FACTS & STATS: Site: TDECU Stadium (40,755) — Houston, Texas. Television:
ESPN3. Home Record: Tulsa 2-3, Houston 3-3. Away Record: Tulsa 0-5, Houston
2-1. Neutral Record: Tulsa 0-0, Houston 0-0. Conference Record: Tulsa 2-4,
Houston 3-2. Series Record: Houston leads, 20-18.
GAME NOTES: The Houston Cougars get back to action this weekend when they host
the struggling Tulsa Hurricane in an American Athletic Conference matchup at
TDECU Stadium on Saturday.
Houston is coming off a bye week after suffering a bad 31-24 home loss to
Tulane the weekend before.
Deontay Greenberry led the way for the Cougars, tallying a season-high 12
receptions for 136 yards with a touchdown. Greg Ward added a career-best 31-
of-45 passing for 342 yards with two touchdowns for Houston, which fell to 5-4
overall and 3-2 in the AAC.
Houston has had some success moving the ball and scoring this season since
Ward took over for John O’Korn under center, averaging 367 yards and nearly 28
points per game.
Ward has a completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 914 yards with six
touchdowns and five interceptions.
Greenberry is the leading receiver with 50 catches for 596 yards with four
scores. Kenneth Farrow is the best rusher with 570 yards, while tying Ryan
Jackson with five touchdowns on the ground.
On the defensive side, the Cougars yield an average of just over 17 points per
game, yielding 316 yards per contest. Adrian McDonald has four interceptions,
while Efrem Oliphant leads the team with 96 total tackles, eight for a loss,
and 3 1/2 sacks.
Tulsa continues its disappointing campaign after dropping a 31-7 decision last
Saturday at UCF to fall to 2-8 overall and 2-4 in the AAC. Dane Evans
completed just 9-of-28 passes for just 69 yards with a touchdown and three
picks, as the Hurricane offense failed to put a dent against the conference’s
top defensive unit.
The Knights defense came into the game allowing just 308 yards per game and
gave up just 201 yards to the Hurricane, while the UCF offense amassed 506
yards of total offense.
Keevan Lucas continues to be one of the lone bright spots on offense for
Tulsa. The sophomore caught his 11th TD pass of the season against UCF.
The 11 touchdown receptions by Lucas are the most in a season by a Tulsa
player since Brennan Marion’s 11 in 2007. For the season, Lucas has 81 catches
for 1,037 yards, which is tops in the AAC and good enough to rank 13th in the
nation.
Evans has completed 54.6 percent of his passes this season for 2,645 yards
with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, as the Hurricane go for an average
of 414 yards per game and 23.6 points per game.
The leading rusher, Zack Langer, averages just over 75 yards per game and has
scored three touchdowns.
Defensively, Tulsa struggles. Opponents average just over 38 points per game
and 486 yards of offense.
Houston leads the all-time series against Tulsa, 20-18, but Tulsa has won two
of the last three, including a 41-7 throttling two years ago in Houston when
both were members of the Conference-USA.
Even though Houston is coming off a loss, don’t expect the Cougars to continue
to struggle. It’ll be the last home game for Houston this season and Tulsa is
simply not good at stopping anyone, Houston should cruise in this contest.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Houston 35, Tulsa 17
