Game Notes: TU Set For First Meeting Against Ohio State

GAME 2:

TULSA (1-0, 0-0 The American) vs. #6 OHIO STATE (1-0, 0-0 Big 10)

Saturday, September 10, 2016 • 2:36 p.m. (CT)/3:36 p.m. (ET)

Ohio Stadium (104,944), Columbus, Ohio

TV: ABC

Radio: Big Country 99.5 FM

THE COACHES

TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE

Head Coach:           Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State '95), 2nd year

Career Record:        7-7 (2 years)

TU Record:            same

 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

Head Coach:          Urban Meyer (Cincinnati '86), 5th year

Career Record:        155-27 (15 years)

OSU Record:          51-5 (5 years)

THE STORYLINES . . .

•   Tulsa began football in 1895 as Henry Kendall College, while Ohio State's first year of football came in 1890.

•   This is the first meeting between Tulsa and Ohio State.

•   Ohio State is the fourth Big 10 school that Tulsa will play in school history, Tulsa is 1-3 against Iowa, 0-1 vs. Indiana and 0-2 vs. Minnesota.

 •  Tulsa has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of FBS schools with 3,473 students . . . Ohio State was ranked third among the largest public university campuses with an enrollment of 55,508 for the 2015-16 academic year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

•   With a stadium capacity of 104,944, this will be the largest crowd that a Tulsa football team has ever played in front of, as the current high is 85,657 last year at Oklahoma.

•   Current Tulsa co-defensive coordinator Bill Young was the defensive coordinator at Ohio State under John Cooper from 1988-95.

 QUICK HITS . . .

•   In the season opener, 13 freshmen saw action for the Hurricane, including eight redshirt freshmen and five true freshmen . . . two transfers also made debuts.

•   The true freshmen who played in the season opener included –

     DB Manny Bunch, LB Cooper Edmiston, DS Robert Hill, LB Robert Revels III and DT Shemarr Robinson.

•   On Tulsa's 44-man offensive-defensive two-deep, there are 17 players that are true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen or sophomores.

•   Tulsa returned 27 different players who had previously started at least one game in their careers, either on offense (15) or defense (12).

•          Only two players – OG Tyler Bowling and DT Hayden Carman – had not made a previous start among the opening game starters for Tulsa.

 GOOD START FOR OFFENSE . . .

•   Tulsa's offense totaled 512 yards against San Jose State making it the eighth time in the 14 games with Philip Montgomery as head coach that the Hurricane has gone over 500 yards of total offense.

•   Tulsa's 38 first-half points were the most since the Hurricane scored 42 first-half points against Nicholls State on Sept. 15, 2012.

•   D'Angelo Brewer rushed for career-highs of 164 yards and three touchdowns.

•   Tulsa scored 40 points or more for the 8th time in the Montgomery era.

•   For the second consecutive season, Tulsa scored 45 or more points in the season opener . . . last year, Tulsa scored 47 points against FAU.

•   Tulsa's 305 rushing yards was the most for a Hurricane team since the 2012 AutoZone Liberty Bowl when Tulsa rushed for 317 yards against Iowa State.

 DEFENSE TURNS IN SOLID START TO SEASON . . .

•   The 10 points allowed by the Tulsa defense is the fewest allowed since a 41-7 road win over Houston on November 10, 2012.

•   San Jose State's 53 yards rushing was the fewest for a Tulsa opponent since holding UTEP to 31 rushing yards on Oct. 11, 2012.

•   For the fifth time in the last seven games, Tulsa had an interception for a TD when Jesse Brubaker took a pick-off 24 yards for a touchdown against San Jose State.

•   Tulsa held San Jose State to 287 total yards, whereas last year, only two opponents were held to under 400 yards in 13 games.

 AGAINST THE STATE OF OHIO . . .

•   This is the first meeting between Tulsa and Ohio State.

•   Tulsa has faced four other schools from the state of Ohio through the years –– Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Ohio and Toledo.

•   Tulsa leads three of the four series, while tied in another against the Ohio teams.

•   Tulsa has a 3-1-0 record against Bowling Green, 16-14-2 vs. Cincinnati, 1-0 against Ohio and 1-1 against Toledo.

 COACHING HISTORY HAS TU & OSU TIES . . .

•   Two past Tulsa head coaches also coached at Ohio State in later years.

•   Francis Schmidt coached at Kendall College/Tulsa from 1919-21, and later 1934-40 at Ohio State.

•   John Cooper coached Tulsa from 1977-84, then at Ohio State from 1988-2000.

•   The two coaches combined for an 81-34-2 record while coaching the Hurricane.

•   They both are members of The University of Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame.

 GRADUATES ON THE TULSA ROSTER . . .

•   Tulsa has 12 student-athletes on its roster that have already graduated with their bachelor's degrees from The University of Tulsa.

•   The offensive players already with their bachelor's degree include Josh Atkinson (WR), Blake Belcher (OL), Dane Evans (QB) and Rod Riederer (TE).

•   Defensive players who have their degrees are Jeremy Brady (DB), Hayden Carman (DT), Matt Hickman (LB), Matt Linscott (LB), Trent Martin (LB), Conner Sherwood (LB), Craig Suits (LB) and Jerry Uwaezuoke (DT).

•   In addition, graduate transfer running back Raymond Taylor earned his bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State before transferring this season to Tulsa.

 BELCHER & LUCAS RETURN . . .

•   The season opener saw the return of two Tulsa players who missed most of the 2015 season due to injuries after starting the year before.

•   Offensive guard Blake Belcher suffered an ACL injury early in the 2015 season opener against FAU, and missed the remainder of the 2015 campaign.

•   In the fourth game against Houston, receiver Keevan Lucas suffered a torn patella tendon which ended his season.

•   Belcher, who was the starting right tackle in 2014 and in the 2015 season opener, moved to right guard this season and played 77 snaps in the season opener.

•   Lucas was back in the starting lineup in the season opener and caught six passes for 112 yards against San Jose State.