After a decisive 42-13 win over South Florida (1-5, 0-4 in the American Athletic Conference), Tulsa (2-1, 2-0) is tied with No. 7 Cincinnati and Houston atop league standings.

“This is what we’ve been talking about for three weeks,” coach Philip Montgomery said. “Our next step was really to come out and play a full 60-minute game, get off to a good start and truly feel like you controlled the game from start to finish.”

Tulsa will play Friday night in a home game against the East Carolina Pirates. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

The last half of the Golden Hurricane schedule is brutal with a trip to Navy, home games against No. 22 SMU and Tulane, a game in Houston and finally a reschedule game against Cincinnati to end the regular season.

It’s the first 2-0 start for Tulsa in AAC play in its 7-year membership and the first time since 2012 that the Hurricane has put together two straight conference road wins.

The Hurricane as the offense gained 462 total yards, averaging 7.5 yards per play. Tulsa’s defense held USF to 305 yards and forced three turnovers.

Running back Deneric Prince led the ground game for TU with 109 yards and 2 TDs on 15 carries, while Corey Taylor II added 67 yards and 2 TDs as well.

Quarterback Zach Smith led the Hurricane to five scoring drives and completed 16-of-24 passes for 233 yards. Sam Crawford Jr. led the receiving corps with 4 catches for 82 yards. It was Zaven Collins’ interception return that gave Tulsa it’s other score.

At halftime, Tulsa out-gained USF 289-to-113 yards, including 127 on the ground and 162 through the air for the Hurricane.

“I think the story in the first half offensively was the two turnovers,” said USF coach Jeff Scott. “I thought in the first half, again third-down defense, Tulsa executed very well and we did not. I just thought that was kind of the story of the first half.”

“Two years ago, (USF) was a top-25 team,” Montgomery said.  “You know when you step in between the white lines anything can happen. I was just proud of the way our guys stayed together, stayed focused and came out and played a really sound game.”

East Carolina (1-3, 1-2) lost to Navy 23-27 Saturday. The Pirates beat Marshall and South Florida but lost to Central Florida, and Georgia State.