Houston @ Tulsa preview
Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium
Last Meeting ( Nov 22, 2014 ) Tulsa 28, Houston 38
Two big offenses will be on display when Houston travels to Tulsa on Saturday for the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams. The Golden Hurricane are ranked fourth nationally at 607 yards per game while the undefeated Cougars are seventh in yards (590.7) and sixth in scoring (48.3).
It's no surprise these offenses are flourishing under their new head coaches. Tom Herman capped 10 years as a successful offensive coordinator - at Texas State, Rice, Iowa State and Ohio State - by using three Buckeye quarterbacks on the way to the national championship win. Philip Montgomery was an offensive coordinator in Art Briles' prolific offenses at Houston (2006-07) and Baylor (2008-14) before taking over at Tulsa. "They rely on tempo," Herman said of Tulsa during his press conference on Monday. "They want to get your defensive linemen tired and get guys out of place, so they sprinkle in some unusual formations and really spread the width of the field tremendously with their wide receiver splits."
TV: Noon ET, CBSSN. LINE: Houston -5.5
ABOUT HOUSTON (3-0): Greg Ward Jr. (785 yards, eight touchdowns, one interception) is ranked third nationally in accuracy (75.3 percent) and leads the Cougars in rushing with 290 yards and four scores. Demarcus Ayers is coming off a career-high 126 yards and is averaging 100 and a TD this season. The Cougar defense, which is allowing 66 rushing yards and 23 points per game, is led by linebacker Elandon Roberts' 10.3 tackles.
ABOUT TULSA (2-1): Dane Evans (1,117 yards, eight TDs, two INT) is third in the nation with 390.7 yards per game and has one of the country's top receiving tandems at his disposal. Keyarris Garrett (26 catches, 454 yards, one TD) and Keevan Lucas (19 catches, 342 yards, five TDs) are the only duo ranked in the top 10 in receiving yards per game. Joshua Atkinson is coming off back-to-back 100-yard receiving games and Zack Langer adds five rushing TDs for the Golden Hurricane, who had a week off after a 52-38 loss to Oklahoma on Sept. 19.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Ayers and Garrett are tied for fifth in the nation with 8.7 catches.
2. Tulsa S Michael Mudoh leads the country with 13.3 tackles and has 311 career stops, just ahead of Houston S Trevon Stewart (308) for third place among active FBS players.
3. The Cougars have scored on their opening drive in all three games this year.
PREDICTION: Houston 44, Tulsa 31