Getting to know Tulsa ahead of the Armed Forces Bowl

The Bulldogs and Golden Hurricane battle on New Year's Eve

In only five more days, Mississippi State will play postseason football once again. The Bulldogs are in a bowl game for the 11th consecutive season and come December 31 at 11 a.m. central, they'll be battling No. 22 Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl in a game televised by ESPN.

There's a good chance the Golden Hurricane might be a bit of an unknown for some. However as the team's Top 25 ranking and 6-2 record indicates, it has been a special season in Tulsa. 

So exactly what all do you need to know about the bunch battling the Bulldogs on New Year's Eve? Let's take a quick look at several key facts about Tulsa and get to know the Hurricane:

They nearly won the American Athletic Conference Championship. Yes, Tulsa was almost the king of the AAC. In fact, the Hurricane was tied with unbeaten No. 6 Cincinnati in the title game before the Bearcats drilled a game-winning 34-yard field goal as time expired. Though Tulsa came up short, it was still a fairy tale story for the Hurricane to even be in the championship picture. The team was picked to finish ninth in the AAC by league coaches prior to the season.

Tulsa knows all about playing (and winning) close games. If the Armed Forces Bowl happens to be a nail-biter, that could mean trouble for the Bulldogs. The Hurricane has seemingly been in close games weekly this season and almost always finds a way to win. Six of Tulsa's eight games this season have been decided by single-digit margins. Half were decided by six points or less. Yet the Hurricane, more often than not, ended up celebrating. They topped Tulane 30-24 in double overtime. They beat nationally-ranked opponents UCF and SMU by eight points and four points, respectively. It's safe to say Tulsa is battle tested and, to use the old sports cliche, just knows how to win.

Penalties have been a problem for the Hurricane. It definitely bears watching to see if the Bulldogs get some help in the bowl game. Tulsa is one of the country's most penalized teams. The Hurricane averages more than nine penalties a game for more than 84 yards per contest. Both totals are nearly at the bottom of all FBS teams.

Defense has helped carry Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane had the second-best defense in the AAC in terms of total defense and had the country's 27th-best unit. They were especially strong against the pass, which bears noting given the Air Raid offense of MSU and head coach Mike Leach. Tulsa stands at No. 22 in the country in terms of passing yardage allowed per game. But while Tulsa has been extremely strong defensively...

The Golden Hurricane will be without their best defensive player. Star linebacker Zaven Collins announced earlier this week that he won't play in the bowl game and will begin preparing for the NFL Draft. That's certainly a huge missing piece for Tulsa. Collins won this year's Bronko Nagurski Trophy, presented annually to the country's top defensive player. He had 54 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and four interceptions this season. Two of his interceptions clinched Tulsa wins. Collins will be about impossible for the Hurricane to replace come Thursday's game.

No Collins could help State's offense stay on schedule. As noted, Collins had 11.5 tackles for loss this season. He helped Tulsa average eight tackles for loss per game. That mark stands at No. 10 in the country. MSU's offense this season (like most offenses) struggles the most when it is consistently getting tackled in the backfield creating 2nd-and-long or 3rd-and-long situations. The Bulldogs might have a better chance to avoid those circumstances with Collins focusing on his professional future instead of playing in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Statistically speaking, Tulsa is average offensively. The Hurricane is 57th in the country in terms of total offense per game. They're 51st in passing offense per game and 64th in rushing offense per contest. In terms of scoring, Tulsa averages 27.2 points per game, which stands as the nation's 74th-best mark.

The Hurricane is led offensively by quarterback Zach Smith, running back Corey Taylor II and receivers Keylon Stokes, Josh Johnson and Juancarlos Santana. Smith averages 200 passing yards per game and has thrown for 12 touchdowns this season with eight interceptions. He hasn't been particularly sharp of late, completing just 23 of his 55 passes over the last two games with a pair of interceptions. As for Taylor, he averages 5.4 yards per carry and has three scores this season. Stokes, Johnson and Santana all have 430 yards or more receiving with at least two touchdowns each, so Tulsa has several options to count on through the air.

Lastly, Tulsa is somewhat the ultimate underdog. Now according to the early odds, Tulsa is actually a slight favorite against MSU. But in terms of size, well, the Golden Hurricane is a David up against pretty much everyone else's Goliath. Tulsa is the smallest school in the FBS with an enrollment of just 3,269 undergraduate students. That's only about one-sixth of MSU's undergraduate enrollment.

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