The Tulsa
Golden Hurricane will kick off C-USA play against the Tulane Green Wave Saturday
at 11:00 a.m. at Chapman Stadium.
Tulsa is
coming off a tough road loss to Iowa State, where the Hurricane turned a 16-7
lead into a 38-23 loss. The Hurricane
offense looked strong and effective early, but began a downward spiral of poor execution
that lasted most of the rest of the game.
Bad snaps, dropped passes and turnovers cost
Tulsa a great chance to go 1-0.
Head coach
Bill Blankenship called Tulsa's second half effort "less than acceptable,"
attributing the offensive collapse to a lack of aggressiveness.
"We had a
fast start, but couldn't maintain it. I
think we really felt good about how it started and I'm not so sure we didn't
let the foot off the accelerator a little bit" Blankenship said. "I think we were, both offensively and
defensively, a little bit waiting for it to happen instead of going and taking
the game."
The Golden
Hurricane will have a great opportunity to work on that go-getter's mindset
Saturday when they take the field in front of the home crowd for the first time
in 2012.
Matchup:
Tulane
should provide the perfect level of competition for Tulsa to work out the
kinks. The Green Wave is strong enough
to make Tulsa focus and execute, but probably not good enough to actually
spring the upset in case the Hurricane struggles.
Tulane is
coming off a 24-12 week-one loss to Rutgers, but that may be more impressive
than you think. The Green Wave went 2-11
in 2011, including a 28-point loss to Tulsa and a 21-point loss to perennial creampuff
Duke. For them to only lose by 12 to a
nine-win Rutgers team could be a sign of improvement.
Last year's
matchup saw G.J Kinne and Bryan Burnham crash the Wave's party, hooking up for
two touchdowns in the blowout win. Tulsa
will be without that deadly combo this season, as Kinne graduated and Burnham will
miss the rest of 2012 with a torn ACL.
Prediction:
If TU can
play four quarters the way it played the first quarter at Iowa State, this game
will get real ugly. Cody Green will have
to make smart decisions and his receivers will need to catch the ball when it's
thrown to them. I like their chances to
improve on their mistakes from last week and play a much cleaner game.
I've got
Tulsa, 34-10
TU Golden Hurricane
ORU Golden Eagles
OU Sooners
OSU Cowboys
OKC Thunder
