Tulsa forced four turnovers to blow out a Big 12 program in its opener. Sam Houston nearly beat a Sun Belt team on the road with a career day from its quarterback. Saturday in Huntsville tells you which was the more real performance.
Tulsa opened with a lopsided, turnover-fueled win over Oklahoma State while Sam Houston nearly upset Troy on the road behind a career day from quarterback Landyn Locke. The matchup pits a defense that looked dominant in Week 1 against an offense that outproduced its own final score, with both teams' skill groups still largely unproven.
+Answered with an 85-yard TD drive in final minutes
+Year 2 in Longo's system, more scheme familiarity
−Lost the opener despite the big QB day
−Defense allowed a game-sealing 3rd-and-8 conversion late
−Unproven against a defense that just forced 4 takeaways
Baylor Hayes and the Golden Hurricane went into Stillwater and beat Oklahoma State 24-10, with the Tulsa defense forcing four turnovers — two interceptions and two fumble recoveries — to bury Eric Morris' debut as OSU's head coach. Sam Houston counters with Landyn Locke, who threw for a career-high 335 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 24-21 loss at Troy, a game the Bearkats were still very much alive in until Troy recovered a late onside kick. Both programs open a new season carrying new questions, and Saturday at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium is the first real answer for each.
Tulsa's issue against Oklahoma State was never the scoreboard — it was replacing almost its entire skill-position group from a year ago, including a 1,000-yard back, its top two receivers and its starting tight end, and still getting only 227 passing yards out of Hayes. Sam Houston's issue was different: its defense couldn't close, giving up a third-and-8 conversion in the final minute that sealed the loss. The number on this one leans heavily on Tulsa's final score in Stillwater and light on how competitive Sam Houston actually was in its own opener.
That gap between what each team's tape actually showed and what the final score said is what makes this one interesting. Sam Houston, now in year 2 under Phil Longo, has a quarterback who just proved he can push the ball vertically against an FBS defense. Tulsa has a defense that looks every bit as advertised, and an offense still figuring out who its playmakers are beyond one running back.
Damari Alston was the best player on the field in Tulsa's opener, breaking a 29-yard score to put the game away and finishing with 2 touchdowns on just 15 carries — the clearest holdover from last year's group. Locke, for his part, spread the ball around in Troy, including a 31-yard touchdown to Chris Reed with just over a minute left that briefly had Sam Houston within a two-point conversion of forcing overtime.
Weather in Huntsville is shaping up warm and cloudy, hardly a swing factor either way. What actually decides this one is whether Tulsa's defense can string together a second straight game of takeaways against a Bearkats offense that moved the ball better than its final score in Troy suggested, or whether Sam Houston's back end gets exposed again the way Tulsa just exposed Oklahoma State's.
