Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 81. Tulsa
College Football's Smallest Team, by Enrollment
Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa has the smallest enrollment of any FBS school with just 2,728 undergraduate students according to USNews. That’s only slightly more than my high school.
They’ve managed to do very well for themselves though, as they escaped the bottom 50 on this list and are even a top 20 Group of 5 program on here. I’m not sure where all the fans come from, but they had an average attendance of ~20,000 fans per game in 2022, about 5x the size of their total enrollment.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+-------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+-------+------+--------------+--------+
| 23 | Tulsa | 1991 | 18.82 | 10-2 |
| 24 | Tulsa | 2008 | 16.926 | 11-3 |
| 26 | Tulsa | 2010 | 14.938 | 10-3 |
| 29 | Tulsa | 2012 | 13.544 | 11-3 |
| 40 | Tulsa | 2016 | 10.747 | 10-3 |
| 35 | Tulsa | 2007 | 10.575 | 10-4 |
| 28 | Tulsa | 2005 | 6.47 | 9-4 |
| 40 | Tulsa | 2020 | 4.034 | 6-3 |
| 42 | Tulsa | 2011 | 2.617 | 8-5 |
| 41 | Tulsa | 1983 | 2.096 | 8-3 |
| 42 | Tulsa | 1986 | -1.907 | 7-4 |
| 52 | Tulsa | 2006 | -3.768 | 8-5 |
| 56 | Tulsa | 2003 | -4.363 | 8-5 |
| 67 | Tulsa | 2021 | -8.867 | 7-6 |
| 50 | Tulsa | 1985 | -11.078 | 6-5 |
| 61 | Tulsa | 1984 | -11.874 | 6-5 |
| 64 | Tulsa | 1989 | -14.35 | 6-6 |
| 70 | Tulsa | 1993 | -20.851 | 4-6-1 |
| 85 | Tulsa | 2015 | -22.027 | 6-7 |
| 72 | Tulsa | 1988 | -22.514 | 4-7 |
| 90 | Tulsa | 2019 | -22.884 | 4-8 |
| 79 | Tulsa | 1996 | -25.149 | 4-7 |
| 75 | Tulsa | 1998 | -25.652 | 4-7 |
| 104 | Tulsa | 2022 | -26.305 | 5-7 |
| 85 | Tulsa | 1992 | -26.448 | 4-7 |
| 89 | Tulsa | 2009 | -26.613 | 5-7 |
| 81 | Tulsa | 1995 | -30.173 | 4-7 |
| 87 | Tulsa | 2000 | -30.235 | 5-7 |
| 89 | Tulsa | 2004 | -32.531 | 4-8 |
| 94 | Tulsa | 1987 | -39.934 | 3-8 |
| 92 | Tulsa | 1990 | -41.264 | 3-8 |
| 89 | Tulsa | 1994 | -41.6 | 3-8 |
| 111 | Tulsa | 2018 | -42.818 | 3-9 |
| 105 | Tulsa | 2013 | -42.856 | 3-9 |
| 101 | Tulsa | 1997 | -47.73 | 2-9 |
| 117 | Tulsa | 2017 | -49.598 | 2-11 |
| 108 | Tulsa | 1999 | -52.102 | 2-9 |
| 122 | Tulsa | 2014 | -53.572 | 2-10 |
| 115 | Tulsa | 2002 | -62.26 | 1-11 |
| 115 | Tulsa | 2001 | -62.933 | 1-10 |
+------+-------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 10413 (81st)219-256-1 record
5 conference titles
8-6 bowl record
2 consensus All-Americans
33 NFL players drafted
Tulsa has 6 double-digit win seasons in the last 32 years, with 5 in the last 15. That success, despite 11 seasons with 3 or less wins, puts them all the way up to #81 on the list. Their 8 bowl wins is the most of any team so far, and 5 conference titles is up there as well. If we look at total history, Tulsa’s actually had major historical success, winning 35 conference titles with a 643-526-28 all-time record. All-time draft greats include NFL Hall of Fame WRs Steven Largent and Drew Pearson (undrafted), and QB Gus Frerotte. Consensus AAs were OL Jerry Ostroski in 1991 and LB Zaven Collins in 2020. Zaven was a freak athlete at 6’5 260 lbs, racking up 4 sacks, 4 TFL, 4 INTs, and 2 defensive TDs in just 8 games. He ranked 2nd in the nation in interception return yards, as a LB, in just 8 games!
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2001 (1-10 overall, 0-8 WAC)
The good news? They beat Indiana State 51-0 in the opener. The bad news? That was their last win for the next 17 games. Tulsa continued their decade-long struggle, having not had a winning season in 10 years. All losses were by 10+ points, including 10-26 to 2-9 UTEP and 27-63 to 3-9 San Jose State in front of a San Jose crowd of just 6,873. To add insult to injury, Tulsa got little brother’d hard by #3 Oklahoma toward the end of the season, losing 0-58 in Norman. The game was available on PPV, which I hope no Tulsa fan paid for. QBs Josh Blankenship and Tyler Gooch split snaps, with Blankenship having the slightly higher passer rating and Gooch being the better runner. Blankenship’s dad, Bill Blankenship, would go on to become Tulsa’s head coach from 2011-14. Gooch took over full time in 2002 and had a much better season than either of them did in 2001, throwing 17 TD to 8 INT. There weren’t many other great players on the roster. OT Kevin Shaffer was drafted in the 7th round after the season and went on to start 93 games for the Falcons/Browns/Bears.
5. 2016 (10-3 overall, 6-2 American)
2016 Tulsa scored on everyone, and let everyone score on them. The offense was RIDICULOUS. Outside of a 3-48 loss to Ohio State (I guess they didn’t score on everyone), they averaged 45.8 PPG, best in the country in 2016. They became the first team in NCAA history to have a 3000+ yard passer, two 1000+ yard rushers, and two 1000+ yard receivers. QB Dane Evans threw for 3348 yards 32 TD 12 INT in his senior season, finishing as Tulsa’s all-time leading passer with 11,680 yards and 84 TD, and between Russell Wilson and Geno Smith as the 39th all-time leading passer in the NCAA. RB D’Angelo Brewer ran for 1435 yards and 7 TD on 5.4 YPC, while RB James Flanders went for 1629 yards and 18 TD on 6.3 YPC. The top receivers were Keevan Lucas (81 catches for 1180 yards and 15 TD) and Joshua Atkinson (78 catches for 1058 yards and 8 TD). Even 4 out of 5 offensive linemen made 1st/2nd team all-conference! Nobody made it on the defensive side, as they gave up 29.8 PPG as a team.
4. 2012 (11-3 overall, 7-1 Conference USA)
After failing to produce a conference championship team with talented 3-year starting QB GJ Kinne, they did it immediately in 2012 with the less productive but steady QB Cody Green. After an opening 23-38 loss to Iowa State, they went on a 7 game win streak with wins over bowl teams Fresno State and Rice. They had a chance to catch a reeling John L Smith-led Arkansas team to get to 8-1 and become ranked, but couldn’t score in the 4th to fall 15-19. After a 41-7 win over Houston, 2 weeks later OT Brian DeShane proposed to his girlfriend before the UCF game, and the team was so inspired they fought to a 23-21 win. A loss to SMU in the final week of the regular season was meaningless for championship aspirations, as Tulsa had already clinched a spot in the C-USA title game. Up against UCF in a rematch, Tulsa tied the game 27-27 on a 54 yard punt return for TD with just 5:04 left, and won 33-27 on a walkoff rushing TD in OT, claiming their first conference title since 2005. They outdid themselves in the bowl, avenging a season-opening loss to Iowa State, this time scoring 24 straight to win 31-17.
Green was steady, with 2592 passing yards and 17 TD 11 INT. The main offense came from the run game, which you might have to double take reading these stats. Alex Singleton, the 6’0 265 lb power back, ran for 800 yards and 24(!!) TD on just 4.0 YPC. Trey Watts, who weighed 75 pounds less, ran for 1108 yards and just 3 TD on 6.0 YPC. The third option was Ja’Terian Douglas, who had 936 rushing yards and 7 TD on a team-high 6.8 YPC. Hilariously, Singleton and Douglas either didn’t want to catch passes or couldn’t, combining for 4 catches for 17 yards. Watts had 34 for 343. WR Keyarris Garrett led the team with 845 receiving yards, and after an up-and-down career, would go on to lead the NCAA in receiving yards 3 years later with 1588. On defense, DL Jared St. John led C-USA with 11.5 sacks, and Deaundre Brown was 3rd in the conference with 17 total TFL.
3. 2010 (10-3 overall, 6-2 Conference USA)
Todd Graham produced some damn good offenses at Tulsa. This was his 3rd season in 4 years averaging 40+ PPG, ranking 6th in the country with 41.4. GJ Kinne, the current Texas State coach, had a great year in his 2nd season as a starter, earning 1st Team All-CUSA with 3650 passing yards 31 TD 10 INT, and leading the team in rushing with 561 yards with 7 TD. An opening loss to East Carolina was heartbreaking, the Hurricanes up 49-45 with seconds left, decided to call a timeout to defend a hail mary…? It backfired, as East Carolina drew up a play and scored to walk off 51-49. A few weeks later they were 3-3, with a disappointing 1-2 conference record. Hoping to compete for the C-USA title, they were now 2 games behind SMU and didn’t hold the tiebreaker. Still, Tulsa continued to fight. In South Bend facing first year head coach Brian Kelly and Notre Dame, Tulsa somehow held a 28-27 lead in the 4th quarter. Irish QB Tommy Rees drove to the Tulsa 20 in position for a game winning FG, but threw an interception in the end zone to seal a Tulsa win. That’d be a momentum shifter, winning out the rest of the year with wins over 6-5 UTEP, 8-3 Southern Miss, and #24 Hawaii in the bowl 62-35. The Canes took Hawaii’s #24 spot in the final AP Poll.
2. 2008 (11-3 overall, 7-1 Conference USA)
Tulsa’s had some really good offenses. But 2008 was on another level. It seemed like every offense in Oklahoma was going nuclear in 2008, as OU led the nation in PPG, Tulsa finished 2nd, and Oklahoma State 9th. This team averaged a whopping 47.2 PPG, good for 1st overall most years. Similar to the GJ Kinne → Cody Green transition, Tulsa lost all-time leading passer Paul Smith only to become even better as a team with new QB David Johnson. The difference this time though, was Johnson was MUCH better than Green, so there was no dropoff from Smith → Johnson.
Armed with HC Todd Graham and OC Gus Malzahn, Tulsa’s offense was the best in the country through 8 games, going 8-0 averaging 55.6(!!!) PPG. #19 Tulsa went to Arkansas with the BCS in their sights, but the offense fell flat in the 2nd half, scoring just 3 points in a 23-30 loss, ending any BCS bowl hopes. After winning 2 of the last 3 games, Tulsa entered the C-USA championship game at 10-2 facing 8-4 East Carolina. 7(!!!) turnovers from Tulsa ensured a loss, but they did all they could, losing 24-27. Johnson had his worst game of the season by far with 1 TD 5 INT. The year did end on a high, with a 45-13 thrashing of #23 Ball State.
David Johnson ranked 2nd in the nation in passer rating, throwing for 4059 yards 46 TD 18 INT with 10.1 YPA. RB Tarrion Adams ran for 1500+ yards and 14 TD, while WR Brennan Marion went for 1112 receiving yards on just 43 catches, for 25.9 yards per catch, leading the nation for the 2nd straight year. The previous year Marrion was even better, getting 39 catches for 1244 yards and 11 TD for an ABSURD 31.9 yards per catch, setting the NCAA record. He also holds the career record with 28.7 yards per catch.
1. 1991 (10-2 overall, Independent)
This would be Tulsa’s last great season for over a decade. In the early 1990’s, Tulsa dropped health/PE as a major, which over 50% of football players had. This made it hard to attract recruits to an already selective school, and an aging Skelly Stadium, down to its bones, also made it tough to get recruits to sign. Skelly Field is still going strong after 93 years today. But back to 1991—Tulsa was LEGIT. In week 2, Tulsa beat in-state foe Oklahoma State 13-7. After a 17-23 loss to Kansas, Tulsa hosted #15 Texas A&M in front of 30,000 fans. Down 28-10 at halftime, Tulsa rallied back with a late TD to win it 35-34 for their biggest win in over 20 years. They even went toe-to-toe with the national champions that year, Miami (FL), falling 10-34. Afterwards Tulsa was perfect, beating Louisville 40-0, and San Diego State in the bowl 28-17, finishing 10-2 overall with a #21 final ranking. This team turned out to be pretty stacked for such a small school, with 7 NFL Draft selections over the next 3 years, including 2nd round LB and 10-year Detroit Lion Tracy Scroggins, and QB Gus Frerotte. Frerotte was just a backup in ‘91, to starter TJ Rubley. Rubley finished his senior season as Tulsa’s all time leading passer. He was a 3rd string QB for the Packers in 1995, and audibled out of a QB sneak in a 24-24 game with Minnesota to try and throw a pass, only to throw an interception and lose 27-24. He was cut after the game by Mike Holmgren and never played in the NFL again.
5th Quarter
Why has Tulsa been so successful even with such a small enrollment? Do you agree with them being this high? Who was the best QB out of Paul Smith, David Johnson, GJ Kinne, and Dane Evans? Who’s been the best Tulsa player overall in the past 10-20 years? Is it Zaven Collins or someone else?
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