TU Talking Points
BY BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
11/27/12 at 6:05 AM
The mayor gets involved
University of Tulsa officials hope an aggressive promotional campaign can result in a sellout crowd for Saturday's Conference USA championship game.
During a 9:30 a.m. Tuesday news conference at the downtown Blue Dome building (Second Street and Elgin Avenue), Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett is expected to announce the proclamation of "True Blue TU Week." Hurricane coach Bill Blankenship and several players, along with members of the TU spirit squad, are expected to attend.
A TU official said the Blue Dome building is expected to get a fresh coat of paint on Tuesday, transforming the dome from pale blue to TU blue.
TU officials will promote the championship game while making morning-show appearances at local television stations. On Friday night, the letters "TU" will be illuminated on the downtown BOK Tower.
2005 rewind: TU beats UCF for C-USA crown
For the third time in TU's eight seasons of Conference USA membership, the Golden Hurricane is matched with the University of Central Florida in the league's title game.
On Dec. 3, 2005, at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., the Hurricane prevailed as Paul Smith connected with tight end Garrett Mills eight times for 152 yards. With that performance, Mills became the all-time major-college leader in single-season receiving yards by a tight end. TU redshirt freshman tailback Tarrion Adams scored three times.
In 2007, UCF defeated visiting Tulsa 44-25 in the championship game. In the 2008 title contest, East Carolina won 27-24 at TU.
Morale restoration project
For the second consecutive season, TU squandered a chance to post a perfect 8-0 run in Conference USA play.
At 7-0 in league play last season, the Hurricane was defeated by Houston in the regular-season finale. Last week, again at 7-0 in the conference, TU stumbled to a 35-27 setback at SMU.
After the Houston game last year - because there was no championship-game appearance for the Hurricane - Blankenship wasn't faced with the challenge of immediately restoring his team's confidence. This week, in advance of a championship clash with UCF, Blankenship must find a way to purge the SMU debacle from the Hurricane's memory.
By The Numbers
1: In advance of the Conference USA championship game at H.A. Chapman Stadium, Las Vegas oddsmakers have established Tulsa as a one-point favorite over the University of Central Florida.
591: During its 35-27 loss at SMU last week, the Golden Hurricane offense rolled for 591 total yards.
297: During the final 17 minutes of the SMU game, the Hurricane totaled 297 yards and three touchdowns.
41: During the final 17 minutes, the Mustang offense mustered only 41 yards.
37: TU concluded the regular season at plus-37 on sacks. The Hurricane defense recorded a program-record total of 45 sacks. The TU offensive line allowed a 12-game total of only eight sacks.
TU Statistics
STATISTICS
| TU | OPP |
| Scoring |
422 |
287 |
| Per game |
35.2 |
23.9 |
| First downs |
275 |
221 |
| by rushing |
141 |
86 |
| by passing |
115 |
114 |
| by penalty |
19 |
21 |
| Rushing yards |
2833 |
1440 |
| Avg. per game |
236.1 |
120.0 |
| Passing yards |
2714 |
2831 |
| Avg. per game |
226.2 |
235.9 |
| Offensive plays |
983 |
876 |
| Total yards |
5547 |
4271 |
| Avg. per play |
5.6 |
4.9 |
| Avg. per game |
462.2 |
355.9 |
| Kick returns-Yds |
31-854 |
41-731 |
| Punt returns-Yds |
28-200 |
22-216 |
| Interceptions-Yds |
10-67 |
11-194 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
24-10 |
21-13 |
| Penalties-Yds |
52-509 |
71-600 |
| Punts-Avg. |
68-38.6 |
85-43.3 |
| 3rd downs |
74-198 |
73-199 |
| 4th downs |
19-30 |
6-20 |
| Sacks by-Yds |
45-313 |
8-51 |
Individual leaders
Y/A=Yards/attempt; Y/G=Yards/game
| RUSHING |
No. |
Yds |
Y/A |
Y/G |
TD |
| J. Douglas |
121 |
837 |
6.9 |
69.8 |
6 |
| T. Watts |
136 |
825 |
6.1 |
75.0 |
3 |
| A. Singleton |
162 |
665 |
4.1 |
55.4 |
19 |
| C. Green |
57 |
189 |
3.3 |
17.2 |
3 |
| Z. Langer |
35 |
181 |
5.2 |
15.1 |
2 |
| PASSING |
C-A-Int |
Yds |
Y/G |
TD |
| C. Green |
203-371-9 |
2346 |
213.3 |
16 |
| K. Henderson |
16-46-2 |
294 |
58.8 |
1 |
| J. Calcagni |
3-4-0 |
48 |
24.0 |
0 |
| T. Watts |
1-1-0 |
26 |
2.4 |
1 |
| RECEIVING |
No. |
Yds |
Y/A |
Y/G |
TD |
| K. Garrett |
60 |
778 |
13.0 |
64.8 |
9 |
| W. Carter |
46 |
353 |
7.7 |
29.4 |
3 |
| J. James |
38 |
549 |
14.4 |
45.8 |
2 |
| T. Watts |
28 |
315 |
11.2 |
28.6 |
0 |
| T. Roberson |
23 |
386 |
16.8 |
32.2 |
3 |
| B. Burnham |
9 |
90 |
10.0 |
90.0 |
0 |
| PUNT RETURNS |
No. |
Yds |
Avg. |
TD |
| T. Watts |
19 |
100 |
5.3 |
0 |
| D. Nelson |
4 |
53 |
13.2 |
0 |
| C. Floyd |
4 |
40 |
10.0 |
0 |
| KICK RETURNS |
No. |
Yds |
Avg. |
TD |
| T. Watts |
16 |
481 |
30.1 |
1 |
| J. Douglas |
6 |
125 |
20.8 |
0 |
| D. Nelson |
5 |
175 |
35.0 |
0 |
| KICKING |
FG-A |
Long |
PAT |
| D. Schwarz |
11-17 |
45 |
45-51 |
| DEFENSE |
Tackles |
TFL |
Sacks |
INT |
FR |
| D. Brown |
116 |
16.5 |
9.0 |
1 |
0 |
| D. McCoil |
74 |
1.5 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
| S. Jackson |
74 |
8.5 |
3.0 |
0 |
1 |
| D. Nelson |
72 |
4.0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| L. Rose |
48 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
| C. Dorris |
46 |
10.0 |
6.0 |
1 |
1 |
| J. ST JOHN |
43 |
11.5 |
9.5 |
0 |
1 |
| D. Bufford |
40 |
7.5 |
3.5 |
0 |
1 |
| M. Osborne |
34 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
0 |
2 |
| D. Jackson |
33 |
6.0 |
2.0 |
0 |
0 |
| T. Martin |
29 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
| D. Jennings |
27 |
6.5 |
2.0 |
0 |
0 |
| J. Flanders |
24 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| M. Mudoh |
22 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| B. Todd |
19 |
8.0 |
1.0 |
0 |
1 |
| J. Sizelove |
18 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| D. Alexander |
17 |
4.5 |
2.0 |
0 |
0 |
| D. Luetjen |
14 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
0 |
0 |
SCHEDULE
Tickets: tulsaworld.com/tusports
Sept. 1: at Iowa State L, 38-23
Sept. 8: vs. Tulane W, 45-10
Sept. 15: vs. Nicholls St. W, 66-16
Sept. 22: vs. Fresno St. W, 27-26
Sept. 29: at UAB W, 49-42
Oct. 6: at Marshall W, 45-38
Oct. 11: vs. UTEP W, 33-11
Oct. 20: vs. Rice W, 28-24
Nov. 3: at Arkansas L, 19-15
Nov. 10: at Houston W, 41-7
Nov. 17: vs. UCF W, 23-21
Nov. 24: at SMU L, 35-27
Dec. 1: vs. UCF ESPN2-26 11 a.m.
UP NEXT
Central Florida (9-3, 7-1) at
Tulsa (9-3, 7-1)
11 a.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN2-26
Radio: KRMG am740, fm102.3
Associated Images:
TU's Trey Watts spins away from UCF's Brendan Kelly on Nov. 17 at Chapman Stadium. The teams face each other again Saturday, this time for the Conference USA championship. BRETT ROJO / for the Tulsa World
The Blue Dome in downtown Tulsa will get a coat of TU blue paint on Tuesday in honor of the Hurricane. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World file
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