Tulsa Blog

September 14, 2009

Tulsa Recap
By: Eric W. Bolin

You know you’ve become spoiled when you get a 44-10 win and you’re nitpicking the negatives.
That’s exactly what’s become of Tulsa Golden Hurricane football.
But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to praise what TU did (and well, didn’t do) on Saturday.
They DID look sharp again at quarterback
Sophomore quarterback G.J. Kinne was clearly the right choice to lead this offense. His efficiency is off the charts. He was 22-of-35 with 310 yards and four touchdowns. No such happening as waiting until the final three minutes to get the first TD through the air this week. He looks heady, makes good decisions and even though he doesn’t have the strongest arm in the world, he doesn’t make any mistakes either.
They DID have another outstanding defensive showing.
Yes, the New Mexico Lobos are installing a new offense after years of being a power running team. But their senior quarterback Donovan Porterie is a good player whom the Tulsa defense made look bad. Yes, Porterie is coming off a bad injury (or two), but holding any team to just 171 yards of total offense is a big accomplishment.
Finally, they DID NOT overlook New Mexico.
Some folks thought, with a beaten up Oklahoma looming in Week 3, Tulsa would look past New Mexico. It didn’t happen. If you couldn’t tell from the great seasons Todd Graham has had in his past, it was proven this weekend Graham is a good coach. He had Tulsa ready to play. Sure, it’s coach-speak when teams say, “We’re taking it one game at a time,” but last year, TU wasn’t saying that. They were saying, “Let’s go undefeated!”
One thing Tulsa must do sooner rather than later is find a legitimate running back. For the second straight week Kinne led the team in rushing. That simply will not do if the Golden Hurricane want to continue their winning ways.
But let’s say, for the sake of this blog, Jamad Williams or Charles Opeseyitan come through with a great week of practice this week and one establishes himself as a feature-back. It might not even matter. The Oklahoma Sooners are NOT New Mexico and they are NOT Tulane.
It’s going to be a true test on Saturday, even with the Sooners lacking, arguably, their two best players in Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham.
The last time TU beat Oklahoma was in 1996, during an era many OU fans would like to forget. That TU wasn’t nearly as good as this year’s version. But that Oklahoma team was much, much worse than this year’s version.
As I write this, the spread sits at 14.5. I wouldn’t touch it with your hand.
As far as the real outcome….?

September 8, 2009

That’s it? Really?
By: Eric W. Bolin

The Golden Hurricane rolled to an easy win over Tulane on Friday night in New Orleans, sure, but did it look to anyone else like it was just, I don’t know, sloppy?

I mean, maybe TU fans – and myself – have been spoiled by the amazing passing numbers in the last few years. It still took way too long to get a passing TD. I’ll give them a “pass” (ahem) on that, though.

First-year starter G.J. Kinne was nothing if not efficient, though. My friend Eric Bailey was right – his accuracy is his strength. He had good balance, too, finding his best five receivers on all his completions with each having at least two grabs. He also looked sharp with his legs. A 45-yard run will do that, huh?

But there were still things left to be desired. The lack of a true running game was evident. That will happen any time you lose your all-time leading rusher, of course, but there doesn’t appear to be a legitimate No. 1 workhouse kind of guy on the team. Granted, TU doesn’t run the kind offense where a workhorse is needed, but it’s nice to have one in the stable.

Defensively, I was impressed. Tulane had a lot of yards through the air, which is troubling. That, though, had more to do with Tulsa’s lineup defensively. When you’re stacking eight guys in the box to corral one of Conference USA’s best running backs, you’re going to give up some big passing numbers. I wouldn’t look too much into the 278 yards through the air. It was more of the style than the substance, if you know what I mean.

The linebackers are a solid bunch. Tanner Antle looks much stronger this season and the defensive line is athletic as it’s been in years. Any time you can hold Andre Anderson to just 49 yards on the ground, I’d say that’s a job well done.

At the end of the day, the Golden Hurricane still pulled off a victory by a large margin, and that’s all that really counts.

Next week is another – well, what should be, rather – warm-up game against New Mexico. Playing in Albuquerque isn’t easy if for no other reason than the altitude, but the Lobos looked pretty bad against Texas A&M. The Golden Hurricane should head to New Mexico, continue to work the kinks out of the offense and prepare for Oklahoma in two weeks.

August 31, 2009

Let the countdown begin.
By: Eric W. Bolin

Only four days until the Tulsa Golden Hurricane kickoff against Tulane to open the 2009 campaign.
There’s just one problem – no one’s quite sure who the quarterback is going to be.
OK, well, the coaches probably know. But there has been no official announcement crowning G.J. Kinne or Jacob Bower as the man taking a majority of the snaps Friday.
The only thing that is for certain is that at least three players will field the ball from the center on that day. True freshman Shavodrick Beaver and wide receiver A.J. Whitmore have packages installed that fit their strengths, so they’re guaranteed to see a snap or two, or ten.
As far as who’ll take the other 80 or 90 percent? It’s looking like Kinne.
I know, I said in the opening blog I figured Jacob Bower would be the man coming out spring practice. But his injury really put him back. Kinne has shined since, looking nothing short of spectacular in fall camp. He has tremendous accuracy, on par with ex-TU great Paul Smith. And let’s face it, he began his career at Texas. They don’t exactly recruit losers to Austin.
Obviously with the game only four days away, coach Todd Graham is sure to announce his starter at some point midweek, right?

August 9, 2009

Wait’s Over. It’s Time To Go
By: Eric W. Bolin

Players reported this week for fall practice at the University of Tulsa. It’s a pity, not too many noticed.
Almost everything here in the state of Oklahoma bleeds either Crimson and Cream or Orange and Black, but it was nice to hear some Golden Hurricane talk on the local sports radio station this afternoon.
Goes to show there are still those devout few who care about TU football, but they’re few and far between.
OK, I’m overstating a bit. But with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both major players this year, it seems TU has gotten the short end of the stick – even this year, more than most.
So to get some more perspective on Todd Graham’s 2009 squad, on this, the team’s first week of practice, I had a chat with Eric Bailey, the TU beat writer at the Tulsa World:
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PhilSteele.com: Last year, the mentality was “14-0,” this year it’s “one game at a time,” what’s significant about that change?
Eric Bailey, Tulsa World: Making it to the conference championship game the last two years and losing both those games has put things in perspective. They’ve gotten to the final game and lost twice, that’s really opened their eyes. You can’t take that ultimate step without taking the steps before it. I think they realize it and that’s what they’re talking about. Sure, they won 21 games the last two years. They had a school-record 11 wins last year but it doesn’t mean anything without conference championships.

PhilSteele.com: Obviously last year the defense let the team down, do you see it getting any better this year with limited defensive line experience? What do they have to improve on most?
Eric Bailey, Tulsa World: I think it’s defending the pass. They gave up about 31 touchdown passes last year. It’s just a high, high number. They need that secondary to be strengthened. You need a pass rush, too. Get some hurries, some turnovers. If they can do that, they have the players to do that. It’s going to rest with that pass defense both with the pass rush and the secondary.

PhilSteele.com: Rick Bryan, the legendary OU defensive tackle, and father of TU’s best defensive player, Mike, passed away recently. How is Mike holding up and how do you think it will affect him, if at all, this year?
Eric Bailey, Tulsa World: I think Mike will be fine. Just look at his family, his father, he grew up a tough country boy. His father, growing up, made him the person he is. Tough times, a kid like that will persevere just because how he was raised. He’ll play every down hard and he’s a warrior, a winner. He’s a preseason all-conference linebacker and he has a lot of respect in this conference.

PhilSteele.com: The big question – who’s going to start under center in game one. If I said “Pick one guy,” who would you take right now?
Eric Bailey, Tulsa World: I have a feeling it’s going to be G.J. Kinne. That’s my own opinion. Just because of his accuracy. Everyone takes for granted how well the ball was thrown the last two years. Those quarterbacks, Paul Smith and David Johnson were accurate throwers. And he’s (Kinne) the most accurate thrower on the roster. That’s not taking anything away from Bower or Beaver, because of those are some great players, too. I think you might see Whitmore early. But as you see the season progress, you’ll see Beaver as the Wildcat QB because he can do more throwing the football. I wouldn’t’ be surprised to see Whitmore out there early, the first couple games of the season.
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Eric and I are recent acquaintances with a shared past. We both trained in the Chips Quinn Scholars program for journalists. We’re both Native American. And we’re both Oklahoma born-and-raised. I also do a bit of freelance work at the Tulsa World.
Look for more chats with Eric and other Tulsa football writers, reporters, coaches and players in the future.
Notes: Senior wide receiver Jesse Meyer has left the team. Meyer had just nine receptions last year after grabbing 39 in 2007. Meyer, a Tulsa-area native graduated in May with a degree in Business Management.
Check out more of Eric’s work, and mine, at www.tulsaworld.com/sports

July 28, 2009

Another CUSA Championship for Tulsa?
By: Eric W. Bolin

My, how this place has changed.
When I was a youngster, Tulsa was a college hoops town. Shea Seals, Gary Collier, Tubby Smith – those were the names you thought of when you thought TU athletics. That’s really not the case anymore.
My name is Eric Bolin and I’m the blogger for the Tulsa (and the University of Arkansas, actually) football team here at PhilSteele.com
I can honestly say no one really cared about TU football back in the day. At least, not in my lifetime. Sure, they had Gus Frerotte – who is still, somehow, kicking around the NFL – Jerry Ostroski, Dennis Byrd and a few others in the 1980’s and 90’s. But for the most part, those were some bad football teams.
But former coach Steve Kragthorpe started something special earlier this decade with the Golden Hurricane. Current coach Todd Graham has picked up right where he left off.
Despite a moribund stadium, attendance at Tulsa football games is high. Well, relatively high. One thing you have to keep in mind when talking about Tulsa is that it’s the smallest school in the FBS. The smallest! But folks are talking championship again. Conference USA championship, anyway.
And why not? The offense is dynamic, led by one of better receiving corps in football. There are plenty of options at running back, too. The trick will be stopping other teams…..yeah, they’re not quite there yet (74th in the country in total defense last year).
The offense has been the epitome of prolific. And it hasn’t seemed to matter who is under center. Sure, Paul Smith is probably the most successful quarterback the school has ever seen – and the one who began the offensive juggernaut – but David Johnson was unheralded last year and continued the torrid pace.
But it’s that position that is easily the biggest question mark heading in fall practice. Former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has moved on to Auburn. That paired with the breaking-in of a quarterback who has never played any significant college football means there more than a few doubts to go along with those high hopes in folks minds around here.
With that in mind, here is the breakdown of the biggest question mark for Golden Hurricane this season.
Question: Who’s going to play quarterback?
Answer: Uh, no one really knows just yet. There are certainly no shortage of options. As Phil mentioned in the magazine, whoever wins the job will be the first very highly touted signal-caller to take snaps in the system.
Junior Jacob Bower appeared to be the favorite in the spring, but an appendectomy this summer has taken him a step backwards. He’s a big guy (240+ pounds), but he has the wheels to bring a different kind of threat from the position. The offense relies on quarterbacks who are mobile, but it’s been ages since Tulsa has had a credible running threat at quarterback. Bower brings that to the table.
Sophomore G.J. Kinne would be next in line and he has jumped all over the extended opportunity. He exited the spring with slight edge over Bower despite his inexperience. He was great last year on the scout team. And as a Texas Longhorns transfer, so you know he has the talent to take the reins.
The wildcard is true freshman Shavodrick Beaver. Easily the best running threat of the three, Beaver is seen as the quarterback of the future at Tulsa. There are whispers he’ll redshirt, as Bower and Kinne should be more than up to the task of the leading the offense. But Beaver enrolled early and went through spring practice. You can’t imagine he did that just so he could sit out a year and gain experience.
If I were a betting man, my money would be on Bower. He played in 14 games last year, and despite only throwing 15 passes, he has the most live experience. And Tulsa generally has a history of giving the starting nod to the oldest, most experienced guy.
But this battle should go down to the wire. They all bring a little different dimension to the table. It’s simply a matter of who Graham and offensive coordinator Herb Hand feel is the best fit for the offense. And this time, “best fit for the offense” is not a cliché.

Notes:
• Linebacker Mike Bryan, considered the best player on the defensive side of the ball took members of the media catfish noodling this summer. If anyone questioned his toughness, they certainly don’t now (FYI: If you’re not sure what “noodling” is, I highly suggest you read a story about it).
• Junior college DB Arthur Render didn’t make the grades and won’t be at Tulsa this year. He was expected to in the safety rotation in Tulsa’s 3-3-5 scheme.
• Five players were named preseason first team Conference USA. Surprisingly, no TU player was named to the All-Conference USA second team. The Golden Hurricane were also tabbed by the media to finish second the conference.

WR/KR Damaris Johnson – Special Teams player of the Year
LB Mike Bryan – First team defense
OG Curt Puckett - First team offense
S James Lockett – First team defense
OT Tyler Holmes – First team offense