TU Announces Football Season Schedule

TULSA, Okla. (AP) The opening game of the 2007 college football season will take Tulsa on the road to Louisiana-Monroe for a national television showcase.<br/><br/>The Aug. 30 game will be the debut for

Monday, February 26th 2007, 5:50 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) The opening game of the 2007 college football season will take Tulsa on the road to Louisiana-Monroe for a national television showcase.

The Aug. 30 game will be the debut for new Tulsa coach Todd Graham, a former Golden Hurricane defensive coordinator who returned after Steve Kragthorpe moved on to Louisville.

"To be able to come home to Tulsa and open up the 2007 season as the first college football game of the year is truly exciting," said Graham, who was Rice's head coach last season.

The game, to be shown on ESPN2, will mark Tulsa's first ever road game against Louisiana-Monroe. The schools have split two games played at Skelly Stadium.

Tulsa, coming off its first back-to-back postseason appearances since 1964-65, will also play on national television against Oklahoma in a game moved to a Friday night -- Sept. 21. It'll be Oklahoma's ninth game in Tulsa and the first since a 58-0 victory in 2001.

The Golden Hurricane are coming off of an 8-5 season that ended with a 25-13 loss to Utah in the Armed Forces Bowl.

The team's other nonconference games will bring a return visit from BYU, which beat the Golden Hurricane 49-24 in Utah last year, on Sept. 15 and a first-ever game against Army in West Point, N.Y., on Nov. 17.

In Conference USA play, Tulsa will have home games against UAB, Marshall, SMU and defending league champion Houston and road games at UTEP, Central Florida and Tulane.

"This is a great schedule and a challenging one. The best thing about it is that it's an incredible home schedule with BYU, Oklahoma, UAB, Marshall, SMU and Houston," Graham said. "We're excited about the opportunity to play this demanding type of schedule."

Graham's chance to play his former team won't come until the final week of the season, when Tulsa visits Rice on Nov. 24.

Tulsa's 2007 football schedule:
Aug. 30 -- at Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 15 -- BYU
Sept. 21 -- Oklahoma
Sept. 29 -- UAB
Oct. 6 -- at UTEP
Oct. 13 -- Marshall
Oct. 20 -- at UCF
Oct. 27 -- SMU
Nov. 3 -- at Tulane
Nov. 10 -- Houston
Nov. 17 -- at Army
Nov. 24 -- at Rice