To tell the story of this season, both Tulsa and Nevada must look to something other than the win column, Tulsa coach Keith Burns says.
Both teams have struggled. Both are under new coaches looking to rebuild programs. Both, Burns said, have shown improvement their records don't reflect and can count on budding newcomers to maintain the momentum when today's finale is over.
''Like we're doing, they're playing some young players,'' Burns said. ''They're having to get on-the-job training like we are.''
The Wolf Pack (2-9, 1-6 Western Athletic Conference) travels to Skelly Stadium, a week after finding itself in unfamiliar territory with a 24-7 lead over Rice.
Nevada narrowly overcame a Rice comeback to win that game, its first ever in the league. Coach Chris Tormey said his team has made great gains in its last five contests.
''It takes some time to come together offensively and get on the same page,'' he said.
Twenty freshmen or redshirt freshmen have made their debuts this season for Nevada. And Tormey said he expects to start at least 10 freshmen against Tulsa.
Quarterback David Neill leads a Wolf Pack offense that ranks just below Tulsa in the WAC in total yards. But Neill averages 227 yards per game to put his team second in the league in passing yardage. Tulsa's weakness is stopping the pass.
''There are some quarterbacks in the league that have got better statistics,'' Tormey said, ''but I don't think there's a better quarterback in the WAC than David Neill.''
Burns predicts that Nevada is on its way to becoming one of the better teams in the conference.
He also has seen marked improvement in his own team.
Tulsa (4-7, 3-4) leads the conference in punt returns and ranks 12th nationally, with an average 15.1 yards per attempt. The Golden Hurricane have gone from 106th in the nation to 60th in scoring defense, giving up an average of 25.5 points. Burns' team also is the least penalized in the WAC.
''Those are coachable things, I think, that give you a chance to win,'' Burns said. ''We've given ourselves a chance with punt returns to set up scores and we haven't had the foolish penalties, the personal fouls that I watched a year ago.''
