Tulsa, OK (Best E Casino) - Now that undefeated Tulsa has finally gotten the attention of the pollsters, the 22nd-ranked Golden Hurricane take aim at the visiting UCF Knights in a Conference USA showdown on Sunday night at Skelly Field.
These teams have squared off in two of the three Conference USA championship games, and now this installment will be played in front of a national television audience. Already with one loss in league play, the Knights know that any more missteps could ultimately cost them the East Division title. They had a bye this past week, and will enter this game well rested. Still, with losses in three of their last four overall, the timing is not ideal to be going on the road against the best the league has to offer at the moment. UCF has never beaten a ranked team.
Tulsa is one of two C-USA teams who remain unscathed in league play. The Golden Hurricane once again put their high-flying offense on display against UTEP last weekend, rolling to a 77-35 victory. Though the team has earned its first national ranking since 1991, many around the program feel the credit is long overdue. Coach Todd Graham, who says he has yet to respond to the influx of email and phone calls this week, said the only numbers he concerns himself with are the ones in the win-loss column.
"(The extra attention) breaks my routine to how I'm used to preparing and how I work every day," he said at his weekly press conference. "You can't buy into that. You've got to stay focused, you have to stay hungry and focused on one thing - that's going 8-0. I like the fact that we spent so many weeks under the radar because we didn't have to deal with that. From this point forward, every moment that we spend talking about it is a distraction."
Indeed, the winning culture is a relatively new one for a Tulsa program that hasn't started 7-0 since 1942.
UCF has a 2-1 edge over Tulsa in the all-time series.
The Knights have played two different quarterbacks this season, and have experienced marginal success with both. In UCF's 20-14 loss at Miami on October 11th, Rob Calabrese completed just 11-of-35 passes and finished with 74 yards. He was also sacked four times, and led the team with 26 rushing yards (1.9 ypc). On the season, Calabrese is completing a mere 39.8 percent of his passes (77.5 ypg) and has thrown only one touchdown against three interceptions. Michael Greco is completing 51.2 percent of his attempts (85.2 ypg) and has thrown four touchdowns, also with three interceptions. Obviously, those numbers are modest, at best. Factor in that the team is already operating without second-leading receiver Rocky Ross (broken collarbone) for the remainder of the season, and you have a Knights' offense that ranks 110th in the nation in passing offense (121.67 ypg), and dead-last in total offense (248.3 ypg).
If there is one defense in C-USA that can slow Tulsa's offense, it's the Knights'. At his press conference this week, coach Graham called UCF's defense the best his team will have seen this year. After all, the Knights are No. 1 in the conference in run defense and pass efficiency defense. As a unit, the Knights lead the nation in interceptions per game. So, one would figure something has to give in this matchup.
"I do think the strength of their team is naturally their defense and their special teams, and the strength of their defense is definitely their secondary," Graham said. "They have four guys that have been playing together...I can't remember them not playing together. They are as good as there is in the country."
Those "four guys" he is talking about -- Johnell Neal (three INTs), Sha'reff Rashad (three INTs), Joe Burnett (two INTs) and Jason Venson (two INTs) -- each rank in the top-six in the conference in picks. Rashad recorded two interceptions against Miami, while Neal returned one 62 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. Burnett also put his stamp on the game with a 91-yard kick return in the fourth quarter, which made it a six-point game with five minutes to play. Bruce Miller (seven tackles for loss) spearheads the pass rush with four sacks on the season. He has been a big reason why the Knights lead the conference in tackles for loss.
Across the country, there aren't many offenses that can put up the type of numbers that Tulsa can. In fact, there aren't any at all. Entering this weekend, Tulsa leads the nation in both total offense (624.71 ypg) and scoring offense (56.57 ppg). Compounding matters, at least for opposing defenses, is that the Golden Hurricane can pack an equally powerful punch either on the ground (267 ypg) or through the air (358 ypg). Quarterback David Johnson leads the nation in passing efficiency (207.77). On the season, he is completing 69 percent of his passes and has thrown 31 touchdowns against only eight interceptions. Last week against UTEP, Johnson racked up 434 yards and five touchdowns through the air. Brennam Marion is averaging 108 receiving yards and one touchdown per game. Against the Miners, he posted six catches for 233 yards and three TDs. And on the ground, all Tarrion Adams (114 yards, two TDs last week) has done is average 5.9 yards per carry.
Although Tulsa's offense is like no other in college football, coach Graham compares the scheme to that of the wishbone -- obviously, in terms of deception, not design.
"I think that what we're doing is very unique," said Graham, also pointing out that they are in the infant stages of what they want to do on offense. "It's well thought-out. It's adapted to the players we have and the type of players that we can recruit year in and year out here. It's very attractive to players. It's impacted our recruiting tremendously."
Defensively, that's been another story for the Golden Hurricane. They enter this bout ranked 99th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense (411 ypg) and 80th in scoring defense (27.14 ppg). Noting that UCF's system doesn't change depending on what quarterback is under center, the coaching staff has prepared the defense for either signal-caller. No matter who takes the snaps, Tulsa must to a better job reacting and making open-field tackles. Masked behind the eye candy of 60 and 70-point outbursts is the fact that Tulsa has given up an average of 32 points over the last four games. Last week, UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe torched Tulsa for 306 passing yards and four touchdowns. Granted, a good portion of those numbers were accumulated while the Miners were forced to play catchup. That has been one of the unique challenges facing the Tulsa defense from week to week: staying disciplined while playing with huge leads. One thing is for sure; with the rate at which Tulsa lights up the scoreboard, the defense hasn't had to worry about its run defense very often.
