When going through a rough season, every opponent seems like a tough one.

Conversely, when a team is having a good season, it expects to win every game.

Tulsa (3-8, 1-6 AAC) is in the former category this season, unfortunately. That is why its 1 p.m. game Saturday afternoon at East Carolina seems like, although winnable, it isn't a game that Tulsa almost certainly will win.

East Carolina (2-9, 1-6) isn't a very good team. At all. Its offense stinks.

But the Pirates have a legitimate defense that has had some success this season. And given Tulsa's problems on offense, that doesn't necessarily bode well for the Golden Hurricane in its season finale.

The fact that a bad team is favored by 3 points to beat you is perhaps the final insult for the 2023 Tulsa season. However, since Tulsa is on a 6-game losing streak, it's not an unreasonable point spread. About right.

The game presents a final chance, this season, for Kirk Francis to make the case that he is the TU quarterback of the future. He has played well, especially against Tulane, in his 3 games.

But Francis, the true freshman walk-on from Metro Christian, who almost assuredly will be on scholarship soon, has another shot to convince Tulsa coaches that he is ‘The Guy’.

"Just in a short period of time, I think I've taken in a ton of great experience against great defenses," Francis said. "This week we're playing another great defense. Just understanding of how the college game works. Defenses move so much faster. Reading coverages, understanding player movement. So many things like that. I think I've definitely grown a lot."

The biggest disappointment of the season, beside the losing record, has been the unsettled nature of the quarterback position. Braylon Braxton was supposed to be ‘The Guy’ – the face of the program – the next great TU quarterback.

Instead, the season has turned into a nightmare for Braxton. From interceptions on his first 2 possessions of the season against a FBC team, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and his ankle injury that kept him out almost half the season, Braxton just hasn't worked out.

Even when healthy after he came back, Braxton's performance has been off. Way off. Not sure why, but his last two outstanding games of the 2022 season haven't carried over. There is zero confidence in his passing right now.

When you have 6 interceptions in 50 passing attempts, that isn't going to cut it. Especially when you are under 50 percent in completion percentage, and you are averaging under 10 yards per completion.

"The whole situation, getting here, the way Braylon played at the end of last year, I was told by everyone, what a great leader, what a great player he was, how dynamic," said Tulsa coach Kevin Wilson. "And then he got hurt so quick in that first game, that first drive. Didn't come back for a while.

"Then, you take a couple of weeks, coming off of that deal, you saw some inconsistencies in practice, but let's see how it goes in the game. And then, unfortunately for him, his surrounding parts didn't play well."