-14 for 233 yards and 3 TDs in his first career game.
GRADUATE TRANSERS HIGHLIGHT LINEBACKER CORPS . . .
• Tulsa lost its four major contributors at linebacker from the 2023 season – graduates Mitchell Kulkin and Coleton Smith and transfers Julien Simon and Dorian Hopkins.
• This year, Tulsa added three graduate transfers at linebacker –– Zach Marcheselli from TCU, Gavin Potter from Arkansas State via Kansas, and Chris Thomas Jr. from USC via Auburn.
• The trio has combined to play 14 years between them, playing in 123 games with 27 starts and have totaled 244 career tackles.
• Marcheselli and Potter played their prep football at nearby Broken Arrow High School.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TRANSER LINEBACKERS . . .
• Entering his sixth year of college football, Zach Marcheselli totaled 20 tackles, one INT and one PBU is 43 games at TCU.
• Also in his sixth year is Marcheselli's high school teammate Gavin Potter has played in 48 career games with 25 starts … Potter has tallied 195 career tackles in his 4 years at Kansas and one season at Arkansas State.
• Chris Thomas Jr. enters his fifth season and has compiled 29 total tackles in 32 games with two starting assignments between his time at Auburn and USC.
WALK-ONS TO KEY CONTRIBUTORS . . .
• In 2023, Tulsa had some key contributions from two former walk-ons as well as from two soon-to-be former walk-ons.
• WR Kamdyn Benjamin and OL Walter Young Bear had already earned their scholarships, while QB Kirk Francis and SAF Dayne Hodge were put on scholarship after the season.
• Benjamin totaled team-highs of 47 receptions for 727 yards and 6 TDs, as all of the TDs came over the final 6 games.
• The junior Hodge received his first career start at Northern Illinois as a sophomore in 2023 and responded with 2 tackles and one interception.
• Hodge ended the year starting eight games and totaling 57 tackles, 1.5 TFL, one interception and has caused two fumbles.
• Young Bear played in all 12 games and started the final two contests at left guard as a sophomore in 2023.
• Francis saved his redshirt year as a true freshman in 2023, but did play in the final four games.
• Francis completed 68-of-121 passes for 967 yards with 6 TDs, and just 3 INT, while throwing for the second-most yards in school history as a freshman with 345 yards at Tulane.
WATKINS RETURNS TO ANCHOR RUNNING BACK CORPS . . .
• Graduate RB Anthony Watkins returns to lead the Tulsa running back corps.
• In 2023, Watkins led Tulsa rushers with 889 yards for a 4.5 average per carry.
• Watkins has five career 100+ rushing games, including three in 2023 – 146 vs. Charlotte, 115 vs. North Texas and 106 vs. East Carolina … his other two 100+ games came in 2021.
• Watkins earned third-team all-conference accolades in 2023.
• He became the 51st player in school history to gain more than 1,000 rushing yards in their career … his 1,544 career rushing yards in 33 career games is the 28th most in school history.
WEARING DADS NUMBER . . .
• On Oct. 27, 2018, Tulsa All-American offensive lineman Jerry Ostroski had his jersey No. 55 retired.
• Amongst his family at the ceremony was son Owen Ostroski, who later would sign with the Golden Hurricane to follow his dad's playing career at Tulsa.
• A junior defensive end, Owen, has worn No. 48 in honor of another former TU player – the late New York Jets defensive end Dennis Byrd.
• This year, the number 55 will be put back in action as the younger Ostroski will be wearing his dad's number.
MAKING THE MOVE TO DEFENSE . . .
• After spending his first four seasons at Tulsa as a receiver, senior Malachai Jones made the move to safety in spring drills.
• The secondary position is not foreign to Jones, as he played receiver, safety and cornerback at Houston Westfield HS.
• After redshirting in 2020, Jones has played in 33 career games and has caught 49 passes for 630 yards and 4 TDs.
FOUR-YEAR TRANSFERS . . .
• Tulsa has 13 four-year college scholarship transfers in their first season on the roster, including 6 on offense, 6 on defense and one specialist.
• The offensive newcomers include lineman Ender Aguilar (Cal), Kaden Stanton (New Mexico State) and Jacob Waller (SMU); receivers Jeremiah Ballard (UTEP) and Zion Steptoe (Purdue); and QB Cooper Legas (Utah State).
• On defense, the 4-year transfers are linebackers Zach Marcheselli (TCU), Gavin Potter (Arkansas State) and Chris Thompson, Jr. (USC); lineman Amieh Williams (Angelo State); JACK Myles Jackson (Indiana), and CB Champ Lewis (TCU).
• The lone specialist is kicker Seth Morgan (Memphis).
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