Kendarin Ray's play last week epitomizes what Tulsa coach Kevin Wilson wants for the Golden Hurricane this season.

Especially for his seniors.

Ray played so well last Saturday against Northern Illinois that he was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week due to, in great part, his game-clinching interception on the final drive of Tulsa's 22-14 victory.

It was a much-needed win for Tulsa (2-2) going into its conference opening game against Temple (2-2) Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

"K-Ray has been awesome," Wilson said. "A lot of gratefulness for those seniors. Because it's their team. It's their year. I'm happy for those guys. I'm proud of those guys. I appreciate them listening and responding."

Against UNI, Ray, besides coming up with the pivotal interception with 26 seconds remaining and NIU driving in Tulsa territory, came up with a critical tackle on 4th-and-1 earlier in the game.

A 6th-year senior star safety, Ray had a team-high 10 tackles against NIU. Ray leads the AAC in tackles with 38, and has 3 games of at least 10 tackles this season. It was his first AAC Player of the Week honor.

Not bad for a guy who isn't 100 percent, physically. Ray has a thigh contusion he suffered in the season opener.

"He's been a little beaten up, but he's been out there practicing every day," Wilson said of Ray. "A young guy, maybe two or three years ago, he may not have practiced today. As an old guy, you feel like, the end is near. I don't have a lot of days. I don't have a lot of opportunities to play this game."

Wilson's ability to keep Ray and other possible TU players from defecting through the transfer portal to other schools after previous coach Philip Montgomery was fired last November has been critical. Ray and others came back after briefly being in the transfer portal.

As the clear leader of the defense, Ray leads by example.

"He played every snap on defense. Every snap. He didn't come out," Wilson said of Ray. "Proud of his approach to the process, especially when you're a sixth-year guy.

"As a coach, sometimes pictures are worth more than the words that you're saying, and he's given us a great visual for our young players. He's our team captain. He's played through minor injury, is practicing great, and is having good performances. We're going to need him to do it again this week, because we're going to play a much better passing attack this week and the weeks to come."

Seniors like nickel safety Jaise Oliver, defensive tackle Joe Anderson, center Will Farniok, right tackle Darrell Simpson and tight end Ethan Hall are some of the seniors who were mentioned by Wilson as stepping up to the occasion.

"We're building a program. The seniors have one year," Wilson said. "I'm trying to do everything I can to give these guys the best year they can have. Right now, we're trending in a decent direction."

The Golden Hurricane's win over Northern Illinois wasn't pretty, but any road win is something that is not to be taken for granted. Especially for the first road win in a coach's tenure at a school, and in the first FBS win of the season.

The win gives Tulsa's team some legitimacy.

"That was a good, tough win," Wilson said. "We didn't play well. It wasn't easy. But that was a good, tough win on the road. Our football team needed that one."

With the non-conference season finished, it is time for Tulsa's seniors, and for the team in general, to focus on a critical game that could have a big impact on how the rest of the season goes.

A win at home against an average-at-best Temple team would put TU on the right track for the rest of the season. A loss would be deflating, to say the least.

Quarterback Cardell Williams had a less than stellar game, but he did enough to lead Tulsa to victory. As his first victory as a starter, it was significant. And his bruised hand should be even healthier this week.

Williams went 8 of 20 for 102 yards and 2 interceptions against NIU. For the season, Williams has passed for 596 yards (149 yards per game), with 5 TDs and 5 INTs, for a 58.5 completion percentage.

It is possible that Braylon Braxton plays, but probably not likely. Wilson was saying that Braxton, who is still number one on the QB depth chart, even after his early first game injury, needs to be able to do the things necessary with his ankle to protect himself. And he needs more practice time.

Tulsa's poor starts in games this season have been a running story. Being outscored 49-5 in the first quarter is appalling. Even more so when considering all the turnovers in the first quarter that have taken place.

At least TU scored 2 points on a safety last week after turning the ball over on a fumble inside the NIU 10-yard-line. And the defense didn't allow a point in the quarter. So, there's that.

"We need to start fast. We've had some slow starts, which is horrible," Wilson said. "Put our defense in horrible positions in several games."

Temple probably is somewhat improved over last year, but they should still be expected to be bottom feeders in the AAC. The Owls finished 3-9 the last two seasons, and were 1-6 the year before in 2020.

Last year, Tulsa went up to Philadelphia and soundly defeated the Owls 27-16. That win is significant, considering it was Tulsa's only win among its first 6 conference games. And all of its losses during that span were by at least 10 points.

Most memorable about the game was current Kansas City Chiefs practice squad player Deneric Prince shredding Temple's run defense for 231 yards on 20 carries, including an 84-yard TD run where he went untouched up the middle.

Part of that was Prince being good. But a bigger part of that was that Temple's run defense was really bad, giving up an average of 192.6 yards per game last year. The Owls are giving up 195.3 yards per game so far this season.

That bodes well for a player like Anthony Watkins, who is finally rounding into the form that he had in 2021 when he rushed for 634 and a 7.4 yard average per carry.

After sitting out last year, and being dinged up a little bit to start the season, Watkins had his best game of the season, gaining 91 yards and a TD on 23 carries. He leads Tulsa in rushing with 242 yards and a 4.2 yards per carry.

On defense, Tulsa will have to face talented, but young quarterback E.J. Warner, the son of NFL Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner.

Last season as a true freshman, young Warner passed for 3,028 yards (275.2 ypg), with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 11 games with a 60.5 percent completion percentage. This season, Warner has 1,000 yards passing (250 ypg) with 5 TD' and 4 INTs and a 53.5 completion percentage.

Temple has lost convincingly to two teams: No. 20 Miami (4-0) 41-7, and Rutgers (3-1) 36-7. The Owls have beaten two non-inspiring opponents: Akron (1-3) 24-21, and Norfolk State (2-2) 41-9.

Pass defense will be a key for Tulsa beating Temple. Although Warner hasn't been great by any means, Tulsa can't revert back to the Washington and OU games where its pass defense was sliced and diced for over 400 yards each contest.

Tulsa's pass defense was considerably better last week against a lesser opponent, as the Golden Hurricane allowed 17 of 29 completions for just 128 yards, with a TD and 2 picks.

"We've not been very good at pass defense," Wilson said. "We've had a couple of games where we've played well, a couple of games where we haven't."

One of the positives, besides Ray, was sophomore strong safety Dayne Hodge seeing his first extended action of the season, and coming through. His diving, first half interception made a statement and fired up Tulsa's defense for the rest of the game.

"Dayne Hodge made a great play on that pick," Wilson said. "It's great to see him as a walk-on having some success. He played really well. He does a great job on special teams as well."

Hodge filled in for banged up Kanion Williams, the OSU graduate transfer who could play this week.

Wilson has been impressed by what he has seen from Warner, and knows his secondary will be tested.

"You know his pedigree. You know his background," Wilson said of Warner. "He's a young guy who throws it well. He's a very talented, good young quarterback."

Regardless of Warner, the bottom line is that Temple isn't particularly good, but isn't a pushover, either. Tulsa has to play decently to win.

Tulsa is favored by 3.5 points after being picked to lose by 4 points last week at NIU.

Like last week, Tulsa needs a win to set the tone for the rest of the season.