Tulsa is going to bring the heat in this one.

The defensive front is among the best at getting into the backfield on a consistent basis, and that’s been a big reason why the D is great at forcing takeaways.

The Golden Hurricane run defense has been terrific all season – including at Oklahoma State to start the year. That, along with being great at winning the turnover margin and always coming away with points in the red zone, is getting the job done. Few teams do a better job at taking advantage of their opportunities.

This is Tulsa’s big chance to show that it really is just that good.

Beating UCF showed the team is for real, but now it’s time to do it again. SMU has yet to be anyone who’s all that great and that includes Memphis –and flopped when it went up against Cincinnati.

Back at home, Tulsa will get past a few big plays from SMU by generating enough pressure and being up in the turnover battle to overcome a sluggish day.

Tulsa will come up with the key stops that SMU won’t and get the big win here at home.