Here's a media release from Oklahoma State...
THE BASICS
The Oklahoma State football team opens its 116th season when it hosts Tulsa at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31 in Boone Pickens Stadium. This marks the second consecutive year the Cowboys have opened their season at home, and the 60th time overall they have opened the season in Stillwater. OSU's overall record in season opening games at home is 48-7-4 and its overall record in season opening games is 69-41-5.
IN THE RANKINGS
Oklahoma State opens the season in the top 10 of the Associated Press Poll for the third time in the last nine years. The Cowboys enter 2017 at No. 10, just one spot behind their all-time preseason high of No. 9 in 2009 and 2011. Including this season, OSU has now reached the top 15 of the A.P. Poll at some point in nine of the past 10 seasons and the top 10 of the A.P. Poll in eight of the last 10 seasons. The season opener against Tulsa marks the 84th time in the Cowboys' last 115 games that OSU has been ranked by the A.P. entering a game. The Cowboys are also ranked No. 11 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll, matching their rank to close the 2016 season in that poll. Although the first College Football Playoff rankings of 2017 aren't released until October 31, it is worth noting that the Cowboys are one of only seven teams to be ranked in every set of CFP rankings since the beginning of 2015, joining Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State and Utah.
THE BANK OF OKLAHOMA TURNPIKE CLASSIC
Oklahoma State and Tulsa have met on the gridiron 71 times in a series that dates back to 1914. The only school that Oklahoma State has faced more often than TU is Oklahoma. Now the historic series that features two teams only 70 miles from each other has a title sponsor and a name. Effective for the 2017 season, the football series between Tulsa and Oklahoma State will be named the Bank of Oklahoma Turnpike Classic. The Cowboys have won five straight games in the series, the most recent of which was a 59-33 win in 2011. OSU leads the all-time series 39-27-5 and the series in Stillwater 24-6-3. OSU coach Mike Gundy holds a 2-0 record against the Golden Hurricane and this marks Tulsa Coach Philip Montgomery's first game versus OSU.
OKLAHOMA STATE FROM A DISTANCE
There is reason for optimism surrounding the Oklahoma State football program going into the 2017 season. The Cowboys have won 10 games in five of the last seven seasons, and there's no reason to think they can't do that and more in 2017. In Mason Rudolph, Justice Hill and James Washington, Oklahoma State has the best quarterback-running back-wide receiver trio in the Big 12 and perhaps the nation heading into 2017. How good are they? In 2016, Oklahoma State was one of only two schools in the nation with a 4,000-yard passer (Rudolph), a 1,000-yard rusher (Hill) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Washington). The only other team who could make that claim last year was national champion Clemson. Defensively, the Cowboys return five starters and have a host of defensive linemen who have not been starters to this point, but who have positioned themselves to be successful when called upon this year.
TULSA FROM A DISTANCE
Tulsa's third-year coach Philip Montgomery installed an up-tempo office that last year saw the Golden Hurricane become the first school in NCAA FBS/D1 history with a 3,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season. The Golden Hurricane returns a total of 48 lettermen from that team, including seven starters on offense and six defensive starters. Entering 2017, the offense will need to replace several players that were key in Tulsa's success last year.
AN OKLAHOMA STATE WIN WOULD...
• Mark its sixth straight win over Tulsa and its 10th win in the last 12 meetings with the Golden Hurricane.
• Improve OSU's all-time record in season openers to 70-41-5, all-time record in season openers at home to 49-7-4 and all-time record in home openers to 83-28-5.
• Give the Cowboys wins in nine of their last 10, 12 of their last 14 and 29 of their last 37 season openers.
• Mark OSU's 22nd straight win in a home opener and 42nd win in its last 48 home openers.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record in non-conference games to 42-11.
• Improve the Cowboys to 25-5 in their last 30 non-conference games.
• Give OSU wins in nine of its last 10 games overall.
• Improve OSU to 53-6 in its last 59 games against unranked opponents, dating back to 2010.
• Make OSU 33-7 at Boone Pickens Stadium since the start of the 2011 season.
OKLAHOMA STATE VS. UNRANKED OPPONENTS
Since the start of the 2010 season, Oklahoma State is 52-6 against teams not ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The Cowboys have won 34 of their last 36 home games over unranked opponents. Starting with the Cowboys' 2012 Heart of Dallas Bowl win over Purdue, OSU has won 29 of its last 32 overall against unranked opponents. Dating back to a 2013 win over Kansas State, the Cowboys have won 18 of their last 19 games when playing as a ranked opponent facing an unranked opponent.
CONNECTIONS
• Tulsa co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Bill Young graduated from Oklahoma State in 1968 and returned to OSU as defensive coordinator in 2009 for four seasons from 2009-12.
• Tulsa defensive line coach Jermial Ashley spent three seasons coaching at OSU from 2010-12.
• OSU safeties coach Dan Hammerschmidt and Tulsa offensive line coach Mike Bloesch were both on staff at Houston during the 2014 season.
• Hammerschmidt also coached receivers at Rice during the 2008 season while current Tulsa running backs coach Justin Hill was a linebacker for the Owls.
• OSU CW Britton Abbott's father, Cliff Abbott, played football at Tulsa.
• OSU DT Brendon Evers and TU C Chandler Miller attended Bixby High School in Bixby, Okla.
• OSU LB Gyasi Akem, TU DE Frankie Davis and TU OL Rowdy Frederick attended Broken Arrow HS.
• OSU LB Brendan Vaughn and TU QB Luke Skipper attended Forney High School in Forney, Texas.
• OSU K/P Matt Hockett and TU OL Zac Uhles attended Norman High School in Norman, Okla.
• OSU QB John Kolar and OL Walker Reed and TU K Redford Jones and DT Payton Prince attended Norman North High School in Norman, Okla.
• OSU DE Triston Grant and CW Ethan Garner and TU S Jordan Mitchell and TE Cole Neph attended Owasso High School in Owasso, Okla. Neph also played at OSU before transferring to Tulsa last spring.
• OSU S Malcolm Rodriguez and TU CB Kerwin Thomas attended Wagoner High School in Wagoner, Okla.
• OSU WR Marcell Ateman and TU DE Jesse Brubaker attended Wylie East High School in Wylie, Texas.
• OSU CB Rodarius Williams and TU TE David Fitzwater attended Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, La.
• Several OSU players attended Tulsa area high schools, including DE Jordan Brailford (Booker T. Washington), RB Justice Hill (Booker T. Washington) WR Dillon Stoner (Jenks), WR Landon Wolf (East Central), DT Brendon Evers (Bixby) and LB Gyasi Akem (Broken Arrow).
• Tulsa wide receiver Jordan Brown attended Stillwater High School.
THE BASICS
The Oklahoma State football team opens its 116th season when it hosts Tulsa at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31 in Boone Pickens Stadium. This marks the second consecutive year the Cowboys have opened their season at home, and the 60th time overall they have opened the season in Stillwater. OSU's overall record in season opening games at home is 48-7-4 and its overall record in season opening games is 69-41-5.
IN THE RANKINGS
Oklahoma State opens the season in the top 10 of the Associated Press Poll for the third time in the last nine years. The Cowboys enter 2017 at No. 10, just one spot behind their all-time preseason high of No. 9 in 2009 and 2011. Including this season, OSU has now reached the top 15 of the A.P. Poll at some point in nine of the past 10 seasons and the top 10 of the A.P. Poll in eight of the last 10 seasons. The season opener against Tulsa marks the 84th time in the Cowboys' last 115 games that OSU has been ranked by the A.P. entering a game. The Cowboys are also ranked No. 11 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll, matching their rank to close the 2016 season in that poll. Although the first College Football Playoff rankings of 2017 aren't released until October 31, it is worth noting that the Cowboys are one of only seven teams to be ranked in every set of CFP rankings since the beginning of 2015, joining Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State and Utah.
THE BANK OF OKLAHOMA TURNPIKE CLASSIC
Oklahoma State and Tulsa have met on the gridiron 71 times in a series that dates back to 1914. The only school that Oklahoma State has faced more often than TU is Oklahoma. Now the historic series that features two teams only 70 miles from each other has a title sponsor and a name. Effective for the 2017 season, the football series between Tulsa and Oklahoma State will be named the Bank of Oklahoma Turnpike Classic. The Cowboys have won five straight games in the series, the most recent of which was a 59-33 win in 2011. OSU leads the all-time series 39-27-5 and the series in Stillwater 24-6-3. OSU coach Mike Gundy holds a 2-0 record against the Golden Hurricane and this marks Tulsa Coach Philip Montgomery's first game versus OSU.
OKLAHOMA STATE FROM A DISTANCE
There is reason for optimism surrounding the Oklahoma State football program going into the 2017 season. The Cowboys have won 10 games in five of the last seven seasons, and there's no reason to think they can't do that and more in 2017. In Mason Rudolph, Justice Hill and James Washington, Oklahoma State has the best quarterback-running back-wide receiver trio in the Big 12 and perhaps the nation heading into 2017. How good are they? In 2016, Oklahoma State was one of only two schools in the nation with a 4,000-yard passer (Rudolph), a 1,000-yard rusher (Hill) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Washington). The only other team who could make that claim last year was national champion Clemson. Defensively, the Cowboys return five starters and have a host of defensive linemen who have not been starters to this point, but who have positioned themselves to be successful when called upon this year.
TULSA FROM A DISTANCE
Tulsa's third-year coach Philip Montgomery installed an up-tempo office that last year saw the Golden Hurricane become the first school in NCAA FBS/D1 history with a 3,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season. The Golden Hurricane returns a total of 48 lettermen from that team, including seven starters on offense and six defensive starters. Entering 2017, the offense will need to replace several players that were key in Tulsa's success last year.
AN OKLAHOMA STATE WIN WOULD...
• Mark its sixth straight win over Tulsa and its 10th win in the last 12 meetings with the Golden Hurricane.
• Improve OSU's all-time record in season openers to 70-41-5, all-time record in season openers at home to 49-7-4 and all-time record in home openers to 83-28-5.
• Give the Cowboys wins in nine of their last 10, 12 of their last 14 and 29 of their last 37 season openers.
• Mark OSU's 22nd straight win in a home opener and 42nd win in its last 48 home openers.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record in non-conference games to 42-11.
• Improve the Cowboys to 25-5 in their last 30 non-conference games.
• Give OSU wins in nine of its last 10 games overall.
• Improve OSU to 53-6 in its last 59 games against unranked opponents, dating back to 2010.
• Make OSU 33-7 at Boone Pickens Stadium since the start of the 2011 season.
OKLAHOMA STATE VS. UNRANKED OPPONENTS
Since the start of the 2010 season, Oklahoma State is 52-6 against teams not ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The Cowboys have won 34 of their last 36 home games over unranked opponents. Starting with the Cowboys' 2012 Heart of Dallas Bowl win over Purdue, OSU has won 29 of its last 32 overall against unranked opponents. Dating back to a 2013 win over Kansas State, the Cowboys have won 18 of their last 19 games when playing as a ranked opponent facing an unranked opponent.
CONNECTIONS
• Tulsa co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Bill Young graduated from Oklahoma State in 1968 and returned to OSU as defensive coordinator in 2009 for four seasons from 2009-12.
• Tulsa defensive line coach Jermial Ashley spent three seasons coaching at OSU from 2010-12.
• OSU safeties coach Dan Hammerschmidt and Tulsa offensive line coach Mike Bloesch were both on staff at Houston during the 2014 season.
• Hammerschmidt also coached receivers at Rice during the 2008 season while current Tulsa running backs coach Justin Hill was a linebacker for the Owls.
• OSU CW Britton Abbott's father, Cliff Abbott, played football at Tulsa.
• OSU DT Brendon Evers and TU C Chandler Miller attended Bixby High School in Bixby, Okla.
• OSU LB Gyasi Akem, TU DE Frankie Davis and TU OL Rowdy Frederick attended Broken Arrow HS.
• OSU LB Brendan Vaughn and TU QB Luke Skipper attended Forney High School in Forney, Texas.
• OSU K/P Matt Hockett and TU OL Zac Uhles attended Norman High School in Norman, Okla.
• OSU QB John Kolar and OL Walker Reed and TU K Redford Jones and DT Payton Prince attended Norman North High School in Norman, Okla.
• OSU DE Triston Grant and CW Ethan Garner and TU S Jordan Mitchell and TE Cole Neph attended Owasso High School in Owasso, Okla. Neph also played at OSU before transferring to Tulsa last spring.
• OSU S Malcolm Rodriguez and TU CB Kerwin Thomas attended Wagoner High School in Wagoner, Okla.
• OSU WR Marcell Ateman and TU DE Jesse Brubaker attended Wylie East High School in Wylie, Texas.
• OSU CB Rodarius Williams and TU TE David Fitzwater attended Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, La.
• Several OSU players attended Tulsa area high schools, including DE Jordan Brailford (Booker T. Washington), RB Justice Hill (Booker T. Washington) WR Dillon Stoner (Jenks), WR Landon Wolf (East Central), DT Brendon Evers (Bixby) and LB Gyasi Akem (Broken Arrow).
• Tulsa wide receiver Jordan Brown attended Stillwater High School.
