University of Tulsa releases 2013 football schedule

Five Bowl teams are featured on the 2013 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football schedule, as it was announced today. Tulsa will face Bowling Green (Military Bowl), Oklahoma (Cotton Bowl), Iowa State (Liberty Bowl), Rice (Armed Forces Bowl) and East Carolina (New Orleans Bowl).

Tulsa is coming off an 11-3 record, Conference USA and AutoZone Liberty Bowl Championships in 2012. The six-game home schedule for Tulsa features non-conference foes Colorado State and Iowa State, as well as Conference USA opponents Marshall, North Texas, Rice and UTSA.
 
"There are some familiar teams that we know will be challenging. We're excited about our non-conference schedule against two Big 12 teams, the Mountain West and Mid American Conference teams," said Tulsa Head Coach Bill Blankenship. "Three of those four opponents made bowl games last season. We know that the home game against Iowa State will be especially interesting given the brief history between the two teams, and Oklahoma is always one of the nation's best teams."
 
"We know the toughness of our conference schedule with the returning league teams that we have played recently, and adding three new teams – Louisiana Tech, UTSA and North Texas – to the mix will be fun for our players and fans," added Blankenship.
 
The Hurricane will open the season with four consecutive non-conference games, including the season opener at Bowling Green on August 31st. The Falcons posted an 8-5 record in 2012. This is the first time Tulsa will travel to Bowling Green, Ohio in the series. Tulsa holds a 3-0 series record against Bowling Green, winning two home games and the 2008 GMAC Bowl by a score of 63-7. The last meeting came in 2010 as the Hurricane claimed a 33-20 home victory.
 
 Tulsa will open the home season a week later on September 7th against Colorado State  (4-8 in 2012) of the Mountain West Conference. This will be the eighth game in the series as Tulsa holds a 4-3 advantage against the Rams. Tulsa and Colorado State were former co-members of the Western Athletic Conference in the 1990s.
 
The Hurricane will take a trip down the turnpike to face the Oklahoma Sooners (10-3) a week later on Sept. 14th. The Sooners hold a 17-7-1 edge in the series and has won the last six meetings.
 
A rematch of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl between Tulsa and Iowa State (6-7) takes place at H.A. Chapman Stadium on Sept. 21st. Tulsa claimed a 31-17 victory against the Cyclones at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, avenging a season-opening 38-23 loss in Ames against Iowa State.
 
Tulsa opens Conference USA play against the Rice Owls on October 5th at H.A. Chapman Stadium after a bye week. It's the second straight year that the two teams will face-off in Tulsa, as the Hurricane grabbed a 28-24 victory this past season thanks to a late 75-yard run by Ja'Terian Douglas to set up Tulsa's game-winning touchdown. The Owls went on to post a 7-6 record last year, while defeating Air Force in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.
            
The Hurricane has 10-7-1 series lead against the Owls, while winning the last six contests.
 
Tulsa goes on the road a week later to face the UTEP Miners (Oct. 12). Tulsa won last year's meeting at home by a score of 33-11 and leads the series 13-8. Tulsa has won the last three games and has a 6-4 record in El Paso, including a 57-28 victory in the last game played in the west Texas city in 2011.
 
After another open date, Tulsa travels to New Orleans to take on the Tulane Green Wave (Oct. 26) to close out the month of October. Tulsa has an 8-1 series advantage, suffering its only loss in the first game of the series in 1968. Tulsa has won each game in the last eight years.
 
The month of November is jam-packed with three home games and two road games, beginning with Conference USA newcomer, the UTSA Roadrunners, on Nov. 2nd at Chapman Stadium.  It's the first meeting between Tulsa and UTSA, coached by a former Tulsa offensive coordinator Larry Coker from the 1980s.
 
Tulsa goes east to take on the East Carolina Pirates of the C-USA East Division on Nov. 9th. ECU posted an overall 8-5 record and finished 7-1 in the C-USA East Division. The last time these two teams met was in the 2012 season opener when the Pirates captured a 51-49 home win on a 'Hail Mary' touchdown pass as time nearly expired.
 
Another East Division foe, Marshall, visits Chapman Stadium on Nov. 16th. The two teams battled to a 45-38 Tulsa victory this past season as the Hurricane increased it series lead against the Thundering Herd to 4-0. The Herd finished with a 5-6 record.
 
Tulsa will close out the home season with games against Conference USA newcomers Louisiana Tech and North Texas. The Hurricane travels to Ruston, La., to take on the Bulldogs on Nov. 23rd. Tech finished the 2012 campaign with an overall 9-3 mark as member of the Western Athletic Conference, but missed out on a bowl game invitation.
 
The season finale comes on Nov. 30th at home against the North Texas Mean Green. UNT finished last year's campaign with a 4-8 record as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Tulsa has an 18-6 series lead and has won the last 10 meetings.
 
Season tickets for the 2013 home season will go on sale next week.
 
2013 Tulsa Football Schedule
Aug.             31            at Bowling Green
Sept.             7            COLORADO STATE
Sept.            14            at Oklahoma
Sept.            21            IOWA STATE
Sept.             28            BYE WEEK
Oct.            5            RICE*
Oct.            12            at UTEP*
Oct.             19            BYE WEEK
Oct.             26            at Tulane*
Nov.            2            UTSA*
Nov.            9            at East Carolina*
Nov.            16            MARSHALL*
Nov.            23            at Louisiana Tech*
Nov.            30            NORTH TEXAS*
 
 
*Conference USA Games
Times will be announced at a later date.
Dates are subject to change.