PF.com preview: SMU hosts Tulsa seeking fourth AAC win

[PonyPride]

PF.com preview: SMU hosts Tulsa seeking fourth AAC win
Saturday's game is the 30th between Mustangs, Golden Hurricane
Posted on 10/25/2023 by PonyFans.com

The SMU Mustangs will try to extend their winning streak against American Athletic Conference opponents to four Saturday when they host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 11 a.m. at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

SMU and Tulsa have met 29 times before, with the Ponies holding a 16-13 edge in the series that will be played Saturday for the last time as an AAC showdown (SMU is jumping in 2024 to the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Mustangs won last year in Tulsa, 45-34, in a game in which quarterback Kevin Jennings played much of the game in relief of Preston Stone, who suffered a shoulder injury in his first start as a replacement for Tanner Mordecai.

Tulsa enters the game with a record of 3-4 overall, and 1-2 in AAC games, while SMU is 5-2 and has won all three conference games. The Golden Hurricane has lost its last two, falling to Florida Atlantic, 20-17, October 7, and then getting rolled by the Rice Owls, 42-10, Oct. 19.

TU has played two nationally ranked teams — at then-No. 18 Washington and at home against then-No. 19 Oklahoma — and lost to the two by a combined score of 109-27.

First-year Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson said he was less concerned by the final score of his team’s game against the Owls than he was about the way in which his team played, especially in the second half, during which his team was outscored, 21-0.

“My concern, after (the) last game, was the outcome performance was disturbing, to some degree, but are we getting better?” Wilson said at his weekly press conference. “Our whole thing is about constant, consistent daily improvement, and if we’re not getting better … why?”

Part of the result has to be chalked up to the fact that the Owls are a good team in 2023, with wins in four of their first seven games. But Tulsa helped Rice look good, allowing 512 yards of total offense, including 342 passing yards, and yielding first downs on more than half (7 of 13) of Rice’s third-down attempts.

Those numbers reflect the way the Golden Hurricane has played throughout the season. Tulsa has been outscored through seven games by an average of 31.14-23.71. TU has outrushed its opponents by an average of 188.7-135.0 yards per game, but falls nearly 100 yards per game short in the passing game: opponents have thrown for 280.43 yards per game, while Tulsa has averaged a modest 184.29 yards per game through the air.

Injuries have forced the Golden Hurricane to roll out three different quarterbacks this season. Wilson said he “hasn’t decided” who will get the start against SMU, but sophomore Braylon Braxton (6-2, 222) opened the season as the team’s starter and is believed to be the odds-on favorite. After being injured in the first quarter of the season opener, Braxton missed four games before returning against FAU and Rice. He is expected to start Saturday, despite having completed just 8 of 20 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown this year. A definite dual-threat weapon, he also has 21 carries for 145 yards on the ground, for an impressive average of 6.9 yards per game.

Redshirt freshman Cardell Williams (6-2, 219) has played in all seven games, completing 69 of 116 passes for 1,056 yards, seven touchdowns and nine touchdowns, while junior Roman Fuller (6-4, 208), has played in five games in his career, four of which have come this season, during which he has completed 20 of 30 passes for 121 yards and a pair of scores.

“Then you have two quarterbacks — really three quarterbacks,” SMU defensive coordinator Scott Symons said when asked about the challenges presented by the Tulsa offense. “When you look at Braxton, when you look at Williams … those guys … both can run and find different threats. Obviously, we saw Braxton last year in a different scheme. I think they both do a really good job. I think they’ve had some opportunities here and there where, if one or two plays go different, it’s different. But they’re explosive. They can throw the ball — both (of)those quarterbacks can push the ball down the field vertically with strong arms, they have receivers who can run, and their backs do a good job of falling forward and keeping them ahead of the chains.”

Senior Anthony Watkins (5-11, 210), a 2020 transfer from Missouri, leads the Tulsa ground game, with 396 yards on 104 carries (3.8 yards per attempt) and a pair of touchdowns. Two other running backs — junior Jordan Ford (5-9, 191) and sophomore Bill Jackson (5-9, 195) have run for 246 yards and a touchdown and 215 yards, respectively.

Redshirt freshman receiver Devan Williams (6-1, 192) leads the TU passing game with 22 receptions for 315 yards, reaching the end zone twice, but sophomore Marquis Shoulders (5-9, 170) is the team’s top deep threat, with 16 receptions for 283 yards, and leads the team with 17.69 yards per catch and five of the offense’s 12 touchdown receptions.

The Tulsa offensive line is more athletic than big: massive (6-6, 346) right tackle Darrell Simpson is the only starter who weighs more than right guard Tautai Li’o Marks, who measures in at 6-1, 304. Left tackle Kai-Leon Herbert (6-5, 302) is in his first year at Tulsa after spending the last five seasons at Miami, where he played under current SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee and SMU offensive line coach Garin Justice.

The Tulsa defense has been generous, coughing up 42 or more points in three of TU’s four losses. In the Golden Hurricane’s 42-7 rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the season opener, the defense piled up a whopping 12 tackles for loss; in the six games since, Tulsa has managed 25, or just over four per game.

Tulsa’s defense will switch formations, but operates largely out of a 3-3-5 setup. SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods said that while the Golden Hurricane defense has had some inconsistency in its first year in a new scheme, there is talent that will present challenges for the SMU offense.”

“Tulsa has got a physical defense,” Woods said. “They do a nice job. I think they’re really well coached, they tackle well. They’ve had a lot of turnover since last year. We see some of the same four or five guys that were floating around on a pretty good defense.

“Obviously they’ve radically changed their system, so they’re playing a different system now than the last time we saw them. But … they are a physical, they provide you different looks — pretty sound. They’re kind of a multi-front team that plays similar coverages behind it but gives you different presentations, can frustrate your protections, and occupy backs — do things like that that you’ve got to account for. With some of the movement things and challenges that they do, they can challenge your run game.”

Graduate safety Kendarin Ray (6-3, 213) leads Tulsa, and the entire American Athletic Conference, with 71 tackles through seven games — a total that is inarguably impressive, except for the fact that many coaches feel that when a defensive back leads a team in tackles, it shows his talent while also revealing deficiencies in front of him, and an argument can be made that that’s the case with Ray and the Golden Hurricane. Consider: the team’s second-leading tackler, sophomore linebacker Julien Simon (6-1, 227) has just 37.

The TU defense has nine sacks this season — half of which have been collected by grad JACK (defensive end/linebacker hybrid) Ben Kopenski (6-1, 255). He and redshirt sophomore defensive end Owen Ostroski (6-2, 253) have formed an imposing duo, combining for 43 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss for -59 yards, seven sacks for -46 yards and four quarterback hurries.

Redshirt senior safety Jaise Oliver leads the Golden Hurricane with three interceptions — the rest of the team has combined for just four — and five passes broken up.

Kicker Chase Meyer, a transfer from Penn, has been perfect on eight field goals, the longest of which split the uprights from 45 yards out.

[Ikus]

Great preview. Even after getting trucked by Rice, I doubt Tulsa rolls over.

[HubbaHubba]

Great preview. Even after getting trucked by Rice, I doubt Tulsa rolls over.

Tulsa rolling like a barrel down hill.