2008 GMAC Bowl Preview

Tulsa (9-4, 6-3; CUSA) vs. Bowling Green (8-4, 6-2; SEC)

January 6, 2008 @ 8:00 PM (EST) – ESPN – Ladd Peebles Stadium – Mobile, AL

With the exception of a handful of games, the scoreboards around the nation have been lit up this postseason. However, this next-to-last bowl match-up could feature one of the biggest offensive explosions seen yet.

Conference USA runner-up Tulsa has racked up more total yards per game than any other team in the nation under the guidance of first-year coach Todd Graham. The Golden Hurricane, which is making its third straight bowl appearance and fourth in five seasons, averages 542.5 yards and 39.5 points per contest. They dropped a 62-21 decision at home to in-state rival Oklahoma before falling twice in Orlando to UCF (44-23, 44-25).

Senior signal-caller Paul Smith, who was named the CUSA Offensive Player of the Year, engineers Tulsa’s high-powered attack. Smith has passed for 4,753 yards and 42 touchdowns. However, he has also thrown 19 picks and was frustrated in his team’s loss to UCF in the CUSA title game the last time out when he was sacked six times while being intercepted three. Smith has also reached paydirt 12 times via the ground.

A trio of first year players in Juco Brennan Marion and freshmen Trae Johnson and Charles Clay has provided Smith with some very skilled targets in the passing game. Marion leads the team with 1,244 receiving yards and 11 scores. He also leads the nation in yards per reception with a mark of 31.9. Johnson has 1,039 yards and 11 touchdowns. Clay (955 rec. yards) should give Tulsa a third player in excess of 1,000 receiving yards, as he will almost assuredly pass the mark against the Falcons.

The Golden Hurricane offense is not one-dimensional. It produced an 1,000-yard back in Tarrion Adams, who carried the bulk of the load following Courtney Tennial being lost for the year.

Bowling Green, which is making its first bowl trip in three years, allows 30 points and 413 yards per game. Defensively, the biggest issue has been the inability to stop the run. The Falcons allow 205 yards per game on the ground. They have come on lately though, as they’ve limited three of their last four opponents to 20 points or less.

The Falcons’ high-scoring offense has put up 32 points and 417 yards for the season; however, it has yielded nearly 38 points and 448 yards during the current four-game win streak.

Sophomore quarterback Tyler Sheehan and the passing attack has shouldered much of the production load due to a somewhat suspect rushing game. Sheehan has thrown for 3,123 yards and 23 scores while connecting on 63 percent of his attempts. He boasts a touchdown to interception ratio of better than two to one (23-11).

Freddie Barnes leads BGSU with 77 catches for 891 yards and nine touchdowns.

Anthony Turner and Willie Geter have combined to rush for a little over 900 yards. Turner has totaled 501 yards and nine scores while Geter averages 6.5 yards per carry.

The Falcons will face a Tulsa defense that has been bailed out by its offense for a big part of the season. The unit is giving up a staggering 35.4 points and 469 yards. However, it does include a solid linebacking corps that has over three 100-plus tacklers. Chris Chamberlain has a team-high 148 stops and three interceptions. Nelson Coleman has 137 tackles. Alain Karatepeyan has 100 even and 17 of those are behind the line—including six sacks.

If it comes down to a field goal, Bowling Green should have the edge. Simisa Urvilo has made 15-of-19 attempts—including 6-of-8 from 40-plus. Urvilo’s counterpart, Tulsa’s Jarod Tracy, is only 7-of-12 overall and 3-of-6 from the 30 to 39 yard range.

Tulsa will do what it has done many times this season—win a shootout. Paul Smith will surpass the 5,000-yard mark while Tarrion Adams will help keep the Bowling Green offense on the sideline.

Tulsa 45 - Bowling Green 34

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