GAME #8
TULSA (3-4, 1-2 AAC) vs. SMU (3-4, 1-2 AAC)
HOMECOMING
Saturday, Oct. 29, 2:30 pm (CT)
Stadium: H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000), Tulsa, Okla.
TV: ESPN+
Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM
TULSA 3-4, 1-2 The American
Head Coach: Philip Montgomery
(Tarleton State ’95)
8th year at Tulsa
Career Record: 41-50 (8 years)
TU Record: same
SMU 3-4, 1-2 The American
Head Coach: Rhett Lashlee
(Arkansas ’06)
1st year at SMU
Career Record: 3-4 (1 year)
SMU Record: same
THE STORYLINES . . .
• Tulsa is in its 126th season of football in 2022.
• Tulsa has the smallest FBS enrollment with a total enrollment of 3,705 students … SMU’s enrollment is 10,893 students.
• SMU ranks first in the AAC for passing offense with 327.1 per game, while Tulsa’s defense leads the AAC in pass defense, allowing 164.7 yards.
• The game features two of the nation’s top receivers – Tulsa’s Keylon Stokes and SMU’s Rashee Rice … they have identical numbers with 802 yards and 4 TDs … they rank tied for second nationally for receiving yards per game (114.6) and fourth for total receiving yards (802).
THE SERIES . . .
• This is the 29th meeting between Tulsa and SMU.
• SMU leads the overall series 15-13 … since 2014, as American Athletic Conference members, Tulsa has a 6-2 record in the series.
• Tulsa has an 8-5 home record against the Mustangs.
• The Hurricane has won the last two meetings, including a 34-31 road win last year and a 28-24 home win in the 2020 season.
• In the last six games, a 6-point SMU overtime win in 2019 is the biggest point differential … SMU’s other win in that time frame was by four points, while Tulsa’s wins have been by four points once and three wins by three points.
STOKES SURPASSES HOWARD TWILLEY FOR NO. 1 ON TULSA’S ALL-TIME RECEIVING CHART . . .
• Keylon Stokes entered the season ranked ninth on the school’s all-time receiving chart with 2,550 career yards.
• Stokes is now Tulsa’s all-time leading receiver with 3,352, sub-planting a record that stood for 57 years … he entered the Temple game needing 28 yards to tie Twilley and ended the game with 37 yards on 4 receptions.
• In seven games, Stokes has accumulated 802 yards, 4 TDs, a 114.6 average per game on 48 receptions this year.
ON HOMECOMING . . .
• Tulsa has an overall 54-39-3 record on Homecoming since the first Homecoming game was played in 1926 with Tulsa defeating Arkansas 14-7.
• The Hurricane won last year’s Homecoming game against Memphis 35-29.
• Tulsa has hosted SMU three times before on Homecoming with a 2-1 record on those dates, winning in 2003 (35-16) and 2011 (38-7) and losing in 2009 (27-13).
• Through the years, the most common Homecoming opponent for Tulsa has been Oklahoma State with 14 meetings … Tulsa has a 7-5-2 record against the Cowboys on Homecoming and hasn’t hosted OSU on a Homecoming date since 1984.
MORE ABOUT HOMECOMING . . .
• Pregame tailgating on Chapman Commons begins at 9:30 a.m. … live music with DJ begins at 10 a.m. … Keyland Band will take the stage at 11 a.m.
• Tailgate Tent opens to the public with free food & drink at 11:30 a.m.
• Plain White T’s, will be on the Chapman Commons Concert Series stage at 12:15 p.m.
• Game tickets can be purchased online at TulsaHurricane.com or by calling 918.631.4688.
• For details on Homecoming 2022 and the week’s activities go to TUalumni.com
PRINCE BREAKS OUT IN RUN GAME . . .
• RB Deneric Prince had a career-best 231 rushing yards on 20 carries for an 11.6 average per attempt last week at Temple.
• The 231-yard performance tied for the 10th most in school history and it marked the 26th time Tulsa had a player surpass 200 rushing yards, and the 20th different runner to do so.
• It was Tulsa’s first 200-yard rushing game since 2019 when Shamari Brooks had 202 yards on 16 carries in the season finale at East Carolina.
• It was also the 8th highest rushing game in the FBS this season.
• Prince has four 100+ rushing games in his career … the 231-yard game bettered his previous career-high of 151 yards vs. UC Davis in the 2021 season opener.
STOKES AMONG NATION’S TOP RECEIVERS . . .
• Keylon Stokes is tied for second in the nation for receiving yards per game with a 114.6 average behind Old Dominion’s Ali Jennings’ 129.3-yard average.
• His 802 yards is tied for fourth in the FBS, trailing the leader Ali Jennings of ODU by 103 yards.
• Stokes also ranks 11th for receptions per game (6.9), 26th for all-purpose yards (126.3) and 46th for punt return yards (5.6).
• He was added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List on Oct. 5.
• In American Athletic Conference history, Stokes is the just the fifth player to reach 3,000 career receiving yards … he currently ranks fourth overall and needs 238 yards to tie Memphis’ Anthony Miller (2105-17) for third place … he is 597 yards shy of tying the AAC career leader James Proche (2016-19) who totaled 3,949 yards at SMU.
FIRST & TEN . . .
• Tulsa snapped a 3-game losing streak and 3-game road losing streak with a 27-16 win over Temple last week.
• The Hurricane had its second comeback win of the season at Temple as Tulsa trailed 10-0 after the first quarter … in the Philip Montgomery era, Tulsa has totaled 23 comeback wins since the 2015 season.
• Tulsa came into the season with 16 letterwinners and four starters on offense, while the defensive unit returned 21 lettermen and six starters.
• A total of 14 players have made their first career starts this season … 10 players saw their first start in a Tulsa uniform in the season opener at Wyoming, including seven on offense and three on defense … three players made their first starts vs. NIU and one vs. Cincinnati.
• Tulsa had a different starting offensive line in its first 4 games this season … for games 5-7, the starting lineup has been the same as in the second game at NIU,
• Tulsa’s 54 points vs. JAX State was the most scored since 66 on Sept. 9, 2017 vs. Louisiana.
• Punter Lachlan Wilson was named the Ray Guy National Punter of the Week for his performance against JAX State on Sept. 17 … he punted 4 times for 178 yards and a 44.5 average with all 4 downed inside the 15-yard line, including 3 inside the 5-yard line.
• Tulsa scored 35+ points in its first three games this year … the last time Tulsa tallied more than 35 points in its first three games of the season came in 2015 when the Hurricane scored 47, 40 and 38 points in its first three games under Philip Montgomery.
• Tulsa compiled over 600 yards total offense for the 11th time in the Montgomery era with 621 vs. Jacksonville State … it was the most since tallying 663 yards vs. Arkansas State in 2021.
• Tulsa has gone over 600 yards of total offense in one game in 5 of the last 6 seasons.
• Tulsa is now 22-5 when scoring over 40 points in the Montgomery era.
* The Hurricane held a 40-3 halftime lead against Jacksonville State, which was the most first-half points since scoring 48 points vs. North Carolina A&T in 2016… the 54 points is the most points scored since Sept. 9, 2017 against Louisiana.
RUN GAME CAN PUT UP NUMBERS . . .
• Tulsa’s run game has surpassed 200 yards in two games this year, 262 at Ole Miss and 299 at Temple.
• With an entirely new starting offensive line and inexperience at the running back slot to start the season, the Tulsa run game improved each of the first four weeks of the season with its 262 yards in the fourth game against #13-ranked Ole Miss.
• The Hurricane had just 61 yards in the season opener at Wyoming for an average of only 1.9 yards per rush.
• A week later, Tulsa rushed for 126 yards and a 3.4-yard average per carry vs. Northern Illinois … Tulsa’s running game had its third straight jump in yardage a week later against Jacksonville State with 164 yards and a 4.6 average per attempt.
• Against that Ole Miss defense, Tulsa gained its 262 yards for a 6.1 average per carry against the nation’s 15th-ranked rush defense.
• The Hurricane jumped 65 yards from game 1 to game 2, 38 yards from game 2 to game 3 and 98 yards from game 3 to game 4.
• After its Ole Miss performance, Tulsa totaled only 61 yards in its next two games, against two of the league’s top-4 rush defenses, including 36 yards Cincinnati and 25 yards at Navy, but after a bye week ran for a season-high 299 yards against Temple
COMPLIMENTING STOKES . . .
• Keylon Stokes is not the only receiving weapon for the Hurricane … JuanCarlos Santana, Malachai Jones and Isaiah Epps have also made an impact this season.
• Stokes has a team-high 802 yards and 4 TDs for a 114.6 average per game, while Tulsa’s next three receivers have totaled 1,194 yards for an average of 170.6 yards per game and 10 touchdowns
• Santana is next with 524 yards, Jones has 345 yards and Epps has 325 yards.
• With Stokes, the four receivers have combined for 14 touchdown receptions … Stokes, Santana and Epps each lead the way with four TDs … the four receivers also have at least one reception for over 30 yards this season.
200 TACKLES . . .
• Three Tulsa defenders entered the season within reach of the 200+ career tackle mark –– LB Justin Wright, NKL Bryson Powers and SAF Kendarin Ray.
• Wright entered the season with 152 career tackles, Powers with 144 and Ray with 136.
• Against Navy, Wright’s 13 tackles put him over the 200-tackle plateau with 203 stops and now has 207 tackles in 43 career games.
• Powers had nine stops at Temple to give him 204 tackles in 53 games.
• Ray is 15 tackles shy of the 200 plateau … he now has 185 stops in 34 career games.
COMEBACKS . . .
• In the Philip Montgomery era, Tulsa has totaled 23 comeback wins since the 2015 season.
• Of those comeback victories, a total of 18 have been from double-digit deficits and a total of eight comebacks have come on the road.
• A year ago, Tulsa had five comeback wins,… two of those came on the road and were the only ones that Tulsa faced a double-digit deficit.
• Tulsa came back from a 24-10 second quarter deficit at South Florida and trailed 17-0 in the second quarter at SMU … Tulsa defeated South Florida 32-31 and SMU 34-31
• Tulsa also had comeback wins over Arkansas State (7 points), Memphis (6) and Old Dominion (7) in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
• Tulsa has two comeback victories this season, coming against NIU and at Temple.
• Against NIU, Tulsa trailed in the fourth quarter by four points twice but was able to score with less than one minute for a 38-35 victory.
• In the Temple game, the Owls jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter, but took a 14-10 lead at halftime before winning by 11 points.
