Independence Bowl: Golden Hurricane Arrive In Shreveport

THE STORYLINES . . .
•       Tulsa football was under new direction in 2015 as Philip Montgomery was named the 29th head coach in school history on December 11, 2014.
•       Tulsa has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of FBSschools with 3,473 students . . . Virginia Tech's enrollment 
is 24,247.
•       Tulsa is making its 20th bowl game appearance and for the third time in the Independence Bowl game . . . Tulsa has a 9-10 bowl record.
•       Tulsa's Philip Montgomery is in his first season as a collegiate head coach, while 
Frank Beamer is in his 35th year as a head coach, including 29th and final year at Virginia Tech . . . it is also Beamer's 23rd straight bowl game at VT.
•       Tulsa bettered its win total from the previous two years (5) with a current 6-6 record this year.
•       One common opponent . . . Tulsa and Virginia Tech each played East Carolina this season on the road, with Tech losing 35-28 and Tulsa losing 30-17.
•       Against the Top-25 . . . both teams have played three opponents ranked in the top-
25 at the time of the game . . . Virginia Tech lost to #1 Ohio State, #23 Duke and 
#12 North Carolina . . . Tulsa dropped decisions to #16 Oklahoma, #17 Memphis and #16 Navy.
•       Statistical comparisons . . . Tulsa ranks 11th nationally for passing offense, while Virginia Tech ranks ninth in pass defense . . . Tulsa is ranked 14th for total offense, Tech is ranked 34th for total defense . . . Tulsa is 25th for scoring offense, while Virginia Tech ranks 47th in scoring defense.
•       Thirty of Tulsa's 51 offensive touchdown drives in regulation have come under two minutes for a .588 percentage . . . 18 of those have been under one minute.
 
THE SERIES . . .
•       This is the fifth meeting between Tulsa and Virginia Tech, but the first meeting since the 1978 season.
•       Tulsa has a 3-1 record in the series, and has won the last three matchups.
•       The four games have been decided by a margin of 4.0 points . . . the largest win was a seven-point Tulsa win, 46-39.
•       Virginia Tech won the first game in 1970 by a score of 17-14 at home, while a year later Tulsa captured a 46-39 home win in 1971.
•       Tulsa won the next two games in Blacksburg, coming in 1976 by a score of 35-21 and in 1978 with a 35-33 win.
 
GARRETT NAMED FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE, GET ALL-AMEERICA MENTION . . .
•       Tulsa senior receiver Keyarris Garrett was a unanimous selection to the American Athletic Conference first team, as selected by the league's coaches.
•       Garrett leads The American in receiving yards (1,451), receiving yards per game (120.9) and is third for receptions per game.
•       He is second in the nation for both receiving yards and receiving yards per game.
•       Garrett has six 100+ receiving games this year, including two over 200 yards.
•       Garrett is one of only two players this year in FBS to have two 200+ yard receiving games . . . the other is Bowling Green receiver Roger Lewis.
•       Garrett was also named to the Phil Steele All-America fourth team and was an SI.com honorable mention All-American.
 
TULSA IN BOWL GAMES; FIRST SCHOOL TO PLAY IN 5 STRAIGHT NEW YEAR'S DAY BOWLS . . .
•       Tulsa is making its 20th bowl game appearance in school history.
•       The Hurricane has a 9-10 record in bowl games, and has won four of its last five bowl contests.
•       Tulsa is the first school to appear in five straight New Year's Day Bowl Games – 1942 Sun Bowl (1-1-42), 1943 Sugar Bowl (1-1-43), 1944 Sugar Bowl (1-1-44), 1945 Orange Bowl (1-1-45) and the 1946 Oil Bowl (1-1-46).
•       Despite not making a bowl game in the last two years, Tulsa is making its ninth bowl appearance in the last 13 seasons.
•       Tulsa's last bowl game was in the 2012 AutoZone Liberty Bowl as the Hurricane claimed a 31-17 win over Iowa State of the Big 12 Conference.
•       This is the third time Tulsa has played in the Independence Bowl . . .  Tulsa has also played in five other bowl games more than once.
•       Tulsa's other bowl games they've played in multiple times include: Sugar Bowl (1944, '45), Bluebonnet Bowl (1964, '65), Liberty Bowl (2005, '12), Armed Forces Bowl (2006, '11) and the GMAC Bowl (2008, '09)
 
TULSA PLAYED IN FIRST INDEPENDENCE BOWL . . .
•       The first Independence Bowl game was played between Tulsa and McNeese State on December 13, 1976 . . . the bowl drew its name from the ongoing celebrations of 
the United States Bicentennial that year.
•       Steve Cox gave Tulsa a 16-14 lead on a 38-yard field goal with 4:22 left.
•       McNeese won on an Oliver Hadnot 25-yard run with 37 seconds on the game clock, capping an 80-yard drive in the final two minutes.
•       The last minute TD was set-up by a pass interference and roughing penalty on 4th-and-7 from midfield, giving McNeese new life.
•       Tulsa finished the season 7-3-1 and McNeese State finished with a 9-2-0 record