Burns sees similarities between Tulsa and Baylor

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Coach Keith Burns sees a lot of similarities between his Tulsa team and Baylor, and he shares an equally unenviable position with Bears coach Kevin Steele. <br><br>Still, there's

Monday, September 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Coach Keith Burns sees a lot of similarities between his Tulsa team and Baylor, and he shares an equally unenviable position with Bears coach Kevin Steele.

Still, there's one big difference between two of the most downtrodden teams in college football: Baylor has won a game this year.

``I can't say where one is any better or any worse than another,'' Burns said Monday.

``Nobody likes the situation that we're in, and I'm sure Kevin Steele hates the place that he's in. All you can do is fight like hell to get yourself out of that hole.''

Tulsa (0-3) travels to Waco, Texas, for Saturday's game against Baylor (1-2), which lost last weekend 23-0 to New Mexico and lost 70-22 in its season opener to now-No. 23 California.

The Golden Hurricane, which has lost 13 straight games for the nation's longest active losing streak, did little right Saturday against Louisiana Tech. Tulsa trailed 31-0 in the first quarter before losing 53-9 in its Western Athletic Conference opener.

The usually pass-happy Bulldogs ran virtually unimpeded through the Tulsa defense, amassing 290 yards rushing. The Golden Hurricane fumbled five times, but recovered three of them, and threw an interception.

``Ultimately we get an opportunity against a team (Baylor) that's struggled like us,'' Burns said. ``What we have to do is find a way to correct the mistakes we've made. If we can do that we've got an opportunity to win this football game.''

It's the first of two straight games against Big 12 opponents for Tulsa. Kansas comes to Skelly Stadium the next weekend.

Beating the Bears and the Jayhawks could do wonders for his Tulsa program, Burns said.

``You have an opportunity to do something against an opponent that plays in a league that most people think is far superior than ours,'' he said.

Burns must also find a way to get his team to play as hard as it did in the first half against No. 2 Oklahoma, when Tulsa trailed just 3-0 at halftime. That's the best football Tulsa has played all year, he said.

``One of my mean notes for the team tonight is you've got to bring it when there's not 40,000 fans and a national television audience and a rivalry,'' Burns said.

If Tulsa can play that way every week, Burns likes his team's chances to turn the season around.

``There's not another team on our schedule like Oklahoma. Louisiana Tech, Boise State, Fresno (State) and Hawaii are the elite teams of our conference ... . Everybody else is a lot like us.''