Tulsa Football Notebook - Sept. 1

Originally Published: Aug 31, 2010 9:31 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

Sunday Best

The first Saturday of the college football season is always exhilarating, but Golden Hurricane fans will also have an exhilarating Sunday.

Tulsa’s first game of the year is a 1 p.m. Sunday kickoff at East Carolina, televised on ESPN2.

Coach Todd Graham said his team is just going to back everything up a day from their normal game week schedule because it is the first game of the season, but the real problem comes after the game.

“It won't be that difficult for this week, but it will be for the next week because it actually puts us a practice short from what Bowling Green is going to have to prepare for us,” Graham said. “The short weeks are challenging, but an opportunity to play on national television to start off the season to showcase our program is well worth that opportunity and that inconvenience.”

Tulsa plays another non-Saturday game to end the season, hosting Southern Mississippi on Friday, Nov. 26 at 5:30 p.m.

For the players, a Sunday game presents a rare opportunity for them: the chance to relax a little bit on Saturday and take in some of the other action from around the country.

“I’m sure we’ll get a chance to watch them laying in bed getting ready for the next day,” quarterback G.J. Kinne said. “It’s always good to watch a little football before you start.”

On The Road Again

For the fourth straight season, Tulsa will open up on the road.

It is also the third straight year the Golden Hurricane has opened against a Conference USA opponent.

Tulsa opened at UAB in 2008 with a 35-22 victory and won in New Orleans to start last season with a 37-13 win against Tulane.

Graham said his team realizes the importance of starting off the season against a strong conference opponent on the road.

“How we go about business is how we go about preparing for each opponent,” he said. “Right off the get-go, you're going to be right in conference play in a critical game. There's no question this is a very critical game for us.”

One thing plaguing the Golden Hurricane in its past couple of matchups with East Carolina has been the turnovers.

Tulsa had four turnovers last season in a 44-17 loss to the Pirates, and seven in a 27-24 loss in 2007.

Coach Todd Graham said there are a couple of ball security issues he has gone over countless times with his team leading up to the opener.

“One is not making careless decisions, protecting the football and understanding that all we have to do is execute one play on offense to score,” he said. “Be patient and make good decisions with the football. Taking care of the football has been our No. 1 focus on offense.”