Game Primer: OU at Tulsa

Saturday, September 16

Tulsa, Okla.

2:30 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Tulsa

September 14, 2023 | Football

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By: OU Athletics Communications

#19/16 Oklahoma

Tulsa

Saturday, Sept. 16 / 2:30 p.m. CT / H.A. Chapman Stadium

ESPN2 / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• Meeting for the first time since 2015, No. 19/16 Oklahoma (2-0) plays its first road game of the season when it travels to face Tulsa (1-1) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN2 with Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler and Kayla Burton announcing.

• Saturday's game will mark the 29th meeting between Oklahoma and Tulsa. The Sooners own a 20-7-1 series lead and are 7-3 against the Golden Hurricane in Tulsa.

• OU is 73-10 (.880) in September games since the start of the 1999 season, which was Bob Stoops' first as head coach.

• The 2023 season marks the 129th in OU football history. The Sooners lead the country with their 50 all-time conference championships, 27 11-plus-win seasons, 33 AP top-five finishes, seven Heisman Trophy winners (tied) and five No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks (tied), rank second with their 430 all-time weeks ranked in the top five of the AP poll, third with seven AP national championships and with their 101 weeks as the AP's No. 1 team, and fourth with their 56 bowl appearances and 414 NFL Draft picks.

• Saturday's contest will mark the 1,328th in OU history. The Sooners rank fifth in college football annals with their .725 all-time winning percentage (936-338-53 record). They trail Ohio State (.733), Alabama (.732), Michigan (.731), and Notre Dame (.730). Since the end of World War II (1946 season to present), OU leads all programs with 692 wins (34 more than Alabama, the program with the next most) and owns a .771 winning percentage.

• Tulsa, which is in its first year under the direction of former OU offensive coordinator and offensive line/tight ends/fullbacks coach Kevin Wilson, is 1-1. After a 42-7 season-opening home win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the Golden Hurricane lost 43-10 at No. 8 Washington on Saturday. TU gained 318 yards against the Huskies and gave up 563.

KEY STORYLINES

• Oklahoma owns a 20-7-1 all-time record against Tulsa and is 14-1 against the Golden Hurricane since 1943. The Sooners have won the last nine games in the series by an average score of 48-13. OU was ranked in each of those nine contests, with an average AP ranking of No. 8. Tulsa's last win against OU came in 1996 in Norman (31-24) in a battle of unranked teams.

• The Sooners are 7-3 against TU in Tulsa. They have won the last four meetings at H.A. Chapman Stadium by an average score of 54-7 (52-7 in 2014, 62-21 in 2007, 37-0 in 2002 and 65-0 in 1987). The Golden Hurricane's wins in Tulsa came in 1933 (20-6), 1937 (19-7) and 1942 (23-0).

• First-year Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson spent nine seasons (2002-10) on the Oklahoma staff under head coach Bob Stoops, helping the Sooners to a 98-24 (.803) record, a 59-13 (.819) Big 12 mark, six Big 12 championships and national championship game appearances in 2003, 2004 and 2008. The 2008 OU offense was one of the most potent in college football history, averaging a nation-leading 51.1 points per game and 547.9 yards per contest. The Sooners that season became the first FBS program to score at least 60 points in five straight games (62 vs. Nebraska, 66 at Texas A&M, 65 vs. Texas Tech, 61 at Oklahoma State and 62 vs. Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game). Quarterback Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy that season (QB Jason White won it in 2003 when Wilson was on staff). Wilson served as OU's co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach from 2002-05 and as offensive coordinator and tight ends and fullbacks coach from 2006-10. He was Indiana's head coach from 2011-16 and spent the 2017-22 seasons as Ohio State's offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.

• Through two games this season, OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel has accounted for seven touchdowns and no turnovers. He ranks fifth nationally with his 200.2 pass efficiency rating and seventh with his .776 completion percentage, going 38 for 49 for 484 yards and six scores. He has also rushed 10 times for 35 yards and a TD.

• After ranking 49th nationally last season in third-down conversion percentage (.405) and 87th in third-down conversion percentage defense (.409), OU is off to a stellar start in both categories in 2023. The Sooners have converted 18 of their 28 third downs through two games, good for the nation's third-best percentage (.643). And OU allowed Arkansas State and SMU to convert just six of their 27 combined third-down tries. The .222 opponent conversion figure has the Sooners ranked eighth in the country.

• OU added nine defensive scholarship transfers in the offseason and has been impressive on that side of the ball through two games. The Sooners rank sixth in scoring defense (5.5 ppg), 32nd in yards per play allowed (4.5) and 35th in total defense (287.5 ypg). Last year, OU ranked 98th in scoring defense (30.0 ppg), 82nd in yards per play allowed (5.8) and 121st in total defense (461.0 ypg).

• The Sooners have allowed just two scores (one touchdown) through two games. The TD came in the fourth quarter by SMU. The last time OU went at least seven quarters without allowing a touchdown to open a season was in 1999 when it beat Indiana State 49-0 and Baylor 41-10. Baylor's TD was in the fourth quarter.

• OU has yet to commit a turnover this season and has registered three takeaways on defense (one interception and two fumble recoveries). It also blocked a punt against SMU.

RECAPPING THE WIN OVER SMU

• Tawee Walker rushed for career-high 117 yards, Dillon Gabriel passed for four touchdowns and the OU defense held SMU to 4.6 yards per play in a 28-11 home win on Saturday. SMU's 11 points were its fewest since the 2017 season.

• The Sooners, who never trailed, led 14-3 at halftime and 14-11 early in the fourth quarter before scoring the final 14 points of the game as Gabriel connected with receiver Jalil Farooq on a 21-yard touchdown with 9:01 remaining and with running back Marcus Major on a 27-yard score with 6:40 left.

• Gabriel's other touchdown throws went to Michigan transfer receiver Andrel Anthony in the first quarter (his first TD as a Sooner gave OU a 7-0 lead) and Texas A&M transfer tight end Blake Smith in the second quarter (his first career TD put OU up 14-3). Anthony caught a career-high seven passes for 76 yards.

• The game marked the 10th in Gabriel's career in which he threw at least four touchdown passes (third at OU) and 17th career game with at least three TD passes (fifth at OU). He also surpassed 100 career TD passes (now has 101).

• The Sooners held SMU to 26 fewer points and 106 fewer yards than it averaged last season. OU's defense registered two takeaways (interception by Justin Harrington and a fumble forced by Key Lawrence and recovered by Danny Stutsman).

• Stutsman was the defensive star, finishing with 17 tackles (one shy of his career high), 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a QB hurry and the fumble recovery in OU territory. Named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week on Sunday, he keyed a defensive effort that held the Mustangs to a combined 6-for-20 performance on third and fourth downs.

• The OU defense logged five tackles for loss, five QB hurries and five pass breakups (two PBUs by sophomore linebacker Jaren Kanak).

• Freshman defensive back Peyton Bowen finished with four tackles, a key fourth-down pass breakup and blocked a punt in SMU territory on its first possession that led to OU's first touchdown of the game. It was the Sooners' first blocked punt since 2020 against Texas (David Ugwoegbu).

NOTING THE NEWBIES

• After adding 47 new players to the program last season, Oklahoma welcomed 65 newcomers for 2023, Brent Venables' second season as head coach. Forty of those 65 newcomers are scholarship players. That means 52% of OU's 2023 roster is comprised of first-year Sooners. Ninety-nine of OU's 125 players (79%) are first- or second-year Sooners, with 64 of them on scholarship. Only 26 of 116 players on OU's 2021 end-of-year roster are on the 2023 roster.

• OU hit the transfer portal with frequency in the offseason, adding 21 players for 2023 who transferred from four-year schools. Among the 16 scholarship transfers, nine are on defense and seven on offense. The 21 total transfers played in 447 collective games at their previous schools and made 214 starts.

• Forty first-year Sooners saw the field against Arkansas State or SMU, or both. They were redshirt senior DE Rondell Bothroyd, redshirt senior P Luke Elzinga, redshirt senior DE Trace Ford, redshirt senior DL Jacob Lacey, redshirt senior LB Konnor Near, redshirt senior DL Phil Paea, redshirt senior DB Reggie Pearson, redshirt senior OL Walter Rouse, redshirt senior DL Davon Sears, redshirt senior OL Caleb Shaffer, redshirt senior DL Da'Jon Terry, redshirt junior TE Blake Smith, junior WR Andrel Anthony, junior DB Kendel Dolby, redshirt sophomore OL Troy Everett, redshirt sophomore TE Hampton Fay, redshirt sophomore TE Josh Fanuiel, sophomore LB Dasan McCullough, freshman DL Adepoju Adebawore, freshman QB Jackson Arnold, freshman OL Joshua Bates, freshman DB Peyton Bowen, freshman LB Lewis Carter, freshman LB Reed DeQuasie, freshman OL Cayden Green, freshman LB Taylor Heim, freshman RB Kalib Hicks, freshman OL Logan Howland, freshman DB Jacobe Johnson, freshman DB Daeh McCullough, freshman TE Kade McIntyre, freshman WR Eli Merck, freshman LB Samuel Omosigho, freshman OL Heath Ozaeta, freshman WR Jaquaize Pettaway, freshman DL Ashton Sanders, freshman RB Daylan Smothers, freshman DL Markus Strong, freshman DB Makari Vickers and freshman DL Taylor Wein.

FIRST-TIME STARTERS

• Forty-five players have made their first appearance in an Oklahoma uniform this season, and 11 players (eight defensive, three offensive) have made their first OU starts this year (10 against Arkansas State and one against SMU). The first-time OU starters were redshirt senior DL Jacob Lacey (vs. SMU), redshirt senior OL Walter Rouse, junior WR Andrel Anthony, junior RB Tawee Walker, redshirt senior DE Rondell Bothroyd, redshirt senior DL Da'Jon Terry, redshirt senior DE Trace Ford, redshirt senior DB Justin Harrington, redshirt senior DB Reggie Pearson, sophomore LB Jaren Kanak and sophomore DB Gentry Williams.

GABRIEL A TD MACHINE

• Redshirt senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who has started 39 of his 40 career games between UCF (2019-21) and OU (2022-23), including each of his last 39, ranks second nationally since the start of the 2019 with his 101 touchdown passes despite missing 11 games during the span due to injury (current Notre Dame and former Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman has passed for 104 TDs in two more games).

• Among current players, Gabriel also ranks second nationally since the start of 2019 with his 11,684 passing yards. Hartman is first (11,714 in 42 games) and Oregon's Bo Nix is third (11,490 in 49 games).

• If Gabriel continues to average 2.5 TD passes per contest like he did in his first 38 games entering this season, he would finish with 127 career TDs in a 13-game 2023 season, which he would accomplish in a 51-game career. That would rank seventh in FBS history. Landry Jones is the OU record-holder for career passing TDs with 123 in 52 games (Baker Mayfield passed for 131 career TDs, but 12 of those were as a Texas Tech Red Raider).

HEISMAN U

• Quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray became Oklahoma's sixth and seventh Heisman Trophy winners in 2017 and '18, respectively, moving the Sooners into a tie with Notre Dame and Ohio State for the most Heisman winners (USC now has seven as well). Other OU winners were QB Sam Bradford in 2008, QB Jason White in 2003, RB Billy Sims in 1978, RB Steve Owens in 1969 and RB Billy Vessels in 1952.

• Quarterback Jalen Hurts was the 2019 Heisman Trophy runner-up and became Oklahoma's 11th Heisman finalist, tied with Alabama for most of any school (finalists were first named in 1982). Miami (Fla.) and Ohio State rank third with nine finalists and Florida ranks fifth with eight.

• OU boasts a nation-leading 10 Heisman finalists in the last 23 years (since 2000). Alabama ranks second with nine, Ohio State ranks third with six and Stanford is fourth with five.

• Oklahoma is the only program to ever produce five Heisman finalists in a four-year period (Hurts in 2019 [runner-up], Murray in 2018 [won], Mayfield in 2017 [won] and Mayfield [finished third] and receiver Dede Westbrook [finished fourth] in 2016). With Mayfield's and Murray's wins, OU is the only program to produce different quarterback winners in consecutive seasons.

• OU is tied for the most Heisman runners-up, as well (six). OU's second-place Heisman finishers were Kurt Burris (1954), Greg Pruitt (1972), Sims (1979), Josh Heupel (2000), Adrian Peterson (2004) and Hurts (2019).

• Oklahoma has produced four Heisman Trophy winners in the last 20 years. Only four other programs have produced four winners ever (Notre Dame, Ohio State and USC seven and Alabama four).

• An OU quarterback finished in the top four of Heisman voting in five consecutive years (Mayfield fourth in 2015, third in 2016 and first in 2017; Murray first in 2018; Hurts second in 2019).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S BEST

• During the modern era of college football (since the end of World War II), the Sooners are the nation's No. 1 team with more wins (692) than any other program (next most is 658 by Alabama).

• Oklahoma has finished in the top 5 of the AP poll a nation-leading 33 times (Ohio State is second with 30).

• OU leads all FBS programs with 50 all-time conference championships. The rest of the top five includes Nebraska (46), Michigan (44), Ohio State (39) and USC (37). The Sooners' 14 league titles since 2000 are the most among Power Five programs (Ohio State ranks second with 11).

• No program has more all-time 11-win seasons than Oklahoma's 27. And since the start of the 2000 season, OU and Ohio State have produced a nation-leading 18 campaigns of at least 10 wins.

• Since former head coach Bob Stoops arrived in Norman in 1999, OU leads the country with its 12,337 points scored, which is 585 more than second-place Boise State (11,752) and 947 more than third-place Oregon (11,390).

• OU's 80 consensus All-Americans since 1950 are the most nationally (Alabama ranks second with 75 and Ohio State third with 72). Since 2000, the Sooners have produced 30 consensus All-Americans, second only to Alabama.

• OU is the only program that has produced at least four NFL Draft picks each of the last 16 years.

EXTRA POINTS

• The Sooners are 17-2 all-time as the No. 19-ranked team in the AP poll (4-2 on the road). Oklahoma's last game played as the 19th-ranked team was in 2020 (63-9 victory over Kansas in Norman), and its last road contest was in 2015 (55-0 win at Kansas State). The two losses came in 1959 and 1991, both at Nebraska (25-21 in 1959 and 19-14 in 1991). The average margin of OU's 17 victories as the AP's 19th-ranked team is 31 points (average score of 41-10).

• OU had 15 scoring drives of 10-plus plays in 2022 but already has seven through two games this season. Related, the Sooners ranked 126th out of 130 teams last year in time of possession (26:23 per game). So far this season, they rank 32nd by averaging a 32:18 TOP figure.

• Since the start of the 2014 season, Oklahoma leads the nation with its 5.5 yards per rush and ranks fifth nationally (second in Power Five) with its 305 rushing TDs.

• OU has won 84 of its last 85 games when holding opponents to 23 or fewer points. The one exception was a 23-20 loss at West Virginia last season.

• Since the start of the 2012 season, OU is 85-7 when scoring at least 35 points and 74-4 when scoring at least 40. The Sooners are 183-0 all-time when scoring at least 50 points.

• Four of OU's 2022 losses came by three points and another by seven. Its wins came by an average of 22.5 points.

• The Sooners rank fourth with their four College Football Playoff appearances (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019). Until last season, they were the only Big 12 program to qualify for the CFP.

• Oklahoma is tied for the national lead with five No. 1 overall NFL Draft picks. OU has produced three No. 1 overall picks in the last 13 years alone. No other school has produced more than one during that period.