Tulane vs. No. 25 Tulsa | 2020 NCAAF Expert Analysis

Two college football games this Thursday around the country but none from the Power 5. However, there is one ranked team in action and that’s No. 25 Tulsa as the Golden Hurricane host Tulane in an American Athletic Conference matchup.

How to Bet Tulane at Tulsa NCAA Football Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Chapman Stadium
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN app
Radio:com
Opening NCAAF Lines: Tulsa -6.5 (total 53.5)

Last Meeting

Last year, Tulane knocked off Tulane 38-26. Justin McMillan threw a touchdown pass and ran for three scores. Tulsa pulled to 31-26 on Jacob Rainey’s 38-yard field goal with 10 minutes remaining. McMillan then lead a five-minute, 70-yard drive capped by his 1-yard scoring run, to stretch the lead to 38-26. Tulsa went three-and-out on its next series before the Green Wave ran out the clock. McMillan was 12 of 16 for 184 yards passing and added 73 yards rushing. Stephon Huderson ran for 100 yards on seven carries and Willie Langham scored on a fumble recovery for Tulane. Zach Smith was 17-of-33 passing for 270 yards and threw a touchdown pass for the Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa holds an 11-5 all-time series lead. Tulane has won three straight games against the Golden Hurricane. Tulane has never defeated Tulsa in four straight games in the series.

Why Bet on Tulane? | 2020 NCAAF Expert Analysis

The Green Wave (5-4) already are playing their second-to-last game of the regular season. They upset then-No. 25 Army 38-12 last Saturday, Tulane’s third straight win. Freshman quarterback Michael Pratt threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns, while sophomore wideout Jha’Quan Jackson scored one receiving and one rushing touchdown, respectively.

The Green Wave have now scored 30-or-more points for the seventh straight game. Tulane has not scored 30-or-more points in seven straight games (in the same season) since the 1998 campaign. Pratt has 14 passing touchdowns on the year, the most among all freshmen in The American.

Patrick Johnson currently leads the nation in total sacks with 10. He has also logged a sack in five of the last seven games. The Green Wave rank fourth nationally as a team with 29.0 sacks on the year. Tulane’s 29.0 sacks rank ninth all-time in a single season in program history.

With the win over Army, Tulane picked up its first victory over a ranked opponent since it defeated Vanderbilt back on Oct. 6, 1984. The last time Tulane defeated a ranked opponent at home was back on Sept. 29, 1979 when it defeated SMU 24-17.

The Green Wave have not defeated two ranked opponents in the same season since 1979. In that 1979 season, Tulane defeated Stanford and SMU. Since 2000, Tulane has only posted winning streaks of three-or-more games nine time since 2000 (three of those streaks came under head coach Willie Fritz).

Tulane will be in search of just its second win all-time at Tulsa. The Green Wave rallied back in the fourth quarter to pick up their first win ever at Tulsa back in 2018. Prior to its road win against the Golden Hurricane in 2018, Tulane had dropped six straight games at Tulsa.

Why Bet on Tulsa? | 2020 NCAAF Expert Analysis

The No. 25 ranking for Tulsa is the first in the AP poll since ending the 2010 season ranked 24th nationally.

Tulsa (4-1) upset No. 19 SMU on Saturday, 28-24, rallying from down 21 points. It was Tulsa’s second victory over a top-25 opponent this season, which is the first time in school history that the Golden Hurricane defeated two ranked opponents in the same season. It was also the third come-from-behind victory for the Hurricane this season, coming back from 18 down at UCF and 14 against East Carolina.

In the second half Tulsa put up 315 total yards and 21 points, while holding SMU to 165 yards and zero points in the second half.

Trailing 24-21, Tulsa took possession of the ball at their own 35-yard line with 4:02 left on the game clock. Passes of 12 and 29 yards from Zach Smith to Keylon Stokes put Tulsa at the SMU 24-yard line. Three straight TK Wilkerson runs of 14, 3 and 3 yards put the Hurricane on the 4-yard line setting up a 3rd-and-goal pass from Smith to tight end James Palmer for the touchdown. Tulsa’s Zaven Collins’ interception of a Shane Buechele pass at the 50-yard line with just over one-minute remaining sealed the victory for the Hurricane.

Smith threw for a season-highs of 325 yards and 3 touchdowns, while completing 26-of-38 passes. He connected with Stokes and Josh Johnson 8 times each, as Stokes totaled 122 yards and Johnson 101 yards with 2 TDs. Wilkerson ended the game with 94 yards on 21 carries.

Collins has garnered the AAC’s Defensive Player of the Week award three times this season, including vs. SMU. He had 6 tackles, 2 TFLs for -10 yards, one sack for -10 yards and the interception that sealed Tulsa’s win.

In the Philip Montgomery era, Tulsa has come-from-behind 15 times since 2015 … in 13 of those 15 comebacks Tulsa had trailed by double digits.

Tulsa is now 6-1 in its last 7 AAC games dating back to 2 wins in its final 3 games in 2019. Tulsa’s 4-0 AAC record marks the best league start in its 7 years as an AAC member. It is also the best conference start for a Tulsa team since a 7-0 start in Conference USA in 2012.

Game Trends

Green Wave are 5-11 ATS in their last 16 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Green Wave are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
Golden Hurricane are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 conference games.
Golden Hurricane are 20-7-1 ATS in their last 28 games following a ATS loss.
Golden Hurricane are 19-7 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
Green Wave are 4-11 ATS in their last 15 meetings.