(Casey Lee/ The Daily Campus)

The Mustangs take on the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricanes this Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Okla.

SMU and Tulsa have split the six meetings between the two schools 3-3 since SMU joined Conference USA in 2005. The Mustangs are 1-2 at Chapman Stadium. SMU has won the past two meetings looking to take an edge in the series 4-3 and even their record on the road against the Golden Hurricanes.

Injuries were a large problem in SMU’s 27-3 loss to the University of Southern Mississippi last Saturday. The team’s biggest loss could be running back Zach Line, who while rushing for a season high 163 yards on 22 attempts, suffered a shoulder injury that has him probable for this week according to Statfox.com. Another problem could be the absence of wide receiver Darius Johnson who left the game early on Saturday with a rib injury. Statfox shows Johnson was upgraded to probable yesterday. Johnson leads the team with 623 yards and four touchdowns.

Another loss will be linebacker Taylor Reed, who according to Ponyfans.com, has been suspended for conduct in last week’s game against Southern Mississippi. Last season, in 14 games, Reed recorded 145 tackles, seventh in NCAA. This season, Reed leads the team with 57 tackles.

If the Mustangs are left without Line and Johnson, most of the pressure will be put on quarterback J.J. McDermott. McDermott had his worst and only sub-200 yard performance of the season this past weekend. McDermott had season lows in completions, yards, completion percentage and quarterback rating and also had a season-high two interceptions. However, McDermott has had most of his success on the road this season. In four away games, McDermott has passed for eight of his 10 touchdowns this season and thrown for 1133 of his 2013 yards. Also, in the month of October, McDermott is on pace to easily eclipse his numbers in September, specifically in touchdowns. McDermott threw four in four games in September and has thrown six in only three games in October.

After the 27-3 loss to Southern Mississippi, which ended SMU’s five game winning streak, the Mustangs’ record drops to 5-2 this season and 3-1 in Conference USA. SMU is now in third place in the West Division behind No. 17 Houston and Tulsa who are both at a perfect 3-0. Tulsa is 4-3 overall this season with their three losses coming to No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Boise State, and No. 8 Oklahoma State. It’s certain that the Golden Hurricanes have had their share of competition this season.

The game starts at 2:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Network.