TULSA, Okla. — Home games against conference foes Houston, Memphis, Navy, and Temple along with road games at Oklahoma State and Ohio State highlight Tulsa’s 2021 football schedule, TU announced Thursday.
The Golden Hurricane schedule includes seven bowl teams from last season, and three top-20 teams: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 8 Cincinnati, and No. 20 Oklahoma State.
TU is coming off a 6-3 record, 6-0 in-conference, an appearance in the American Athletic Conference Championship, and wins over two top-20 ranked teams in No. 11 UCF and No. 19 SMU.
Tulsa opens the 2021 season with a Thursday night game (Sept. 2) against UC Davis. The Aggies did not play during the fall, but plays a 6-game FCS spring schedule in the Big Sky Conference beginning Feb. 27.
Tulsa will then play back-to-back road games against FBS powerhouses Oklahoma State and Ohio State. The Bank of Oklahoma Turnpike Classic features Tulsa and OSU on Sept. 11, as the Hurricane travels to Stillwater for the second consecutive season. The 11th-ranked Cowboys pulled out a 16-7 win a year ago and ended the season with an overall 8-3 record, a third-place finish in the Big 12 Conference, and a win over Miami (Fla.) in the Cheez-It Bowl.
Tulsa will play the CFP national runner-up when the Hurricane travels to Columbus, Ohio, to face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sept. 18. Tulsa played the No. 4-ranked Buckeyes in Tulsa’s 10-3 season in 2016.
Last year, Ohio State finished the season with an overall 7-1 record with their only loss coming in the national championship game against Alabama.
After the two-game road swing, the Hurricane returns to H.A. Chapman Stadium a week later to host Arkansas State (Sept. 25) the final weekend of September. The Hurricane and Red Wolves matchup last season in Jonesboro was canceled.
“Obviously, our preseason schedule is very difficult. I love that we’re able to open the 2021 season at home in what we hope will be a packed H.A. Chapman Stadium on a Thursday night against UC Davis,” said Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery. “We know the challenges that lie ahead of us during the first month with road games at Oklahoma State and Ohio State.”
The American Athletic Conference schedule has the Hurricane playing three of four games in the month of October at H.A. Chapman Stadium, while three of Tulsa’s final four games are on the road.
“The American had one of its strongest years on a national level and this season the league will be even stronger. Nearly every one of our games came down to the final quarter last season, and we know this year it will be just as tough,” added Montgomery.
Tulsa opens its 8-game AAC schedule with a Friday night home game against the Houston Cougars on Oct. 1. Last year’s game between the two teams, scheduled for Houston, was canceled.
A week later, Tulsa stays at home to play host to the Memphis Tigers (Oct. 8). The last visit Memphis made to Chapman Stadium was a classic game that saw the 25th-ranked Tigers pull out a late 42-41 victory.
Memphis finished the 2020 campaign with an 8-3 mark, including a 25-10 win over Florida Atlantic in the Montgomery Bowl.
For the second straight year, Tulsa travels to south Florida to face the USF Bulls in Tampa (Oct. 16). The Hurricane claimed a 42-13 win last year against the Bulls at Raymond James Stadium.
After a bye week, Tulsa closes the month of October at Chapman Stadium against Navy on Friday, Oct. 29. Tulsa won its sixth straight game of the 2020 campaign with a 19-6 win over the Midshipmen in Annapolis, Md.
The month of November will be a rematch of the 2020 AAC Championship Game as Tulsa travels to play the Cincinnati Bearcats on Nov. 6. The regular season contest from 2020 between the two teams was canceled twice, but the schools finally met for the league title.
The No. 9-ranked Bearcats scored a 27-24 victory on a 34-yard field goal as time expired. The win put Cincinnati, who finished the year with a 9-1 record, in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl against the SEC’s Georgia Bulldogs.
A week later, Tulsa travels to New Orleans to face the Tulane Green Wave on Nov. 13. Tulsa has a 12-5 series record, including a 30-24 overtime win last season at Chapman Stadium. The Green Wave ended the season in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Tulsa closes out the home season on Nov. 20 against Temple. The Hurricane and Owls last played in the 2018 season.
“Our fans should be excited with Houston, Memphis, Navy and Temple all coming to town. It’s good that we start off with three of our first four games at home and obviously we’ll need the support of our fans to create a tremendous a home field advantage,” said Montgomery. “With three of our final four conference games away from Chapman Stadium, we’ll need to duplicate our road play from last year.”
The final regular season game for the Hurricane will be played in Dallas, Texas, at SMU on the final weekend of November. The game will be played on either Friday or Saturday, Nov. 26/27. The exact game date will be announced at a later time. SMU finished the 2020 season with a 7-3 record and had its appearance in the Tropical Smoothie Cade Frisco Bowl canceled.
2021 Tulsa Football Schedule
SEPTEMBER
2 (Thurs.) UC DAVIS
11 at Oklahoma State
18 at Ohio State
25 ARKANSAS STATE
OCTOBER
1 (Fri.) HOUSTON*
9 MEMPHIS*
16 at USF*
23 BYE WEEK
29 (Fri.) NAVY*
NOVEMBER
6 at Cincinnati*
13 at Tulane
20 TEMPLE*
27 at SMU*
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