The Armed Forces Bowl opponents have combined for 17 victories this season and, over the last seven years, the squads are in the top 20 for overall victories in college football.
"Our programs mirror each other in a lot of ways," Blankenship said during a Thursday press conference. "(BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall) enumerated some of those: the losses to really good teams, nine wins and eight wins respectively (at BYU and Tulsa). I don't think that's anything to have to apologize for.
"I feel like we've both been a part of consistent winning teams over the last five or six years that are in the top 15 or 20 in the country in terms of wins. That's something that we're excited about."
Back to work: It had been 35 days since Tulsa lost to Houston in its regular-season finale. Quarterback G.J. Kinne said the team wants to redeem itself for that setback.
"Ever since then, as soon as we figured out where we were going, we've been focused on BYU and getting that win in a big-time bowl game," Kinne said. "I think we all (feel like we have something to prove), as an offense and as a team.
"Individually, I'm just going to try to go out there and do what I do every week and distribute the ball to the playmakers and be as efficient as possible."
Kinne said that beating BYU would be his team's biggest victory this season.
Quarterback battle: Mendenhall expects the quarterback position to be an important factor.
"We have two similar types of players in this game," said Mendenhall, referring to TU's Kinne and BYU's Riley Nelson. "I don't think either one will consent or concede losing the game. I think both will want the ball at the very end. They'll will themselves to move forward. To me, that's the biggest intrigue in the game."
The look: The Golden Hurricane's helmets will have camouflage inside the Tulsa logo and center stripe during the football game.
"(Equipment manager) Russ Hoffman does a great job with our equipment," Blankenship said. "I thought it was a great way to honor the Armed Forces with the camo part in our logo."
Tulsa, the designated home team, will wear blue jerseys and blue pants.
Mature team: BYU has many players that are older than traditional college football players after serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Seventy-three BYU players (61 percent) have served missions.
BYU also has 34 players that are married. Seven of the players also are fathers.
"That's what you see in BYU, a mature, physical team," Blankenship said. "You just automatically become a little more focused and a little more driven - we all know what we were like before we were married and kids - it didn't equate to age, but you begin to discipline yourself and carry yourself differently.
"That's what they have and the model they work under. They have a disciplined, focused, mature team."
Tulsa only has one married player - senior Bo Abbott.
ARMED FORCES BOWL: BYU VS. TULSA
11 a.m. FridayFord Stadium, Dallas
TV: ESPN-25
Radio: KRMG fm102.3, KRMG am740, KTBZ am1430
Weather: 54 degrees, sunny
Records: BYU 9-3, Tulsa 8-4
Last meeting: In 2007, TU won 55-47 in Tulsa
Series: BYU leads 6-1
Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20111230_94_B6_bMirro738684&rss_lnk=94
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