When: 7 p.m. Where: H.A. Chapman Stadium, Tulsa, OK

Tune in: ESPN 2 | 1310 AM

SMU will arrive at Tulsa as 17-point underdogs looking to shake off last week’s putrid performance at Temple. Much like the Temple game, both teams have offensive playmakers who should provide fireworks throughout the game and prove to be worth the price of admissions for the fans in Tulsa tonight.

The biggest difference in tonight’s game is the experience of the Tulsa offense compared to the experience of SMU’s. Tulsa is led by seniors at many skill positions, most notably Dane Evans at quarterback. Evans is a notable advantage for Tulsa tonight but he has been turnover prone this season with six interceptions so far, something the SMU secondary must exploit if they want to win this game.

Jordan Wyatt already has a pair of pick-sixes, and due to the fact that SMU probably can not afford to get in a score-for-score shootout tonight, he might need a third. At this point in the season, SMU needs to take a few more risks in order to win. Fans groaned when Chad Morris elected to punt in fourth-and-short situations against TCU and Baylor, but given how riddled his team is with injuries at quarterback and the offensive line, he must try to pull out the stops now. Whether that is done by more aggressive play calling on both sides of the ball, or expanding four-down territory later in the game, Morris needs to show his team and its fans that they are there to win.

Expect SMU to be motivated to prove last week was a fluke, but a win tonight would be a sizeable upset. Tulsa has played well this season and can simply outscore SMU if their offense finds its rhythm like Temple did. Unless the SMU line has magically figured out how to pick up blitzes and Ben Hicks made significant progress on going through his reads this week, Tulsa will win going away.

Prediction: Tulsa 35-SMU 21