BYU is ranked 16th in overall defense and although Tulsa has 23rd ranked offense have they really face a team of BYU's defensive caliber? Yes, two teams UCF and Boise ranked 15, 16th while BYU is of that same being extremely balanced. Overall though Tulsa has faced a 72nd average total defense. They did not fair well scoring just 24 and 21 points in the Boise and Central Florida games. To me BYU flipped their season with their change at QB to Riley Nelson although Jake Heaps played well down the stretch we could see both QB's tomorrow afternoon as I think they'll both expose Tulsa's 118th ranked secondary and 89th total defense.
Both teams are good at stopping the run BYU I think will really give Tulsa a run for their money I think they'll surprise them on how big and strong they are up front. They only allowed 2.95 ypc on the road this year. I think the fact that both teams can stop the run that this game gets put in the hands of each QB and GJ Kinne has been good but when it comes to big games he's come up really small. Let' sbreak down the pass defense a little more because BYU really is much better despite Tulsa's ranking being so hlow they have faced some pretty good offenses so they're not as bad as they seem, but still I take BYU and their QB in this match up. BYU is 40th in pass efficiency defense while Tulsa is 71st. 20th in QB rating and Tulsa is 63rd. BYU is 19th in yds/att defense Tulsa 74th. I trust BYU's pass defense more and they have allowed 14 less sacks.
More numbers on 3rd down BYU is just so much better on both sides of the ball. Offensively they are converting 53% of the time and an incredible 64.5% over their last 7 games. Their defense is giving up 36.97% on the year and 33% on the road while Tulsa is 42% on offense and 43% on defense. These same trends follow us to red zone offense and defense and this is where the game will be decided. Both teams are pretty even in offense getting to the red zone 51 and 53 times a piece. BYU has converted 61% into TD's and Tulsa 58.49%. Defensively though BYU is #3 in the nation allowing just 42% TD's on only 33 attempts meanwhile Tulsa has allowed 48 attempts and 58.33%. Bronco Mendenhall is 4-2 in bowl games with BYU.
