Tulsa’s American Athletic Conference season reaches a pivotal point Friday night when the Golden Hurricane (4-3, 1-2) host Army (4-2, 3-1) at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
The game takes on added importance after Tulane upset Memphis in Week 7, a result that reshuffled the AAC standings and left the conference championship race wide open heading into the second half of the season.
Tulsa enters as a 1.5-point favorite, but the matchup hinges largely on whether the Golden Hurricane defense can contain Army’s triple-option rushing attack led by Cale Hellums.
Hellums, a Tomball, Texas native, has carried the ball 129 times for 719 yards this season, a 5.6 yards-per-carry average, with 13 rushing touchdowns already to his name. Last season he ran for 1,223 yards and 18 touchdowns on 304 carries.
Tulsa’s run defense has struggled this year, ranking 123rd nationally in rushing yards allowed per game and 88th in yards allowed per rush attempt, at 4.4 yards per carry. The Golden Hurricane faced a similar test 13 days ago against Navy’s triple-option offense and allowed 386 rushing yards on 67 attempts, a 5.8 yards-per-carry clip.
That recent history has drawn attention from oddsmakers and analysts watching how Tulsa’s defense adjusts against Army’s ground-heavy scheme a second time this season.
The game is scheduled to kick off Friday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa.
