2011-2012 Football Previews – Conference USA – Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Todd Graham left Tulsa during the offseason to take over the top job at Pittsburgh. Graham did a great job in his tenure at the school, and he left the team in good shape.
Conference USA 2011-2012 Football Previews: Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Head Coach: Bill Blankenship
2010 Record: 10-3
Tulsa Gambling Odds from 5Dimes to win BCS: +50,000
Tulsa Odds from 5Dimes to win Conference USA Championship: +775
Tulsa Odds from 5Dimes to win Conference USA West Division: +345
Tulsa Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –>
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Now it is time for Bill Blankenship, a former player for Tulsa, to build on last year’s success.
Tulsa went 9-3 during the regular season last year, with a massive upset at Notre Dame headlining the team’s success. The win over Notre Dame in South Bend was the teams first over a BCS opponent since 1998. The Golden Hurricanes went on to play Hawaii in the 2010 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
Tulsa was a big underdog in that game, but they blew out Hawaii 62-35 to finish the year at 10-3.
Team Strengths:
The Tulsa offensive line is as good as you will find in Conference USA. This unit helped the team pick up 217 rushing yards per contest in 2010. All five starters return from last year’s line, and they will also get some improved depth from some major college transfers.
Kody Cooke and Matt Romine have the ability to come in and make this unit even better this season.
G.J. Kinne is the perfect definition of a dual-threat quarterback. Kinne threw for 3,650 yards and ran for another 561 yards last year. Kinne has always been a great play maker, but he is much improved in his decision making skills. Kinne threw 31 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions last year.
Kinne should be the senior leader that the Golden Hurricanes need in 2011.
I expect the linebackers at Tulsa to be very good this year. The linebackers weren’t bad last year, but they’ll get a huge boost from DeAundre Brown returning to the lineup. Brown missed all of last year with an academic redshirt, but he was the team’s leading tackler in 2009.
Curnelius Arnick and Shawn Jackson are also very productive at the linebacker spot.
Team Weaknesses:
The single biggest weakness of this Tulsa team is their secondary. Tulsa allowed opponents to throw for 319 yards per game, which was worst in the conference. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Opposing quarterbacks completed 60.4% of their passes. Seven of the top eight return in the secondary, but they must do a better job in coverage.
The running backs weren’t very effective last year, which puts a lot of pressure on Kinne to do it all by himself. Kinne is a very good runner, but it would definitely be nice if Tulsa could get some increased production out of guys like Trey Watts and Alex Singleton.
Kinne took a lot of hits last season and this team cannot afford to lose him to an injury.
2011-2012 Tulsa Football Prediction: 9-4
Tulsa should be very good again in 2011, but the non-conference schedule will make it difficult to get to 10 wins again this year. Tulsa travels to Oklahoma in the season opener, and they also travel to Boise State in late September. The conference schedule is much friendlier to the team, as they get both SMU and Houston at home.
The game against Houston is the regular season finale, and that one will likely be for the Conference USA West title.
Tulsa is likely to be just as good as last year, but the record probably won’t be quite as impressive.
2011 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes Schedule
9/3/11 12:00 PM ET @OKLA
9/10/11 3:30 PM ET @TULNE
9/17/11 12:00 PM ET OKLST
9/24/11 8:00 PM ET @BOIST
10/1/11 12:00 PM ET NOTEX
10/15/11 12:00 PM ET UAB
10/22/11 12:00 PM ET @RICE
10/29/11 12:00 PM ET SMU
11/3/11 8:00 PM ET @CENFL
11/12/11 12:00 PM ET MARSH
11/19/11 8:00 PM ET @UTEP
11/26/11 12:00 PM ET HOU
One reply on “2011 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Gambling Odds | Predictions”
Will Tulsa have more or less than 9 wins this year?