OPPONENT AT A GLANCE: Arkansas Twisters, 9^th season in af2, 0-1- Lost @ OKC 57-42

THE STREAK

The Talons have had a lot of success in recent years, including our wonderful 2007 title season. The Arkansas Twisters have been the lone thorn in our side that we cannot seem to remove. The Twisters have won the last 6 meetings in this rivalry series. The last Tulsa victory over Arkansas came May 22^nd, 2004. The Talons still have had great seasons and won the championship, but it is time this streak comes to an end. Twisters vs. Talons has always been an intense matchup and provided great memories all the way back to 2000. Tulsa has accomplished a lot lately and it will be just another accomplishment if we can finally defeat the Twisters and send them to 0-2 on the year.

Although Tulsa destroyed Boise in a big way, the game was actually very sloppy and at some points it was poorly executed by Tulsa. The Talons had several miscues during the game on offense and defense that can dearly cost the team if not corrected soon.  Allgood had a great game against Boise with 6 TD’s and 0 INT’s, but he faced a lot of pressure and threw some bad balls that luckily he got back due to penalties on Boise. The Twisters may not be any better at exploiting Tulsa’s mistakes than Boise, but it would be nice to see the offense executing better. The line has to do a better job of keeping Allgood in the pocket.  Coach Allner was quick to say after the game that his team has several things to work on. Hopefully the guys have had a solid week of practice and are ready to further develop this offense with the numerous scoring weapons we have acquired.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

If you travel to North Little Rock or listen to Couri on the radio you are bound to hear and see a lot of Twister players you do not recall. The Twister team has had a major makeover from 2007 and the franchise lost a lot of its more popular players.  Former Twister coach John Gregory has departed to the reborn af2 Iowa Barnstormers and has taken several Twisters with him including WR Robert Kilow and defensive threats Jason Simpson and Tanner Varner. Brian Villanueva was going to return as Twisters QB from 2007 team but he was cut and signed by the Corpus Christi Sharks just prior to the season opener. Even our favorite kicker to harass, David Carlton, has relocated down to Bossier City for 2008. Jon Schoonover will be the lone familiar returning Twister. Schoonover had 9 catches for 96 yards against OKC. It is a brand new Twister team and the veteran Tulsa squad may get a lot of benefits from their wide experience gap compared to Arkansas.

QB MATCHUP

I mentioned earlier that Allgood amassed 6 TD’s against Boise, but we all saw areas that could be improved. Against OKC last week, Arkansas used a QB tandem of Kyle Rowley and Collin Drafts. Rowley has been around the af2 but is best known for being QB of the Spokane Shock when they won the Arenacup in 2006. Drafts seemed to have better numbers than Rowley against OKC, but both QB’s took several snaps. WR Byron Rogers had a huge opening night for Arkansas catching 3 TD passes. If Arkansas can turn to a clear cut QB it may help their offense as often the tandem system leads to problems at some point of the game. Allgood just needs to keep getting the timing and routes down with all the WR’s and continue to develop with Talons newcomer Kellen Allen. Allen had 7 catches for 107 yards and 3 TD’s against Boise. Hughley and Allgood seem to be up to their 2007 tricks as they connected for 12 catches 118 yards and 4 TD’s against the Burn. The Twister QB, Jon Schoonover, and the rest of the Arkansas WR core will have a lot of work to do if they want to match the passing output the Talons have consistently put up so far.

HIT THE ROAD

The Talons have not had a true road game since July 21^st, 2007 when they played in Katy, Texas against the Texas Copperheads. The Arenacup was a neutral site so I did not count it in this road game stat. Tulsa will have to go on the road for the first time in quite some time and it is somewhere that hasn’t been friendly to the Talons, North Little Rock. I am sure Tulsa has become accustomed to hearing the rowdy home fans cheer them on. It will be a bit different this week when the game will be played in a hostile environment. We should have several fans coming over from Tulsa and we will undoubtedly be louder than the Twister fans. It still will not be the same as an outright home game and Tulsa should be prepared. I am sure the team will be ready to play on enemy turf and it likely even pumps them up more when they have a little hostility around them. We have veteran guys who have faced this before and it is time to head into Arkansas and end this ridiculous losing streak!

Arkansas players to watch:  WR Patrick Rouzard, 8 catches 38 yards 1 TD against OKC. Tito Hannah- 4 tackles and 2 sacks against OKC

P.S. Arkansas is planning a “black out night” for the game. They are encouraging everyone to wear black shirts against Tulsa. Don’t wear black unless you want to be accused of being a Twister lover!