Tulsa hosts Arkansas State in vital game for Golden Hurricane
To say the Arkansas State game is the most important game of the year for Tulsa may be a stretch, but maybe not.
It is likely to be a tough challenge for Tulsa at 6 p.m. Saturday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium against an underrated Sun Belt opponent that has gone 58-31 since 2011 with seven consecutive winning seasons.
Although saying Arkansas State (1-1) is underrated may not be accurate since amazingly, the oddsmakers have the Red Wolves as a slight favorite (1 to 2 points) over the Golden Hurricane.
Whether that speaks to respect for ASU or complete lack of respect for Tulsa is hard to say. However, there is absolutely no way that Tulsa (1-1) can feel like it is an underdog to Arkansas State. A loss to the Sun Belt team would be devastating.
Quite simply, this is a game Tulsa has to win.
The oddsmakers may have done Tulsa a huge favor. After playing Texas, Tulsa may have slightly overlooked Arkansas State.
But being an underdog to a Sun Belt team at home? Understandable if on the road, but at home? If that is not a slap in the face, nothing is.
The upcoming game is on the heels of an impressive, yet flawed performance in Tulsa’s 28-21 loss to Texas in Austin last Saturday night.
Even if the Arkansas State game is not the most important game of the year, it is certainly a swing game. Meaning, a win will put Tulsa in position for an outstanding season. A loss, however, would have Tulsa at a potential 1-3 non-conference record, with a future game at Arkansas.
The last three times Tulsa finished 1-3 in non-conference games, the Hurricane finished with a combined seven wins in those three seasons, with the last two being two-win seasons in 2017 and 2014. TU finished 3-9 in 2013.
In order to defeat Arkansas State, Tulsa needs to build on the positive aspects of its performance against Texas, and eliminate some of the negative.
“Every week, you’re hoping to learn more and more about your team,” said TU head coach Philip Montgomery. “Our team is still in the early stages of this year. They’re still kind of in those infant phases: Who’s stepping up in big situations? Who’s making big plays? Who’s the guy on the sideline doing a great job of keeping people together?
“I think our guys are very disappointed in the loss (at Texas). I want them that way. Any time we step on the field, we feel like we should be able to execute ... and win all of those games. I think our guys are positive. We’re ready to take the next step.”
On the positive side, quarterback Luke Skipper and the Golden Hurricane passing game came alive in Tulsa’s second half comeback. Things finally started to click, with TU scoring 21 second half points.
Tulsa’s Deven Lamp blocked a Texas punt in the second half, and the Hurricane defense held the Longhorns to seven points in the second half.
On the negative side, Tulsa’s first half was filled with missed chances for points. Besides three potential touchdown passes which went off Tulsa receivers’ fingers, TU missed three field goal attempts.
Not having a dependable field goal kicker can be a major problem, considering Tulsa is likely to play many close games. It may have been the deciding factor against Texas.
Walk-on senior kicker Nate Walker badly missed all three of his attempts. The third one, however, was taken off the books due to a running into the kicker penalty. TU coach Philip Montgomery then opted to yank Walker in favor of kickoff specialist John Parker Romo.
Unfortunately, Romo’s kick barely missed just right, although it was a much better-looking kick than any of Walker’s. After that, Walker successfully kicked all three of TU’s extra-point attempts.
Because of the poor kicking game, Tulsa wasted another opportunity when it had to go for it from six yards away on fourth-and-goal. So, the kicking game ultimately cost Tulsa 12 points in a game it lost by seven.
Also disappointing was that when Tulsa twice pulled to within a touchdown of Texas late in the game, Tulsa’s defense could not get a stop. Especially frustrating was the last drive when TU was trying to get the ball back.
Against a mediocre Texas running game in a situation where the Longhorns were trying to run out the clock while running the ball, Tuls couldn’t quite get the Horns off the field, and the clock was run out.
In order to beat Arkansas State, Tulsa must contain former OU scholarship quarterback Justice Hansen, who was the Sun Belt offensive player of the year in 2017 for an ASU team that finished 7-5, 6-2 in conference play.
Hansen averaged 330 yards per game through the air last season, finishing with 3,967 yards and 37 touchdowns – all school records. He also rushed for seven touchdowns and 415 yards. He was intercepted 16 times.
This season, Hansen is averaging 281.5 yards per game while tossing seven touchdown passes with two interceptions. Against Alabama last week, Hansen was 15 of 36 for 140 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Leading ASU’s rushing attack is Warren Wand, who has rushed for 92 yards and a 4.8 average per carry. Wand led ASU in rushing last season with 715 yards and a 5.2 yards per carry average. He gained 60 yards on 11 carries against Alabama.
In addition to Wand, Armond Weh-Weh is actually leading the team in rushing with 95 yards and a 5.9 yards per carry average, while Marcel Murray has gained 88 yards at a 5.2 average. Weh-Weh had four carries for 45 yards against Bama.
“They’ve got a great coaching staff,’’ said Montgomery. “This is a team the last four or five years that's been to bowl games, and they are competing for conference championships. They’ve beaten a lot of people. We know they do an outstanding job and the players know that, and we have got a really, really tough task come Saturday.”
Arkansas State’s 57-7 loss at Alabama last week shouldn’t be held against them, since the No. 1 ranked and defending national champion Crimson Tide would likely roll most opponents by a similar score.
It is interesting that both Tulsa and Arkansas State are coming off of road games against name schools where they each played in front of around 100,000 fans.
The Arkansas State series with Tulsa has been interesting, with it being tied at 2-2 and the home team winning every game. Tulsa’s 21-20 victory to start the 1978 season jump-started a TU team that had finished 3-8 the previous season and jettisoned Tulsa to a 9-2 record.
That 1978 team was quarterbacked by Dave Rader and had other standouts, including second round draft pick Rickey Watts at wide receiver, as well as All-Americans defensive players in linebacker Don Blackmon and safety Lovie Smith. Football has changed more than a little since then, however, as Rader only threw eight passes in the game, completing three, while rushing 19 times for 63 yards. Quinn Jones led Tulsa in rushing in the game with 103 yards on 18 carries.
Tulsa won the last meeting, a 54-7 drubbing for the 8-5 Golden Hurricane. ASU beat Tulsa 21-19 in 2002 for a one-win TU team in Keith Burns last year as Tulsa coach, and also won 31-7 in the season finale in 1981 for a 6-5 John Cooper coached Tulsa team (7-4 if you count the Kansas forfeit in a 15-11 season opening loss at Skelly Stadium).
Arkansas State – located in northeast Jonesboro with a student enrollment of 14,000 – wasn’t a major college team until 1992. In Tulsa’s first two games against them, before the politically correct days, Arkansas State’s nickname was the Indians, and the stadium it played in was called Indian Stadium (now Centennial Bank Stadium).
Its most famous coach was Larry Lacewell, who coached from 1979-1989 and is ASU’s all-time wins leader (69-58-4). Lacewell is more famous for being OU’s defensive coordinator in the 1970’s under Barry Switzer, and for being the Dallas Cowboys Director of College and Professional Scouting from 1992-2004.
The history of the game is interesting, but most pressing is Tulsa building on its performance, especially in the second half, against Texas.
If the offense, especially the passing game, can click like it did late in the Texas game, then Tulsa should be able to handle the Red Wolves.