Scouting Tulsa

1983 Cotton Bowl · Post by **1983 Cotton Bowl** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:55 pm

I DVR'd the Tulsa-Rice game this weekend and got a chance to watch it last night. Here are my observations about Tulsa (admittedly after only seeing them one time).

Tulsa strikes me as an average C-USA team. They are decent enough to compete in our conference and they have some nice players. But they do not appear to have the athletes or the depth that SMU has. I expect SMU to be the physically superior football team. Tulsa was better than Rice, but they didn't dominate at all. Despite their notable deficiencies, Rice was able to hang with Tulsa for most of the game and made some nice plays.

Tulsa's O-line struck me as very weak. They did not protect well at all. The Rice blitzers were in the backfield on numerous plays and it looked like the Rice D-line was winning the battle up front. I think the combination of Kinne's athleticism and the corresponding lack of athleticism of the Rice D helped to mitigate that problem for Tulsa. Kinne was often able to get away from guys by rolling out or scrambling. I think our D-line will be able to push the Tulsa line around and get some penetration. I expect our linebackers to be in the backfield all day. Kinne won't be able to get away from Davis and Reed like he did against Rice. I might be looking at this through red/white/blue goggles, but I think the combination of our defensive strength and speed with Tulsa's weak o-line could get really ugly for Tulsa.

Tulsa's secondary is also very weak. There is a noticeable lack of athleticism and speed at the corner and safety positions. If JJ is accurate, there is the potential for some really big plays over the top of the defense.

Our O-line is not as good as I had hoped. I think Stallion said at one point that "very experienced mediocre talent will only take you so far." But I think our O-line is good enough to win the battle up front against Tulsa. There isn't anyone in Tulsa's front seven that struck me as a significant threat. JJ should have time.

Kinne is a nice player, but football is a team sport. He just doesn't have the athletes around him to really make things happen. I could certainly be wrong, but I see the Ponies winning this one big.

SMU 38 Tulsa 10.

Arkpony · Post by **Arkpony** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:23 pm

"If JJ is accurate..."

Mestengo · Post by **Mestengo** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:33 pm

Did they score more than 3 points?

Junior · Post by **Junior** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:34 pm

Arkpony wrote:"If JJ is accurate..."

Yeah, no need to go any further.

Over/under on how many receivers he hangs out to dry this weekend?

PonyPlayer4 · Post by **PonyPlayer4** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:34 pm

After reading this post i couldn't help but thinking, the same negatives stated about Tulsa are exactly how USM exposed us.

ponyboy · Post by **ponyboy** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:36 pm

Mestengo wrote:Did they score more than 3 points?

We scored 160 points in the previous four games.

Mestengo · Post by **Mestengo** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:37 pm

Has a june jones team ever scored 3 points or less I'm a dedicated smu fan and yes I'll be flying to tulsa just asking a question

I guess that would have to be a safety ha ha

1983 Cotton Bowl · Post by **1983 Cotton Bowl** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:09 pm

"After reading this post i couldn't help but thinking, the same negatives stated about Tulsa are exactly how USM exposed us."

Based solely on watching Tulsa beat Rice and USM beat us this past weekend, it appears to me that USM is a much better team than Tulsa and has better athletes and depth. Cordarro Law gave our O-line fits all night. Same thing happended with Stansly Maponga in the TCU game. I didn't see anyone like that in Tulsa's front seven. If we control the line of scrimmage (and I think we will on both sides of the ball), we'll win.

ponyboy · Post by **ponyboy** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:29 pm

We appear to be demonstrably better than Tulsa. If I were a betting man, I'd be all over this one. 31-20.

Stallion · Post by **Stallion** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:40 pm

Go tell Vegas. We would have the exact same record if we played their schedule

The PonyGrad · Post by **The PonyGrad** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:43 pm

Statistics seem to back up your observation.

And JJ is accurate when he has time. If he has to hurry he is less accurate.

That is why I am much more confident vs. Tulsa. Stats show they generate much less pressure than USM.

cutter · Post by **cutter** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:45 pm

Mestengo wrote:Has a june jones team ever scored 3 points or less I'm a dedicated smu fan and yes I'll be flying to tulsa just asking a question

2004 Boise 69-3

Stallion · Post by **Stallion** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:06 pm

I'm not sure about Tulsa's receivers being average-they have 5 receivers who have TD catches over at least 41 yards. They average about 12-18 yards per catch.

Willie Carter 36 529 14.7 69 4
Bryan Burnham 30 449 15.0 56 (TD) 6
Clay Sears 18 229 12.7 60 3
Jordan James 12 185 15.4 68 0
Ricky Johnson 9 156 17.3 41 (TD) 3

When I've seen them I've been surprised they were able to overcome the loss of Dameris Johnson with some pretty good looking receivers. Pretty damn good YAC for all their receivers. They rotate two very good RBs. Jaterian Douglas who was a top Texas recruit is averaging 7.9 yards per pop which is about as good as it gets. Watts averages about 5.1. Together they get about 130 yards per game between them. QB solid and can really stretch the field -but mobility now a questionmark. Shawn Jackson is one of the best LBs in CUSA. As far as Pass Defense Statistics-who would have good numbers after playing 3 All-American QB prospects in Wheedon, Kellen Moore and Landry Jones

GiddyUp · Post by **GiddyUp** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:23 pm

Stallion wrote:I'm not sure about Tulsa's receivers being average-they have 5 receivers who have TD catches over at least 41 yards. They average about 12-18 yards per catch.

Willie Carter 36 529 14.7 69 4
Bryan Burnham 30 449 15.0 56 (TD) 6
Clay Sears 18 229 12.7 60 3
Jordan James 12 185 15.4 68 0
Ricky Johnson 9 156 17.3 41 (TD) 3

When I've seen them I've been surprised they were able to overcome the loss of Dameris Johnson with some pretty good looking receivers. Pretty damn good YAC for all their receivers. They rotate two very good RBs. Jaterian Douglas who was a top Texas recruit is averaging 7.9 yards per pop which is about as good as it gets. Watts averages about 5.1. Together they get about 130 yards per game between them. QB solid and can really stretch the field -but mobility now a questionmark. Shawn Jackson is one of the best LBs in CUSA. As far as Pass Defense Statistics-who would have good numbers after playing 3 All-American QB prospects in Wheedon, Kellen Moore and Landry Jones

Stallion = lose by two td's?

Mestengo · Post by **Mestengo** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:44 pm

cutter wrote:
Mestengo wrote:Has a june jones team ever scored 3 points or less I'm a dedicated smu fan and yes I'll be flying to tulsa just asking a question

2004 Boise 69-3

Good work cutter so it I was a tie.

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