Vitals: Tulsa vs. Houston

Originally Published: Nov 13, 2010 2:18 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-3, 3-2) vs. Houston (5-4, 4-2)
7:00 p.m. CST
Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas

Statistical leaders:

Where to find it?

On TV: CBS C (Roger Twibell, Mike Leach)
On Radio: KRMG 740 AM/FM 102.3 (Bruce Howard, Rick Couri, Chris Kaiser)
Internet: www.TulsaHurricane.com audio and GameTracker


What you need to know?

Tulsa's final regular season road game is no ordinary matchup. The annual Golden Hurricane - Cougars matchup has quickly turned into not only a heated rivalry, but also a game of major implications in the Conference USA race. Either Tulsa or Houston has represented the C-USA West Division in the conference championship game in each of the past five years. Tulsa coach Todd Graham said earlier in the week that this year probably won't be any different and that the winner of this game will be in the driver's seat to go to the championship once again.

This matchup will mark the 36th meeting between Tulsa and Houston, with the Cougars leading the all-time series 19-16. Houston has won the past two meetings, including a 46-45 win on a last second field goal. Tulsa has historically given up plenty of offense to the Cougars, for Houston has had scoring outputs of 70, 73, 82 and 100 points in the past against the Golden Hurricane. Those four games account for four of the top five scoring games against Tulsa in school history.

Who to watch?

For years, Houston has been defined by its powerful offense. But two key components to that offense - offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen and quarterback Case Keenum - are now missing. Holgorsen left after last season to take the offensive coordinator position at Oklahoma State, and Keenum went down early in the season with an ACL tear. Keenum consistently led the NCAA in most major passing categories while active, and was already fifth on the NCAA's career passing list. If that wasn't bad enough, Keenum's backup, Cotton Turner, broke his collar bone in the same game and was also ruled out for the season.

But old habits die hard for a school steeped in offensive tradition such as Houston. Even with a new offensive coordinator and a third-string quarterback at the helm, Houston is 10th nationally in passing offense and scoring offense, and 11th in total offense. In turn, however, the Cougars have been giving up big numbers defensively, and it has resulted in several costly losses. Houston gave up 34 points at Rice, one of the typical bottom-dwellers of the conference - and lost on the road. The Cougars are also coming off of a 40-33 loss at home against UCF. With Tulsa sporting its typical powerful offense of its own, the first team to get a defensive stop in this game just might win it.

The Golden Hurricane's Damaris Johnson is also eying an NCAA mark of his own heading into the game. Johnson became Conference USA's all-time leading kick returner in the win against Rice, but is now 64 yards shy of the NCAA career record. He also jumped from 19th to 10th on the NCAA's career list during the game against Rice as well. Johnson could continue to move past people in the game against Houston, for he is only nine yards away from ninth place on the all-time list.