Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Conference USA
Tulsa spent much of the 2011 season under the radar. First year coach Bill Blankenship deserves a ton of credit for keeping this team focused. The Golden Hurricane lost three out of their first four games and that made all of the publicity for Conference USA move toward Houston and Southern Miss. However, losing to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Boise State in the first four weeks of the season is nothing to be ashamed of. This group should be proud that they could learn from those losses and use it to help them cruise through conference play with few problems.
2011 Record: 8-4, 7-1
Last Bowl Appearance: 2010 Hawaii Bowl vs. Hawaii (W 62-35)
Big Wins: 10/29 SMU (38-7), 11/3 at UCF (24-17)
Bad Losses: 9/24 at Boise State (21-41), 11/25 Houston (16-48)
Coach: Bill Blankenship (8-4 at Tulsa, 8-4 overall)
Bowl Record: 0-0 at Tulsa, 0-0 overall
Offensive Coordinator: Greg Peterson
Defensive Coordinator: Brent Guy
Strengths:
Even with a new coach, this is still Tulsa and the offense will be explosive. Coach Blankenship did not change that. Senior quarterback G.J. Kinne has had another great season. His overall yardage numbers are down, but Kinne is completing more of his passes and making smarter decisions. He does what he needs to do to win and that is all that matters. Kinne has a plethora of targets at his disposal. Willie Carter and Bryan Burnham have emerged as the most consistent pass catchers. Tight end Clay Sears is a great option in the red zone and Kinne will look his way in the end zone quite a bit. The passing game was expected to be good, but what has turned this into a dynamic offense is the very, very good ground game. A year ago Kinne led the team in rushing. While he is still making plays with his feet, the Golden Hurricane have a trio of very productive running backs. Trey Watts is the workhorse of the group, Ja’Terian Douglas is the big playmaker and Alex Singleton is the short yardage specialist. Coach Blankenship has a talented back for every situation and that is tough to stop.
Weaknesses:
In Conference USA most teams are going to have relatively bad passing defense numbers. The fact that Tulsa played Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in September has not helped the Golden Hurricane pass defense. However, even keeping all of that in mind, Tulsa has had more problems than most defending the pass. There are some good playmakers in the secondary, most notably Dexter McCoil and Milton Howell, but the unit has been susceptible to the big play. The defensive backs are often given very little help since defensive end Tyrunn Walker is the only consistent pass rusher on the team. And when you give players like Landry Jones, Brandon Weeden and Case Keenum time to pass, they will make you pay. The good news is this team has seen some of the best quarterbacks in the nation and they definitely have the experience to pull together a solid showing on any given Saturday.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: Ja’Terian Douglas, RB, 884 yards
Passing: G.J. Kinne, QB, 2,876 yards
Receiving: Willie Carter, WR, 868 yards
Tackles: Curnelius Arnick, LB, 142
Sacks: Tyrunn Walker, DE, 8.0
Interceptions: Milton Howell, CB, 4; Dexter McCoil, S, 4
2011 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 204.58 (25th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Passing Offense: 249.83 (42, 5)
Total Offense: 454.42 (23, 3)
Scoring Offense: 34.08 (24, 3)
Rushing Defense: 131.33 (39, 4)
Pass Defense: 289.33 (118, 11)
Total Defense: 420.67 (90, 8)
Scoring Defense: 27.58 (67, 5)
Turnover Margin: -.50 (97, 8)
Sacks: 2.00 (50, 5)
Sacks Allowed: 1.25 (26, 1)
