Though it will be hard to top early October’s historically chaotic Week 6, Week 11 has a chance to be the best weekend of college football of the 2014 season. Oregon-Utah, Alabama-LSU, Kansas State-TCU, Ohio State-Michigan State, Notre Dame-Arizona State and Baylor-Oklahoma are just some of the marquee games from a weekend filled with intriguing matchups and high stakes.
There are many great games lined up on this week’s slate, but SMU-Tulsa is unfortunately not one of them.
At stake in this matchup: a chance to not be stuck in last in the AAC standings.
The Golden Hurricane and the Mustangs enter this Saturday’s contest with a sparkling combined record of 1-14, which is still one more victory than Bret Bielema has in SEC play during his time at Arkansas. Tulsa’s lone win of 2014 came in its season opener, when it took down Tulane in double overtime. Since then, neither the Golden Hurricane or the Mustangs have registered a win, though Tulsa has been a little bit more competitive.
Four of the Golden Hurricane’s losses have come by 11 points or less, including a triple-overtime defeat at the hands of Texas State. While this may not sound all that impressive (it isn’t), Tulsa certainly has fared better than SMU this season.
The Mustangs have been dreadful in 2014, losing all seven of their games up to this point by a combined score of 336-49. That’s right, their defense nearly gives up as many points per game (48) as the Mustangs have scored all season (49).
SMU ranks at or near the bottom of the country in a number of statistical categories, including ranking third-worst in rushing offense (66.1 yards per game), second-to-last in total offense (249.4 yards per game), and dead last in the FBS in scoring offense (7.0 points per game), scoring defense (48 points per game) and total defense (553.6 yards per game). The Mustangs have reached a level of futility that would make the 2008 Detroit Lions do a spit take.
Meanwhile, Tulsa is also struggling mightily in its fourth season under head coach Bill Blankenship.
The Golden Hurricane compiled a respectable 19-8 record during the first two years of Blankenship’s tenure, but have lost four of their last 20 games since winning the 2012 Liberty Bowl. Tulsa is allowing its opponents to score 40.6 points per game this season (122nd in the FBS) while only putting up 23.9 points per contest (100th).
One of the only bright spots of the Golden Hurricane’s year has been the outstanding play of sophomore wide receiver Keevan Lucas.
Lucas currently leads the AAC in a number of statistical categories, including receptions (75), receiving yards (929) and receiving touchdowns (8). He also has compiled at least 100 yards receiving in five of the eight games he’s played in so far in 2014, and could be headed for another big day against a weak SMU defense.
But outside of Lucas, there’s isn’t too much to get excited about when these two teams take the field at Chapman Stadium on Saturday. This game really is the antithesis of “an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object,” but someone is going to have to win it.
And whoever emerges victorious just might keep themselves out of the cellar of the AAC conference standings when the season comes to a close.
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