This week Memphis will host Tulsa with a chance to win back to back games for the first time this year. We spoke to InsideTulsaSports.com publisher Chris Harmon and asked him some questions about the game-
1) Even though Tulsa are 1-6 they have the 4th best offense in the AAC. Who are some playmakers on the offense Memphis should look out for?
Quarterback Dane Evans has played much better in his last two games, completing 61 percent of his passes. He completed 22 of 34 passes in his last outing for 314 yards and one touchdown. He has limited his mistakes, throwing no interceptions and only being sacked twice in Tulsa’s last two games.
At running back, Zack Langer has become a force. He isn’t the fastest guy around, but he runs hard and is difficult to bring down. Langer has rushed for 213 yards in the past two games, getting the majority of the carries out of the backfield.
The star of the offense this season has clearly been receiver Keevan Lucas. The sophomore lit up South Florida two weeks ago for 160 yards and a touchdown on 11 catches. He has 20 catches in Tulsa’s last two games, and through seven games this season, he already has 64 receptions for 809 yards and 8 scores.
2) Are you surprised by how the defense has played this year?
I’m very surprised. Tulsa was very young last season, and they still are with almost 70 percent of its players being freshmen and sophomores; however, the Hurricane returned nine starters from last season, and the defense was expected to be the strength of the team.
Tulsa’s linebackers haven’t been nearly productive as in the past, and a deep defensive backfield has been decimated by injuries. The TU coaching staff tried to address some of those issues during the bye week.
“We focused on trying to figure out if we had other answers at corner,” said Tulsa head coach Bill Blankenship in Tuesday’s press conference. “I think I've referred to it as the position with the black cloud. We've had at least five of our corners that have missed games due to injury. And there's no shortcut to being able to lineup and cover a guy. You just have to do that. So we're trying to be creative with how we manage those guys that have been out and been injured. I can't say that's been the focus of practice, but we've certainly been looking for the solutions as we move forward.”
Tulsa has routinely been burned by big plays from opposing offenses, and the defense has just been very inconsistent. Missed tackles and blown assignments have been a factor all season.
3) Which players on defense should Memphis watch out for?
Tulsa has a great tandem at safety in Michael Mudoh and Demarco Nelson, although they haven’t played up to expectations this year. Mudoh leads the squad in tackles with 62.
Defensive end is a deep, talented spot on the TU roster, led by Chris Hummingbird and Derrick Alexander. Those two have combined for 13.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks.
4) Coach Blankenship started off with 2 winning season but the last 2 haven't turned out they way he would have expected. Is he on the hot seat?
I’d say that any coach in the American Athletic Conference that puts together successive losing seasons is going to fear for his job, but Tulsa has lost 11 of its last 15 games with a six-game losing streak. The fans have been extremely vocal about that fact, and local sports media seem resigned to the fact that the Hurricane will have a coaching change in the offseason.
With that said, the Tulsa administration has proven to be slow to make changes in the past, and there are still five games left in the season. It’s certainly not a given that a change will occur, especially if Blankenship rights the ship in these last few games, but there is definitely some degree of heat being applied to the seat.
5) What type of game do you expect, any predictions?
If this game was one of those grade school math problems where you predict the outcome based on a stated patter, I’d predict a Tulsa victory. This season, Memphis has followed each victory with a loss. The Tigers won last weekend, so naturally, they should expect to lose this weekend. Simple, right?
But since that’s not how college football works, I’m expecting the Tigers to come up with consecutive victories for the first time this season. I do feel the game will be closer than the 22 point spread. Tulsa has shown improvement in its past two games, and they had two weeks to rest and prepare for Memphis.
Tulsa has had an easier time coming up with points in their last three games, but they’ve given up plenty of points as well. My prediction would be Memphis 38, Tulsa 24.
This post was edited on 10/29 4:16 PM by Bryan_Moss
1) Even though Tulsa are 1-6 they have the 4th best offense in the AAC. Who are some playmakers on the offense Memphis should look out for?
Quarterback Dane Evans has played much better in his last two games, completing 61 percent of his passes. He completed 22 of 34 passes in his last outing for 314 yards and one touchdown. He has limited his mistakes, throwing no interceptions and only being sacked twice in Tulsa’s last two games.
At running back, Zack Langer has become a force. He isn’t the fastest guy around, but he runs hard and is difficult to bring down. Langer has rushed for 213 yards in the past two games, getting the majority of the carries out of the backfield.
The star of the offense this season has clearly been receiver Keevan Lucas. The sophomore lit up South Florida two weeks ago for 160 yards and a touchdown on 11 catches. He has 20 catches in Tulsa’s last two games, and through seven games this season, he already has 64 receptions for 809 yards and 8 scores.
2) Are you surprised by how the defense has played this year?
I’m very surprised. Tulsa was very young last season, and they still are with almost 70 percent of its players being freshmen and sophomores; however, the Hurricane returned nine starters from last season, and the defense was expected to be the strength of the team.
Tulsa’s linebackers haven’t been nearly productive as in the past, and a deep defensive backfield has been decimated by injuries. The TU coaching staff tried to address some of those issues during the bye week.
“We focused on trying to figure out if we had other answers at corner,” said Tulsa head coach Bill Blankenship in Tuesday’s press conference. “I think I've referred to it as the position with the black cloud. We've had at least five of our corners that have missed games due to injury. And there's no shortcut to being able to lineup and cover a guy. You just have to do that. So we're trying to be creative with how we manage those guys that have been out and been injured. I can't say that's been the focus of practice, but we've certainly been looking for the solutions as we move forward.”
Tulsa has routinely been burned by big plays from opposing offenses, and the defense has just been very inconsistent. Missed tackles and blown assignments have been a factor all season.
3) Which players on defense should Memphis watch out for?
Tulsa has a great tandem at safety in Michael Mudoh and Demarco Nelson, although they haven’t played up to expectations this year. Mudoh leads the squad in tackles with 62.
Defensive end is a deep, talented spot on the TU roster, led by Chris Hummingbird and Derrick Alexander. Those two have combined for 13.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks.
4) Coach Blankenship started off with 2 winning season but the last 2 haven't turned out they way he would have expected. Is he on the hot seat?
I’d say that any coach in the American Athletic Conference that puts together successive losing seasons is going to fear for his job, but Tulsa has lost 11 of its last 15 games with a six-game losing streak. The fans have been extremely vocal about that fact, and local sports media seem resigned to the fact that the Hurricane will have a coaching change in the offseason.
With that said, the Tulsa administration has proven to be slow to make changes in the past, and there are still five games left in the season. It’s certainly not a given that a change will occur, especially if Blankenship rights the ship in these last few games, but there is definitely some degree of heat being applied to the seat.
5) What type of game do you expect, any predictions?
If this game was one of those grade school math problems where you predict the outcome based on a stated patter, I’d predict a Tulsa victory. This season, Memphis has followed each victory with a loss. The Tigers won last weekend, so naturally, they should expect to lose this weekend. Simple, right?
But since that’s not how college football works, I’m expecting the Tigers to come up with consecutive victories for the first time this season. I do feel the game will be closer than the 22 point spread. Tulsa has shown improvement in its past two games, and they had two weeks to rest and prepare for Memphis.
Tulsa has had an easier time coming up with points in their last three games, but they’ve given up plenty of points as well. My prediction would be Memphis 38, Tulsa 24.
This post was edited on 10/29 4:16 PM by Bryan_Moss
