2011 Season
Bill Blankenship's first season as Tulsa's head coach started out rough. Tulsa had 3 top-10 opponents in the first 4 weeks of the season.


September:

• Tulsa started out with a game at Oklahoma in Norman and lost 47-17.
• Tulsa had one in-conference opponent week 2, with a game at Tulane, and won 31-3. In the Tulane game, there was evidence of a solid defense (Fewest points allowed by Tulsa in a C-USA game since Steve Kragthorpe was head coach) and flashes of offensive potential.
• Tulsa then played #5 Oklahoma State at home in a game which was delayed until midnight due to weather. Tulsa QB GJ Kinne was injured early in the 1st quarter by a late hit out of bounds. He did not return. Tulsa's offense fought through and piled up 365 yards rushing and 482 total yards and 33 points but still lost.
• TU then traveled to Boise State for a match-up with #7 Boise State. With GJ Kinne hampered by injury, TU lost 41-21.

October was a new month for Tulsa. TU began a winning streak which would extend through October to late in the season.

• TU began with North Texas on October 1, the final out-of-conference game of 2011. TU led 41-3 in the 3rd quarter before pulling the starters. Against Tulsa's back-ups, UNT scored 21 late points .
• On October 15, TU hosted UAB. TU's defense was shaky and allowed 20 first half points, but Tulsa led 24-20 at the half. TU pulled away, holding UAB scoreless in the second half and winning 37-20.
• On October 22, TU traveled to Houston to play Rice. TU's offense got off to a quick start, scoring 17 1st quarter points due to 3 turnovers forced by Tulsa's opportunistic defense .
• On October 29, 2011, Tulsa's first year head coach Bill Blankenship faced the toughest C-USA opponent to date and the team picked to finish 3rd in C-USA West (behind Houston and Tulsa) in the pre-season media poll . However, SMU had exceeded preseason expectations at 5-2 after upsetting rival #19 TCU and falling only to Texas A&M and Southern Miss (who was 6-1 at the time) . Furthermore, Tulsa had struggled against SMU under previous head coach Todd Graham, losing 2 straight and barely winning by an average of 6 points against two 1-11 teams in 2007 and 2008 . Nevertheless, Tulsa prevailed with a dominant performance. TU scored quickly and got out to a 24-0 lead at half time thanks to 3 interceptions by CB Milton Howell and two rushing touchdowns by short-yardage specialist HB Alex Singleton . TU won 38-7, allowing only 1 score to one of the top offenses in the country and scoring 38 points against one of the top defenses in the country .

November:

• Head Coach Bill Blankenship was entering his second toughest month of the year (after September) with a tough road game at Central Florida where Tulsa had struggled under previous head coach Todd Graham, losing two straight. As reported by tulsahurricane.com "UCF defense ranks in the top-six in the FBS for rushing, passing, passing efficiency, scoring and total defense" . After trailing 14-13 at the half, TU prevailed 24-17, running out over 5 minutes of clock at the end of the game, denying UCF the opportunity to score. Tulsa gained 251 yards rushing, more than UCF had allowed all season at home (4 games). TU's 24 points also exceeded the total points UCF allowed at home all season
• Tulsa headed home to host Marshall, one of the better teams in C-USA East division (eventually finished near top of East) . Tulsa had struggled against Marshall under previous head coach Todd Graham, barely winning 38-31 against 3-9 UM in 2007 and 38-35 against 4-8 UM in 2008 . This game had no such drama as Tulsa led 42-3 at the half and won its 11th straight C-USA game with a 59-17 win over Marshall .
• Next, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane traveled to El Paso to match up with the UTEP Miners in the Sun Bowl. Tulsa had struggled against UTEP under previous head coach Todd Graham, and had not won in El Paso since 2003. Under Graham, Tulsa had lost its previous two games in El Paso by 5 points total against two UTEP teams which finished 4-8 . This time, there was no doubt after Tulsa led 50-15 in the 3rd quarter as TU won 57-28. TU's defense struggled early, giving up 15 points in the first half, but shut down UTEP for the pivitol 3rd quarter in which Tulsa seized control . Two scores by UTEP late in the 4th quarter allowed UTEP to be the first C-USA team to score more than 20 points against TU .
• Finally, the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane had an opportunity to accomplish one of the goals set long before the season started: Win the C-USA Western Division Title and play the C-USA Championship game. The task was not easy. Undefeated #8 Houston Cougars (11-0, 7-0 in C-USA) were coming to Tulsa to face off against Tulsa Golden Hurricane (8-3, 7-0 in C-USA). The winner was guaranteed to host the C-USA Championship game against the C-USA Eastern Division Title

Personal

Bill and Angie Blankenship are the parents of three sons: Josh, Caleb and Adam, all of whom played football in high school and college. Josh Blankenship played quarterback at Tulsa before transferring to Eastern Washington

Eastern Washington Eagles football

The Eastern Washington Eagles football team represents Eastern Washington University in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision...

, where he was a second team Division I-AA All-American. He later played arena football

Arena football

Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....

, including three years as quarterback of the Tulsa Talons

Tulsa Talons

The San Antonio Talons are a professional arena football franchise in San Antonio, Texas that plays in the Arena Football League.The Talons began in 2000 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Tulsa Talons, a charter member of the defunct minor league Arena Football 2, also known as af2...

; after working as an assistant coach at Union and elsewhere, in December 2010 he was named head coach at Muskogee High School

Muskogee High School

Muskogee High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Muskogee, Oklahoma. MHS has a steady enrollment of 1,700 students. It is accredited by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association...

. Adam Blankenship played at Nebraska

Nebraska Cornhuskers football

The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...

 and Eastern Illinois

Eastern Illinois Panthers

The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the men's and women's athletic teams representing Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL. Eastern Illinois University's colors are blue and gray. Eastern Illinois sports teams, except for men's soccer and swimming teams, participate in NCAA Division I in...

, was an assistant coach at Union, and in 2011 joined his father's new coaching staff at Tulsa.

Awards

• Merv Johnson Integrity in College Coaching Award, Oklahoma Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame (2008).
• Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee, 2009.