Hurricane Watch: Tulsa Aims to Destroy UCF’s Title Hopes

Tulsa (2-7, 2-3 AAC) has had little opportunity to be excited in 2014. So, don’t be alarmed when Golden Hurricane head coach Bill Blankenship says winning again is like feeding a crack addiction.

After Friday night, Blankenship, his players and fans may find themselves so high they’ll be forced into rehab.

That’s because the Golden Hurricane are plowing through Orlando on Friday night to take out UCF (5-3, 3-1 AAC) and its American title hopes.

Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans is leading an offensive unit that has found its rhythm the last few games; primarily because Evans has quietly made his way up to No. 2 in the AAC in total passing yards (2,579), slightly behind No. 1 and unanimous AAC poster boy Shane Carden. Evans is also third in the league in touchdown passes with 19 — doesn’t hurt that he tosses the ball to the conferences top receiver Keevan Lucas (1,017 yards receiving, 10 touchdowns).

The sophomore Evans has not thrown an interception since throwing two in a loss at Colorado State in early October. He’s also completed 60.4 percent of his passes in the last four games, up from 54.7 percent in Tulsa’s first five games, and is averaging 8.7 yards per attempt compared to 6.4 yards in the first five games.

If Evans hadn’t exploded onto the scene in Tulsa’s last handful of games — oh, did I mention he’s thrown 10 TD passes since playing Colorado State? — junior running back Zack Langer would be the “Most Improved Player” for the ‘Hurricane. Langer is second in the AAC in rushing with 646 yards, has met paydirt three times in 2014, and rushed for a career-high 167 yards in the team’s second win of the season over SMU. Saturday was Langer’s third 100-yard performance in the last four games.

Okay, so why am I riding Blankenship’s high and believing the ‘Hurricane stand a chance in Orlando on Friday night? This is still a 2-7 crew with a defense programmed for surrendering chunks of yards and points at a horrendous rate (Tulsa’s inept D let a 35-13 fourth-quarter lead become a slim 35-28 lead before the O pulled the team to a 38-28 win).

The last time the Golden Hurricane swept through Florida, it quickly dissolved after Florida Atlantic handed it a 51-20 beat down.

Tulsa will play spoiler to the AAC’s defending champions and knock the title race down to three teams because the ‘Hurricane offense is playing at its highest point right now, and UCF’s stingy defense may not have the gas to bale out quarterback Justin Holman and the Knights inconsistent offense.

UCF lost to a bad UConn team two weeks ago. Holman tossed four interceptions and the offense never sustained momentum, going 6-for-16 in third-down conversions. How do I know UConn his a really a bad team, besides only having two wins prior to playing UCF? Bad teams lose to bad Army teams after beating, supposedly, good teams.

Come Friday night, the Knights will find themselves losing to another two-win squad that will play with a nothing-to-lose attitude. UCF has the best defense in the league, allowing only 308 yards per game, but the offense is mediocre at best and will struggle to keep up with Tulsa after Evans and the ‘Hurricane attack get the ball rolling.

UCF is the better team. But Tulsa is playing like the better team right now and is thirsty for a signature victory to put at least one feather in the hat of a disappointing 2014 season.

Orlando, you are officially on Hurricane watch.