Armed Forces Bowl officially BYU vs. Tulsa

A bit of a comedown after thinking we'd be playing Houston. But a good match-up nontheless. Two teams in need of a statement win.



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Boring. Also a no-win situation for BYU. They will be expected to win so who cares if they do? If they lose.... ugh. I got excited for a day after Houston lost. I thought we'd have a tough game to close the season and help lend some credibility to the season. A top 25 finish means a lot more if you win at least one "marquee" game. Tulsa=Utah State basically. I expect a game similar to the UTEP game last year. I'd rather lose to Houston or Southern Miss in a tough game than destroy tulsa and finish top 25. At least then we'd know that BYU belonged there.

Tulsa is 31 according to Sagrain and we are 41. S Miss went to Hawaii against Nevada. They got a push over.

Good - a chance to avenge that 2007 embarrassment. I hope Bronco remembers that game...



Should be a tough, hard-fought game - but one that we should win.

Y 4 Ever wrote:
Good - a chance to avenge that 2007 embarrassment. I hope Bronco remembers that game...



Should be a tough, hard-fought game - but one that we should win.

Agreed. I still cringe when I think of that game. Here's hoping for a more favorable outcome this time.

Tulsa might just be the best 8-4 team in the country. They lost to:

Oklahoma

Boise State

Oklahoma State

Houston



All top 10 teams prior to this weekend.

BYUNLVFAN wrote:
Boring. Also a no-win situation for BYU. They will be expected to win so who cares if they do? If they lose.... ugh. I got excited for a day after Houston lost. I thought we'd have a tough game to close the season and help lend some credibility to the season. A top 25 finish means a lot more if you win at least one "marquee" game. Tulsa=Utah State basically. I expect a game similar to the UTEP game last year. I'd rather lose to Houston or Southern Miss in a tough game than destroy tulsa and finish top 25. At least then we'd know that BYU belonged there.

No way. You get the revenge factor from the 2007 game. Then you look at RPI where it's dead heat (#33 vs #34) and the fact that both teams are getting votes in the polls and I think both teams will be thinking that a win bumps them into the top 25.



It's not as glamorous as playing Houston and Dallas is a lot closer to Tulsa than to Provo so it could be a bit of a trap game that way. Hopefully Riley gets the boys all riled up.

scott715 wrote:
Tulsa is 31 according to Sagrain and we are 41.

The comparison gets even more fun when you look at the Sagarin of each team's SOS.



BYU

Wins against:107, 83, 73, 94, 82, 205, 139, 131, 96

Losses against: 16, 38, 19

Best win: Utah State (73)

Worst loss: Utah (38)



Tulsa

Wins against: 174, 122, 154, 93, 68, 83, 88, 99

Losses against: 4, 3, 8, 22

Best win: SMU (68)

Worst loss: Houston (22)



From a win-loss perspective, we're essentially playing ourselves.

They will be a nice challenge for us. Hopefully we can win and finish nationally ranked.

Tulsa's pass defense is 118th out of 120 (290 yards a game), though their pass efficiency defense rating is 67th, so that first stat might be a little misleading, but regardless, they've given up over 420 yards of offense a game. Yeah, they've lost to 4 great teams, but they still played 8 other games, so you can't simply ignore that stat.



I like our chances in this game.

BYUNLVFAN wrote:
Boring. Also a no-win situation for BYU. They will be expected to win so who cares if they do? If they lose.... ugh. I got excited for a day after Houston lost. I thought we'd have a tough game to close the season and help lend some credibility to the season. A top 25 finish means a lot more if you win at least one "marquee" game. Tulsa=Utah State basically. I expect a game similar to the UTEP game last year. I'd rather lose to Houston or Southern Miss in a tough game than destroy tulsa and finish top 25. At least then we'd know that BYU belonged there.

BYU will probably be an underdog in this game from day one. I think if BYU wins this game (I don't see it), they should be very, very happy.

AJP wrote:
Tulsa's pass defense is 118th out of 120 (290 yards a game), though their pass efficiency defense rating is 67th, so that first stat might be a little misleading, but regardless, they've given up over 420 yards of offense a game. Yeah, they've lost to 4 great teams, but they still played 8 other games, so you can't simply ignore that stat.



I like our chances in this game.

But part of the problem with evaluating Tulsa's pass defense is their schedule. Like you said, they lost to four great teams, but they lost to four great passing teams. Those four teams rank 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th in passing yards per game. They are 3rd, 4th, 8th, and...erm...43rd in season PER. (OU was up there until Landry Jones had back-to-back abysmal games).



Tulsa did decently against most of the remaining 8 teams in their schedule. SMU is a pass-heavy, albeit mediocre team, but holding them to a 65 PER and intercepting the ball 4 times indicates there's some talent in the secondary.

Well, if the Hawaii game meant anything, I think it's safe to say we're at the very least a good passing team. Our season's PER was 129 (59th), but Riley's PER was over 163, compared to Heaps' 110.

We'll be challenged by Tulsa both offensively and defensively. But I think we'll be up for the challenge.

Those of you who wanted Houston are naive. BYU is not a great team this year, we're ok, so so, but there are some weaknesses that have cost us some wins this year. BYU's pass defense is not real impressive, Houston would have killed us, and Tulsa might too.



I just hope that Bronco can game plan, and be smarter than the coach on the other side. DO NOT win the toss and defer to the second half--big mistake. And if he lets Tulsa sit back and throw, BYU will be down two or three scores in the first quarter and will not be able to overcome a deficit like that. This game will take every bit of talent and coaching we have, and if we play well, BYU will have a chance to win.



Tulsa is a very good team, but a good match and a good challenge for BYU. A close win against Tulsa will be much more satisfying than getting killed by Houston.

stuckinbig10country wrote:

Boring. Also a no-win situation for BYU. They will be expected to win so who cares if they do? If they lose.... ugh. I got excited for a day after Houston lost. I thought we'd have a tough game to close the season and help lend some credibility to the season. A top 25 finish means a lot more if you win at least one "marquee" game. Tulsa=Utah State basically. I expect a game similar to the UTEP game last year. I'd rather lose to Houston or Southern Miss in a tough game than destroy tulsa and finish top 25. At least then we'd know that BYU belonged there.

BYU will probably be an underdog in this game from day one. I think if BYU wins this game (I don't see it), they should be very, very happy.

We're a much better team since letting Riley take the reigns. If we win this game, closing out a ten-win season, will you at least smile?

Hey, it's a team with a winning record. How many of those have we beaten this season? Just one.



I'll take it.

stuckinbig10country wrote:

Boring. Also a no-win situation for BYU. They will be expected to win so who cares if they do? If they lose.... ugh. I got excited for a day after Houston lost. I thought we'd have a tough game to close the season and help lend some credibility to the season. A top 25 finish means a lot more if you win at least one "marquee" game. Tulsa=Utah State basically. I expect a game similar to the UTEP game last year. I'd rather lose to Houston or Southern Miss in a tough game than destroy tulsa and finish top 25. At least then we'd know that BYU belonged there.

BYU will probably be an underdog in this game from day one. I think if BYU wins this game (I don't see it), they should be very, very happy.

Right there with you. This is no gimmie. Will be a competitive game and a good measure of where we actually are as a team.

stuckinbig10country wrote:

Boring. Also a no-win situation for BYU. They will be expected to win so who cares if they do? If they lose.... ugh. I got excited for a day after Houston lost. I thought we'd have a tough game to close the season and help lend some credibility to the season. A top 25 finish means a lot more if you win at least one "marquee" game. Tulsa=Utah State basically. I expect a game similar to the UTEP game last year. I'd rather lose to Houston or Southern Miss in a tough game than destroy tulsa and finish top 25. At least then we'd know that BYU belonged there.

BYU will probably be an underdog in this game from day one. I think if BYU wins this game (I don't see it), they should be very, very happy.

I would just like to know your reasons why you think Tulsa is a better team than BYU. I havnt seen anything on paper that screams there better. Yes they lost to 4 good teams. So what BYU would have lost to those 4 teams too. Does losing to 4 good teams magically make you a better team?

Tulsa ain't sexy...... but then again, neither are we this year.