Tulsa Football on the Road at Louisiana Tech

Saturday, September 21

Ruston, LA

6:00 p.m.

Tulsa

Louisiana Tech

Photo by: BRETT ROJO, For the University of Tulsa

Tulsa Football on the Road at Louisiana Tech

9/19/2024 11:07:00 PM | Football

GAME #4
TULSA (1-2, 0-0 AAC) at Louisiana Tech (1-1, 0-0 C-USA)
Saturday, Sept. 21, 6:00 p.m. (CT)
Stadium: Joe Aillet Stadium (28,562)
TV: ESPN+
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

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WATCH COACH WILSON PRESS CONFERENCE HERE

TULSA 1-2, 0-0 The American
Head Coach: Kevin Wilson
                               (North Carolina '84)
                              2nd year at Tulsa
Career Record: 31-57 (8th year)
TU Record:           5-10 (2nd year)

Louisiana Tech 1-1, 0-0 Conference USA
Head Coach: Sonny Cumbie
                          (Texas Tech '04)
3rd year at Louisiana Tech
Career Record: 9-22 (4th year)
LA Tech Record:      7-19 (3rd year)

THE STORYLINES . . .

• The Golden Hurricane fell to 1-2 on the season after losing at home to #13/14 Oklahoma State 45-10 last Saturday.

• Louisiana Tech is seeking to bounce back from its first setback of the season, falling last weekend 30-20 at NC State.

• This is the first time Sonny Cumbie will face Tulsa as the Louisiana Tech head coach, and the first time Kevin Wilson will face the Bulldogs as Tulsa's head coach.

• Tulsa returns 33 letterwinners to the 2024 roster.

• Tulsa is in its 128th season of football in 2024.

THE SERIES . . .

• Saturday marks the 11th meeting between Tulsa and Louisiana Tech in a series that dates back to a 1986 first meeting ... Louisiana Tech leads the series 7-3.

• The Bulldogs won the first four meetings before TU got its first win in 2000, a 22-10 win in Tulsa.

• The Hurricane won the last time these two teams met in 2013, taking down Louisiana Tech 22-14 in Ruston.

• The Golden Hurricane will attempt to win two in a row in the series for the first time.

FIRST & TEN . . .

• Tulsa enters the weekend 1-2 after losing at home 45-10 to #13 Oklahoma State in front of a sold out H.A. Chapman Stadium.

• After the Cowboys drove down the field with a long 16-play, 75-yard drive, Tulsa looked to respond, moving deep into OSU territory before a missed field goal ended the threat.

• From there, Oklahoma State started expanding its lead with 21 points in the second quarter to take a commanding 28-0 halftime lead.

• Redshirt freshman quarterback Kirk Francis threw for 153 yards with an interception in the loss and is up to 651 yards passing on the season with five touchdowns.

• Redshirt junior quarterback Stephen Kittleman scored Tulsa's lone touchdown of the game ... he led a four-play, 64-yard drive late in the fourth and capped it with a nine-yard rush for six ... Kittleman also completed both pass attempts on the drive for 53 yards.

• Graduate wide receiver Kamdyn Benjamin led the TU receiving corps with 94 yards on six catches.

• Francis and Benjamin's streak of games with a touchdown dating back to Tulane on Nov. 11 of last season ended at five games as the two failed to find the endzone together on Saturday.

• For the first time this season, Tulsa had a new rushing leader as Anthony Watkins had 40 yards on nine carries ... Viron Ellison Jr. picked up 36 yards on the ground on three carries ... Lloyd Avant had 18 yards on six rushes.

• Dayne Hodge led Tulsa with 11 tackles on Saturday and now holds the season lead with 22 ... Zach Williams recorded a career-best seven tackles in the loss.

Kasen Carpenter recorded his second career start at center ... he started the season opener when Tai Marks had to sit out due to targeting at the end of last season.

• Jehlen Cannady recorded his first career interception in the third quarter.

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 62-8 win over NSU, Wilson's opening day record improved to 7-1 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 31-56.

• 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.

FRANCIS TO BENJAMIN . . .

• Last season's roadtrip to Tulane led to a breakout game for now redshirt freshman quarterback Kirk Francis and graduate Kamdyn Benjamin ... Francis finished 22-of-34 for 345 yards and a touchdown pass ... Benjamin led the team with 157 yards and two touchdowns off eight receptions.

• Including that game, Francis and Benjamin connected through the air for a touchdown in each of the next five games, a streak that ended against Oklahoma State last Saturday

• In that stretch of games, the pair connected 32 times for 585 yards and five touchdowns, breaking the 100-yard mark in three games ... Benjamin and Francis averaged 18.3 yards per reception together.

• In the streak-ending game, Benjamin and Francis still combined for six catches and 94 yards.

THE BA BOYS . . .

• Graduate transfers Gavin Potter and Zach Marcheselli earned their first Golden Hurricane starts in the season opener against Northwestern State … the two close friends played high school football together at Broken Arrow and have come back home for their final season.

• Potter played four seasons at Kansas and a year at Arkansas State, while Marcheselli spent all his previous five seasons at TCU.

• The two did not disappoint in their initial homecoming, sharing the team lead with five tackles apiece … Marcheselli had 2.5 TFL for -7 yards, while Potter had 1.5 TFL for -2 yards on top of a quarterback hurry.

• Through the first three games, Potter and Marcheselli are second and third on the team in tackling, with 17 and 14 total tackles, respectively ... Marcheselli leads the team with 4.5 TFL totalling -10 yards and has forced a fumble ... Potter has 4 TFL for -14 yards.

RUNNING BY COMMITTEE . . .

• Five different running backs got carries in Thursday's home opener, sharing 31 carries amongst them.

• Leading rusher Lloyd Avant had 11 carries for 64 yards.

• Anthony Watkins racked up 40 yards on five carries, including a 33-yard TD run … Bill Jackson and Cam Crooks carried the ball for 53 and 47 yards, respectively, with the majority of Crooks' yards coming on a 41-yard scamper in the fourth … in addition to his special teams duties, Viron Ellison Jr. carried the ball five times for 26 yards.

• Running backs weren't the only one to help Tulsa on the ground in the win …quarterback Cardell Williams rushed for 35 yards and a touchdown, and Kirk Francis and Cooper Legas combined for 26 yards on the ground in four attempts …wide receivers Braylin Presley and Jacob Emmers each got a carry, with Emmers taking his attempt to the right for 15 yards and Presley finding the endzone with a 19-yard run early in the second half.

• Avant, Watkins and Jackson got the carries against Arkansas State, combining for 151 yards (5.03 ypc) and a Watkins touchdown ... Avant led the team with 62 yards on the ground ... Williams and Kirk Francis each had a rush from the QB position with Williams picking up his second TD of the young season.

• Nine different Hurricane got rushes against #13 Oklahoma State, paced by 40 yards from Watkins ... Stephen Kittleman got his first career rushing touchdown late in the game as Tulsa rushed for 116 yards as a team.

ELECTRIC KICK RETURNER . . .

• Lloyd Avant tallied 127 yards on two kickoff return against Northwestern State, including a 100-yard house call in the fourth quarter,

• He averages 32.8 yards per return this season, which is second best in the NCAA.