2023: Tulsa Preview

Or, Oh Yeah There Are Still Some Games To Play

November 18, 2023 ・2pm CT ・ESPN+ ・Tulsa, Oklahoma ・HA Chapman Stadium (30K)

Ten years ago this month, North Texas finished up the 2013 season at Tulsa. Brandin Byrd ran for 251 and 3 scores. NT was angry, and upset for having lost the previous week at home to UTSA. It cost the squad a chance to host the championship game in Denton against Marshall. Rice ended up winning the division and the championship. You might recall that was the same season that NT beat Rice in Denton on Halloween night with the double goal-line stand. 2013 was a great season for memories. NT got to a bowl game, and won it it on January 1, 2014 at the old Cotton Bowl in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

It does not feel like ten years, at least to me. At the same time, it also feels like twenty. The Mean Green are in a new league now, starting the AAC journey this season. A decade ago they began the CUSA era. NT went to two league title games but never won the league. So far this season NT will be 0-1 in AAC title attempts, and also will not be bowling.

The frustration is similar, but different. Eric Morris is guiding this version of UNT to Tulsa this weekend and instead of a win ahead of a bowl game, it will be the second-to-last game of the season to get some feel-good wins. The Hurricane are in a similar situation. Back in 2014 they hired Bill Blankenship. He won early —18 wins in hist first two seasons — but then lost a lot — 19 losses in the next two seasons. After that, Phillip Montgomery took over and did roughly the same thing: 16 wins in years one and two, 17 losses in years three and four. He got to stay a little longer, however, and managed some mediocre seasons before Tulsa hired the newest coach Kevin Wilson.

Wilson spent five seasons at Indiana, where he hired former UNT head coach Seth Littrell to help run the offense. Known as an offensive guy at Oklahoma, Wilson only won .356 of his games in the midwest before resigning amid some criticisms of his player handling. His time at Tulsa has seen seven losses against the three wins. Tulsa hasn’t seen the Kevin Wilson offensive punch just yet. The defense is giving up lots of points however.

This is why North Texas is favored by a point on the road.