Last chance games can spur a team on to a fantastic finish, or can have the opposite effect.

Tulsa’s last chance to stay bowl eligible and avoid the depressing prospect of playing out the season with a guaranteed losing record starts Saturday afternoon at 3 pm when the Hurricane plays at Tulane.

Tulsa’s heartbreaking 42-41 loss to No. 25 Memphis, where the Golden Hurricane outplayed the Tigers, will be a tough one to overcome.

But since Tulsa has come so close against high quality teams this season, it is reasonable to expect that the resilient Golden Hurricane can end their four-game losing streak by beating the Green Wave.

Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins, who, along with his teammates, played their hearts out against Memphis, still believes in the Hurricane, as he expressed in a painful press conference after the Memphis game.

“We just need to win. That’s all we need. No matter how we do it, that's what we have to do,” Collins said. “We can’t give up. We’ve just got to go to the next game, the next practice, and go from there.”

The fact that Tulsa (2-6, 0-4 AAC) is just two missed field goals from being 4-4, 2-2 in conference play, is a testament to how close Tulsa is to being a good team. If Tulsa makes potential walk-off field goals against Memphis and at SMU, the outlook for the seasons would be completely different.

But as it is, it is still possible to turn the season around. But it can’t wait.

“This is going to hurt for a little bit, but we’ve got to get over it and we’ve got another dad-gummed good football team next week,” Montgomery said after the Memphis game. “We don’t have a chance to feel sorry for ourselves. We pick ourselves back up and keep fighting.”

For Tulane (5-3, 2-2), beating Tulsa may be its last good possibility to secure a bowl game and a .500 season, since the Green Wave is likely to lose its last three games. Tulane finishes with games at Temple (5-3, 2-2), at home against UCF (6-2, 3-1) and at undefeated SMU.

Tulsa and Tulane are both coming off crushing losses, as Tulane got beat on a 48-yard game-winning field goal by Navy last Saturday. Both Tulsa and Tulane were down early in the games, with Tulsa trailing 14-0 and Tulane down 21-0.

One thing is certain. Tulsa’s schedule has been absolutely brutal. Especially in the last four weeks.

The last four-game stretch may be the toughest stretch of four conference games in Tulsa’s long history. Starting off the conference season with SMU (8-0, 4-0), at home against Navy (6-1, 4-1), then at Cincinnati (6-1, 3-0), and at home versus Memphis (7-1, 3-1) was an absolutely unbelievable stretch.

Those four teams have a combined record of 27-3, and 18-2 in conference play. SMU is ranked #15, Cincy #17 and Memphis #24. And despite that, Tulsa should be 2-2 in that stretch.

In contrast, Tulane’s two wins have come at home against hapless UConn (2-6, 0-4) and Houston (3-5, 1-3). It’s two conference losses have been at Memphis and Navy. Tulane also lost at No. 11 Auburn, 24-6, early in the season.

As for Tulsa’s field goal kicking game, which is 9 of 17 for the season, it will be interesting to see if TU coach Philip Montgomery stays with struggling freshman walk-on Jacob Rainey, who was two of five against Memphis.

It would be interesting to see what Drake graduate transfer Danny Donley can do. After all, he was 10 of 10 for Drake on field goals last season, with a long of 45 yards. The Jenks graduate was seen stretching with his helmet on not long before a field goal attempt by TU against Memphis.

And Donley, who was not healthy to start the season, did get into the game against Memphis, as he squib-kicked a kickoff late in the first half. It was his second squib kick kickoff of the season.

Coincidentally or not coincidentally, Tulsa just got a commitment from Little Elm (TX) kicker Tyler Tipton. Considering Tulsa’s poor kicking - 12 of 21, 57.1 percent in 2018; 9 of 17 – 52.9 percent in 2019; for a combined 21 of 38 – 55.2 percent the last two seasons, it should be no surprise that Tulsa is offering a scholarship to a kicker.

Having Redford Jones as a walk-on turned scholarship kicker under Montgomery’s first two years worked out well. But after the last two seasons, the coaching staff obviously saw the need to change its strategy.

Tipton recently kicked a game-winning 48-yarder, and a video of him connecting from 65 yards in practice is on twitter. Granted, high school kickers have to adjust to kicking without a tee in college, hence, the hesitation to give out kicking scholarships to high school kickers. However, Tipton definitely has the ability to be a strong college kicker.

As for the prospect of facing Tulane (home team favored by over 10), the top priority will by stopping senior quarterback Justin McMillan. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound McMillan is a decent passer, but is a very good runner.

McMillan leads Tulane’s balanced option rushing attack with 415 yards and averages 4.9 yards per carry. He averages 189.9 yards passing per game, with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

The Cedar Hill, Texas graduate and LSU transfer is familiar to former Cedar Hill teammate Trevis Gipson, who will undoubtedly be motivated to take down and harass McMillan for bragging rights.

Tulane has a running back by committee approach, and they are all capable. Corey Dauphine leads all Green Wave running backs with 377 yards and a whopping 10.7 average per carry. But Dauphine has no 100 yard game this season, and his number of carries hasn’t hit double digits in a game all season.

Dauphine led Tulane to a 24-17 victory at Tulsa last season, rushing for 107 yards on 18 carries. McMillan passed for 92 yards in the game, completing 10 of 19 passes. But he delivered the crushing blow in the game with a 39-yard run with 3:46 remaining, completing a Tulane comeback where Tulsa led 17-7 midway through the third quarter.

Considering the way Tulsa has played against much better teams than Tulane this season, and the fact that a 3-9 Tulsa team almost beat Tulane last season, there is absolutely no reason that Tulsa can’t go to Tulane and get a victory. It’s not like Tulane has the most rabid fan base of all time, so it is definitely not the most hostile environment for a road team.

Tulsa’s offense is coming off a game where it not only scored 41 points, but also where quarterback Zach Smith passed for over 300 yards again. Keylon Stokes caught nine passes for 129 yards, Shamari Brooks gained 156 yards rushing, and Corey Taylor added another 85 yards on the ground.

A win over Tulane would completely change Tulsa’s momentum, and give it hope against formidable UCF the next week. UCF is very good, but with Tulsa having almost won three games the last four weeks against ranked opponents, the Hurricane shouldn’t be fazed by anybody.

The final two games of Tulsa’s schedule are definitely games it should win. Houston has thrown in the towel for the season, so that should be a good senior day win for Tulsa. And TU finishes at terrible East Carolina (3-5, 0-4), whose only wins are against Gardner Webb, William & Mary and Old Dominion – all the definition of creampuff opponents.

So beating Tulane could usher in a strong close to the season. The schedule is certainly more favorable.

Even with its non-conference schedule, the Golden Hurricane schedule has been unreasonably tough. Michigan St. (4-4, 2-3 Big 10), San Jose St. (4-4, 1-3 Mountain West), OSU (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) and Wyoming (6-2, 3-1 Mountain West) have a combined record of 19-13, making Tulsa’s overall opponents have a record of 46-15. During the next four weeks, Tulsa opponents are 17-10, making the current records of all Tulsa opponents this season 63-25.

Collins still believes Tulsa can win out and go to a bowl game, but obviously, the sense of urgency is there.

“You’ve got to win out. Should-a, could-a, would-a’s are out the door. The next game is do-or-die,” Collins said. “You’re backed into a corner now. You’ve got no room for mistakes.”