Tulsa College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

Tulsa College Football Preview 2024

Consistency hasn’t exactly been the hallmark of Tulsa football.

It won 11 games from 2013 to 2015, and won ten games in 2016. And then won two games the next year.

It went from going to bowl games two seasons in a row under Philip Montgomery, to three straight awful seasons, to two straight bowl seasons, to a not-bad 5-7 season, to firing Montgomery, to hiring Kevin Wilson.

And what was the first year under Wilson? Inconsistent.

The team that got ripped apart by 59 points against SMU and lost at home to Charlotte almost won at Tulane. The D stuffed Florida Atlantic, and couldn’t stop Rice. The O couldn’t score against Northern Illinois, and cranked it up a week later against Temple.

Not being steady is fine as long as there are more ups than downs, and that’s a ton to ask for in a transfer portal era.

Tulsa got its share of decent new prospects for the defense, the passing game should be far more dangerous, the coaching staff is strong enough make something good out of this season in a light year for the AAC.

But as interesting as this team should be, to have a shot at a bowl this needs to be a massive year from the …

Tulsa Football Preview 2024: Offense

- Offensive coordinator Steve Spurrier Jr. is trying to get this going. Extremely hit-or-miss, the Golden Hurricane came up with over 400 yards of total offense for half of the season, spotted for the other half, and had a whole lot of interceptions given up throughout.

They didn’t wing it around as much as expected, but there should be even more from the passing game once the coaching staff decides on someone to run it.

Kirk Francis threw for 967 yards, Cardell Williams led the team with ten touchdown passes and 1,149 yards and ran for a team-high five scores. On the way in is Utah State QB Cooper Legas, a veteran who can step in right away and be accurate.

- The receiving corps has a playmaker in leading receiver Kamden Benjamin, who came up with 47 catches for 727 yards and six scores. Surrounding him are a slew of new players from the transfer portal with North Dakota deep threat Jack Wright for the outside and UTEP’s Jeremiah Bullard who can hit plenty of big plays.

- The offensive line is starting from scratch. New Mexico State transfer Kaden Stanton is solid at left tackle, and there will be plenty of playing around with the other four spots.

Leading rusher Anthony Watkins is back after running for 889 yards and four scores, and Bill Jackson was second with 414 yards. These two will be fine with room to move.

Tulsa Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The 405 points allowed were the most since 2017, but a huge chunk of it came from three games against SMU (69), Oklahoma (66), and Washington (43). The pass rush was lacking, which made it harder for the beleaguered secondary, and the run D wasn’t all that great, either.

A few parts from last year return up front, but the size isn’t there. With Everitt Rogers gone to Houston, JUCO transfer Joe Hjelle is coming in to try handling the nose - he’s around 290 - and Indiana transfer Myles Jackson has to be a factor on the outside.

- The linebacking corps has a few interesting new options. Gavin Potter was a big-time tackler for Kansas before injuries hit. He’s a sixth-year senior for the middle, and USC transfer Chris Thompson should fit in somewhere. Zach Marcheselli spent five years at TCU as a special teamer, but now he’ll get his shot on the outside.

- The secondary loses a few great parts who were better than the team’s overall production. Kendarin Ray was an all-around tackling machine at safety - 131 stops last year, but he’s gone, and it’s likely up to Dayne Hodge to fill his spot at free safety.

Hodge was third on the team in tackles, NuNu Campbell is a versatile option for corner or nickel, and the corner situation is relatively deep with upperclassmen.

Key To The Tulsa Football Season

Run defense/more pressure/turnovers

Three things.

1. The turnovers. Tulsa overcame a slew of them with takeaways of its own, but 20 in seven games were way too many for a team with no margin of error.

2. More pressure. 16 of the 21 sacks came in four games. The front has to come up with more big plays because …
3. Yards per carry seemed to matter against this D. Tulsa was 3-0 when allowing fewer than 4.3 yards per run, 1-8 when it gave up more.

Tulsa Key Player

Joe Hjelle, DT Jr.
Getting more out of the Tulsa defense doesn’t come down to just one guy, but the Golden Hurricane need an anchor. The 290-pound transfer from Iowa Western Community College has decent quickness and should be a strong part of a rotation, but this D needs an anchor. That might not be quite what he does, but he has to be good from the start.

Tulsa Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Myles Jackson, EDGE Sr.
He started out his career at UCLA but didn’t get a whole lot of work with just seven tackles in two seasons. He moved to Indiana and was a part of the mix with 44 tackles and 1.5 sacks in two years, but now he’ll be turned loose - Tulsa needs him to rise into a dangerous pass rusher.

Top Transfer Out: Jaise Oliver, S Sr. A good freelancer in the Tulsa secondary, he made 111 career tackles closing out last year with a four interception season and career-high 48 stops. It would’ve been nice to have him around, but now he’s off to TCU.

Tulsa Key Game

at North Texas, Sept. 28
Tulsa used to own the Mean Green.

It lost 42-16 in Denton back in 1969, and then went on a ten-win run up until 2013. Tulsa got walloped in that, and last year they played for the first time in ten years - North Texas ruined Senior Day with a 35-28 win.

This year it’s the AAC opener on the road. To get to 6-6 and bowl eligibility the Golden Hurricane have to steal a road win somewhere. This would be the perfect time.

10 Best Tulsa Football Players

1. Kamdyn Benjamin, WR Sr.
2. Anthony Watkins, RB Sr.
3. Dayne Hodge, S Jr.
4. Cooper Legas, QB Jr.
5. Jeremiah Ballard, WR Jr.
6. Gavin Potter, LB Sr.
7. Cardell Williams, QB Soph.
8. Angus Davies, P Soph.
9. Myles Jackson, EDGE Sr.
10. Kirk Francis, QB RFr.

Tulsa 2023 Fun Stats

- 3rd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 111, Tulsa 35

- Interception Returns: Opponents 19 for 137 yards, Tulsa 10 for -1 yard

- Fumbles: Opponents 14 (lost 11), Tulsa 9 (lost 5)

Tulsa Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

It’s still a work in progress.

The transfer portal will help, but the offense should be a bit sharper if the line comes together fast, and the defense will keep on taking the ball away. The team that lost four games by a touchdown or less should be able to pull off a little more success this time around.

Two key parts to the schedule. Last year the Golden Hurricane had to play Washington and Oklahoma. This year there’s Oklahoma State, but replace Washington with Arkansas State.

The second part is who they miss. There’s no Memphis or Tulane - they’re two of the better teams in the AAC - along with missing Rice and Charlotte.

It won’t be easy, and the losses will mount up early on, but the team will start to play better and better. Things will start to change after the week off in mid-October, and the chance will be there to get to six wins and a bowl going into the final two dates at USF and Florida Atlantic.

Set The Tulsa Win Total At … 4.5

Likely Wins: Northwestern State

50/50 Games: at Arkansas State, Army, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, at Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma State, at Temple, at UAB, UTSA

Likely Losses: Oklahoma State, at USF

2024 Tulsa Football Schedule

Aug 29 Northwestern State
Sept 7 at Arkansas State
Sept 14 Oklahoma State
Sept 21 at Louisiana Tech
Sept 28 at North Texas
Oct 5 Army
Oct 12 OPEN DATE
Oct 19 at Temple
Oct 26 UTSA
Nov 2 at UAB
Nov 14 East Carolina
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 23 at USF
Nov 30 Florida Atlantic
Missing: Charlotte, Memphis, Navy, Rice, Tulane