Meet Your Insider
Howdy, friends. I'm Wiley Pettibone, your Tulsa insider at The Cover Window. I studied petroleum geology, so I see football as a drilling operation. A good drive is a gusher. A bad one is a dry well. I travel and live with this team, and I keep a core-sample kit in my truck just in case.
Here's my promise. I'm all-in on the Golden Hurricane, but I don't strike oil where there isn't any. Every number I give you is sourced. If I don't know something, I'll say the survey's still out. I celebrate our players as people first, I respect every opponent, especially the cadets coming to town, and I thank the good Lord for Friday night football in Oklahoma.
The School in 60 Seconds
Tulsa plays its home games at Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium, which CFBD lists as built in 1930 with 30,000 seats. The Golden Hurricane has played in the American Conference since 2014 after previously competing in Conference USA. Here's a fact I love: Tulsa has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of any FBS school. Small well, deep reserves.
The last five seasons have been mostly dry: 7-6 in 2021, 5-7, 4-8, 3-9 and 4-8 in 2025. This year's 4-3 start already matches last season's win total. I smell oil.
The Coach and the Scheme
Tre Lamb is our head coach. Wikipedia says he took the job in December 2024, and CFBD records Dec. 8, 2024. He coached East Tennessee State in 2024 and Gardner-Webb from 2020 to 2023, with earlier assistant jobs at Tennessee Tech and Mercer. He was born in 1989, which makes him one of the younger bosses in the business.
Lamb's calling card this year is takeaways. Tulsa is +11 in turnover margin, 3rd in FBS. That's free crude, folks. The offense gains 364.0 yards per game (89th) and scores 29.0 points (72nd). It throws for 204.4 yards (97th) and runs for 159.6 (65th).
Now the dry wells. Tulsa converts only 31.3% of third downs, 125th in FBS. Its average possession time of 27:31 ranks 122nd. The defense allows 408.4 yards per game (116th) and 191.6 rushing yards (121st), though only 22.4 points (60th). That bend-don't-break approach gets a serious test this week.
Players to Know
QB Baylor Hayes: 1,081 yards, eight touchdowns, one interception, 62.0% completions. At Rice he went 20 of 27 for 249 yards and three touchdowns. One interception all year is a clean pipeline.
WR Oran Singleton Jr.: 38 catches for 474 yards and four touchdowns. He caught seven passes for 87 yards and a score at Rice.
RB Damari Alston: six rushing touchdowns. AP lists 370 yards on 92 carries and ESPN 366 on 91, so that's conflicting by a hair.
RB Trequan Jones: 77 yards on 12 carries at Rice, including a 45-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. A gusher.
Kyran Duhon: team-high six sacks.
Chris Thompson Jr.: team-high 66 tackles. That's a man who lives near the football.
The Conference Picture
Tulsa is 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the American. The Golden Hurricane opened by beating Oklahoma State 24-10 at home. Yes, that Oklahoma State. Then came a 23-17 win at Sam Houston and a 42-0 win over East Texas A&M. The middle stretch was rough: 34-6 at Arkansas, 45-44 in overtime to North Texas and 34-26 at Navy. Last week Tulsa won 38-17 at Rice.
After Army, Tulsa has an open date before visiting Tulane on Nov. 7. Then come Florida Atlantic and Charlotte at home and UTSA on the road. Two more wins after this one would reach bowl eligibility.
This Week: Game Preview from Both Sides
Army (4-2) at Tulsa (4-3) · Friday, Oct. 23, 8:30 p.m. ET · Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium, Tulsa, Okla. · ESPN2
Last time out. Tulsa beat Rice 38-17 in Houston on Oct. 17. The defense shut Rice out over the final 40 minutes and 59 seconds. Army beat Florida Atlantic 56-24 the same day, with quarterback Cale Hellums running for five touchdowns.
Tulsa's offense vs. Army's defense. Here's where we drill. Army allows 52.1% of third downs to be converted, 124th in FBS. Its pass defense allows 220.0 yards per game (87th). Hayes to Singleton should find pay dirt. Our own third-down rate is 125th, though, so this is a matchup of two struggling groups. Something has to give.
Army's offense vs. Tulsa's defense. Army runs for 357.5 yards per game, first in FBS. Hellums has 719 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. Our run defense ranks 121st. That's the matchup that decides the night. Army also scores on 95.2% of red-zone trips and holds the ball 34:42 per game. Our answer has to be takeaways. We're +11, and every extra possession is precious.
Series. Army's athletics site lists Tulsa ahead 2-1 all-time, while Tulsa's site lists only the last two games at 1-1. I'm calling it conflicting. Army won 49-7 at Chapman Stadium in 2024. Last Nov. 22, Tulsa came back from 11 points down at West Point to win 26-25 on Seth Morgan's 27-yard field goal with 12 seconds left. What a gusher that was.
Availability. No official conference availability report has been published. I found no confirmed Tulsa injury news.
Three questions that decide it:
1. Can our 121st-ranked run defense slow Army's top-ranked ground game?
2. Can Tulsa keep forcing turnovers (+11)?
3. Can Hayes and Singleton exploit Army's third-down defense?
The Army insider will end with "Beat Navy." For once, I'll salute that too.
Local Flavor
Friday night at Skelly Field is a homey scene, since Tulsa is a small school with a big heart. Bring your blue and gold, give the cadets and their families a warm Oklahoma welcome, and thank anyone in uniform. I'll share confirmed pregame spots before kickoff. Not an ad. Let's strike oil.
My call: Army Black Knights 28, Tulsa Golden Hurricane 24.