It’s an AAC matchup on the gridiron as a pair of sub-.500 teams take the field in the City of Brotherly Love. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are on the road as they make the trip to face the Temple Owls Friday night. Tulsa comes in off a bye week last week. The Golden Hurricane were trounced 53-21 by Navy on the road as a five-point favorite in their previous contest back on October 8. Temple was obliterated 70-13 on the road by UCF, failing to cover the line as a 23.5-point underdog, last Thursday in their previous contest. The teams have split six previous meetings with Tulsa rolling to a 44-10 victory at home in the most recent matchup on November 20, 2021.
Tulsa comes in off a bye last week, giving them almost two weeks to prepare for this one after getting shellacked by Navy on the road. The Golden Hurricane dropped to 2-4 overall on the season and they stand 0-2 in the AAC, leaving them as one of three teams that are winless in conference play. Against Navy, Tulsa went down 10-0 in the opening quarter, closed the gap to 10-7 at the end of one but gave up 23 unanswered points, putting them in a 33-7 hole with under four minutes to play in the first half. The Golden Hurricane couldn’t get closer than 19 the rest of the way. Tulsa lost the total offense battle 490-309, gave up 24 first downs while picking up 14 and was dominated in time of possession by a 40:26 to 19:34 margin. The Golden Hurricane also committed four turnovers while recording only one takeaway, another reason for the one-sided defeat.
On the year, Tulsa is 11th in th e nation in passing offense with 327.8 yards per game while they are 113th in rushing offense with 109.2 yards per contest. The Golden Hurricane stands 48th in the FBS in scoring offense with 33 points per game while they are 119th in scoring defense by allowing 35.2 points a contest. Davis Brin has hit 121 of 189 passes for 1,839 yards with 14 touchdowns against five interceptions on the year. Braylon Braxton (14 of 30, 121 yards, two TD, two INT, 57 rushing yards, TD) and Roman Fuller (one of one, seven yards, one rushing yard) are next in line on the depth chart. Steven Anderson leads the run game with 65 carries for 236 yards and five scores this season. Bill Jackson (26 carries, 173 yards), Jordan Ford (26 carries, 135 yards) and Deneric Prince (22 carries, 66 yards) have all seen a share of the work as well. Keylon Stokes leads the team in the passing game with 44 receptions for 765 yards and four scores. JuanCarlos Santana (29 catches, 480 yar ds, four TD), Malachai Jones (24 grabs, 323 yards, two TD) and Isaiah Epps (22 receptions, 305 yards, four TD) are excellent secondary targets. Zack Long has hit all 25 extra point attempts and seven of 10 field goal attempts with a long of 44 this season.