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The Golden Hurricane were a popular pick to finish second in Conference USA's West Division in preseason polls. Tulsa brought head coach Todd Graham back to town to replace Steve Kragthorpe, only a year after Graham left Tulsa for Rice.
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While at Rice, Graham won Conference USA Coach of the Year honors and took the Owls to their first bowl game in 45 years. He was formerly the Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Co-Ordinator at Tulsa and implemented the 3-3-5 defense the Hurricane still use today.
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Offensively, Tulsa has gone to a no-huddle offense that is "team co-ordinated" by coaches who came from Arkansas and West Virginia, and are in their first year in Tulsa. Interestingly, both the offense and defense are coached by "Co-Coordinators."
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Tulsa is the only opponent to have faced BYU at least 6 times without a win. Likewise, BYU is the only team Tulsa has played at least 6 times without a win.
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Trivia: with 99 more receiving yards, Austin Collie will reach the 1,000-yard pleateau. He will be the third Cougar to reach that milestone as a sophomore. Name the other two.
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For two teams who run the no-huddle, it will be interesting to see if BYU and Tulsa approach the mark they set last season for "longest BYU game of the year." Last year's meting lasted 4 hours and 4 minutes, not counting a lengthy lightning delay.
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Last year's Tulsa game was the only game in which BYU did not start the game on offense. Tulsa won the toss and elected to receive.
This year and last, BYU has always chosen to receive the ball when winning the toss. Given BYU's trouble with 1st quarter field position the last couple of weeks, could we see BYU win the toss and put the defense on the field first?
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Trivia Answer: Matt Bellini and Margin Hooks.
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