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GAME NOTES: Tulsa on the Road at Arkansas State
9/4/2024 11:56:00 AM | Football
GAME #2
TULSA (1-0, 0-0 AAC) at ARKANSAS STATE (1-0, 0-0 SBC)
Saturday, Sept. 7, 6:00 pm (CT)
Stadium: Centennial Bank Stadium (30,382)
TV: ESPN+
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM
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WATCH COACH WILSON PRESS CONFERENCE HERE
TULSA 1-0, 0-0 The American
Head Coach: Kevin Wilson
(North Carolina '84)
2nd year at Tulsa
Career Record: 31-55 (8th year)
TU Record: 5-8 (2nd year)
ARKANSAS STATE 1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference
Head Coach: Butch Jones
(Ferris State '90)
4th Year at Arkansas State
Career Record: 96-8 (15th year)
ASU Record: 12-26 (4th year)
THE STORYLINES . . .
• The two teams are coming off wins in their respective season
openers …Tulsa took down Northwestern State 62-28, while
Arkansas State used a last-second touchdown to knock back Central
Arkansas 34-31
• Tulsa returns 33 letterwinners to the 2024 roster.
• Tulsa is in its 128th season of football in 2024.
THE SERIES . . .
• This is the seventh meeting between Arkansas State and the
Golden Hurricane in a series that dates back to a 1978 meeting in
Tulsa (TU won 21-20)
• The series is tied 3-3
• Tulsa captured a home win in the previous meeting with the Red Wolves
41-34 in 2021.
• The Hurricane seeks its first win in Jonesboro, going 0-2 in its previous attempts.
FIRST & TEN . . .
• Tulsa amassed a staggering 622 yards of total offense in Thursday's opening night 62-28 win over Arkansas State.
• Defensively, TU held the Demons to just 226 yards, 114 on the ground and 112 through the air … a lot of NSU's rushing yards came on a 75-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage.
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Kirk Francis picked up where he left off, connecting on 23-of-30 attempts for 299 yards and a career-best four touchdowns.
• Both Cooper Legas and Cardell Williams also got in the game, with Williams scoring on a 22-yard rush in the fourth.
• Graduate wide receiver Kamdyn Benjamin three receivers to catch a touchdown pass, pulling down a 36-yard pass for TU's first score of the season …he later added a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown, Tulsa's first since Trey Watts in the 2012 C-USA Championship game.
• Zion Steptoe led TU with 88 yards receiving on five catches … Jeremiah Ballard made his first touchdown reception in a Tulsa uniform …Tight end Connor Vaughn pulled down back-to-back touchdown passes for the Hurricane, including a toe-touch grab in the south endzone.
• True freshman running back Lloyd Avant made his mark, leading the team with 64 yards on 11 carries (5.8 ypc).
• Avant also took back a kickoff early in the fourth quarter 100 yards for a touchdown, the first 100-yard return for TU since Ashlan Davis against Boise State in 2004.
• Anthony Watkins and Cardell Williams each had rushing touchdowns, as did wide receiver Braylin Presley … Cam Crooks broke off a 41-yard rush, and Bill Jackson, Viron Ellison Jr., Kirk Francis, Cooper Legas and Jacob Emmers all had carries.
• The Broken Arrow duo of Zach Marcheselli and Gavin Potter were joined by Chris Thompson Jr. in having the team lead with five tackles … Justin Lohrenz picked up TU's first sack of the season.
POTTER RETURNS TO JONESBORO . . .
• Graduate linebacker Gavin Potter transferred from Arkansas State to Tulsa following a season in Jonesboro … on Saturday, he'll return to play the Red Wolves as the Golden Hurricane take on Arkansas State.
• In 2023, Potter appeared in 11 games with 21 tackles, four TFL for -8 yards and three QB hurries … he set a career high with seven stops against Stonybrook.
• In Tulsa's opener and Potter's Golden Hurricane debut, he started and finished with five tackles, 1.5 tfl for -2 yards and a QB hurry.
• Before joining the Redwolves , Potter played four seasons at Kansas.
A SPECIAL NIGHT FOR SPECIAL TEAMS . . .
• Part of Tulsa's 62-point outburst in its season opening win over NSU was a pair of special teams touchdowns.
• Midway through the first quarter, graduate wide receiver and punt returner Kamdyn Benjamin fielded a punt at the TU 34 and took it 66 yards for pay dirt … it was Tulsa's first punt return touchdown since Trey Watts returned a punt 54 yards against UCF in the Conference USA Championship Game on Dec. 1, 2012.
• Near the beginning of the fourth quarter Lloyd Avant received a kickoff in the endzone and took it straight downfield for a 100-yard touchdown return, the first kickoff return for a TD since Anthony Watkins went 97 yards against Navy in 2021, and first 100-yard return since Ashlan Davis against Boise State in 2004.
• This was Tulsa's 5th 100-yard kickoff return in school history.
KAM AND KIRK PICK UP WEEKLY HONORS . . .
• For their performances in week one, graduate wide receiver Kamdyn Benjamin and redshirt freshman Kirk Francis were garnered The American weekly honors.
• Benjamin was named The American Special Teams Player of the Week, while Francis was tabbed as a The American Weekly Honorable Mention.
• Francis threw for 299 yards and four touchdowns, while Benjamin tallied 85 yards in punt returns, including a 66-yard touchdown return in the first… He finished with 150 all purpose yards and two touchdowns.
TULSA QUARTERBACKS IN THE SEASON OPENER . . .
• Kirk Francis got the starting nod for game one and was the only of Tulsa's quarterbacks to throw a pass, but all three played.
• Francis finished 23-of-30 for 299 yards and four touchdowns, tying Seth Boomer (at UCONN, 2018) for TD passes by a Tulsa freshman … Francis led all The American quarterbacks with a 204.4 efficiency rating.
• Redshirt sophomore Cardell Williams rushed the ball four times on Thursday, finishing with 35 yards … he broke off a 22-yard touchdown run in the fourth to cap TU's scoring.
• Graduate transfer quarterback Cooper Legas finished with seven yards on two carries as the quarterback.
KICK RETURNER NO. 1 . . .
• Lloyd Avant tallied 127 yards on two kickoff returns on Thursday, including a 100-yard house call in the fourth quarter …his 63.5 yards per return is tops among all returners in the nation after week one.
THE BA BOYS . . .
• Graduate transfers Gavin Potter and Zach Marcheselli earned their first Golden Hurricane starts on Thursday night … 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.
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.
TULSA RANKS SIXTH AMONG ALL FBS SCHOOLS FOR CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS …
• Tulsa has won the sixth-most conference championships among FBS schools with a total of 35 league titles.
• Oklahoma (50), Nebraska (46), Michigan (45), Ohio State (39) and Southern Cal (37) are the only schools with more than Tulsa (35). Alabama (34), Texas (31), Fresno State (29) and Utah (28) round out the top 10 teams.
• Tulsa has played in the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference (1914-28; 5 titles), Big Four Conference (1929-32; 3 titles), Missouri Valley Conference (1935-85; 25 titles), Western Athletic Conference (1996-2004; 0 titles), Conference USA (2005-13; 2 titles) and the American Athletic Conference (2014-present; 0 titles).
