Practice Report #17: Tulsa Focuses on Special Teams in Saturday Practice

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TULSA, Okla. –– The Tulsa football team was on the H.A. Chapman Stadium turf for a one-hour practice today in a workout dedicated mainly to special teams. The temperature climbed to 97-degrees with an average heat index of 112.

The Saturday afternoon practice marked the end of preseason camp, as the Hurricane will begin preparations Sunday for its season-opening opponent, Oklahoma State.

Unlike last year when Tulsa's second practice of a two-a-day workout was normally focused on special teams, this year is different. A change in the NCAA rule does not allow for two-a-day workouts.

Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery talked about the work of the special teams today.

"I thought we had a good day today," said Montgomery. "Especially in early games, special teams play such a major role. There are a lot of games won and lost in the special teams in those first three ball games. We have to do a better job there. We have some new faces in there on special teams, so it was good to focus on that after the scrimmage last night, and spend the time we really needed there."

Although the Hurricane will be back on the practice field tomorrow, today marked the end of preseason camp, and coach Montgomery summed it up following today's workout.

"I think things have gone really well. It's been give-and-take both sides," said Montgomery. "I thought the defense played extremely well yesterday, and not so much for the offense. But, after looking at the tape it wasn't as bad or good as I thought it was. The thing that I was most disappointed with is that there were a lot of self-inflicted wounds. We had good drives going, and then we do something stupid. Things that are very much correctable, but we have to get them corrected. Those things are good coaching points and things to learn, and hopefully we can get them out of our system and make sure we get them corrected before we get to Stillwater."

After Sunday's practice session, the Hurricane will have off on Monday, the first day of classes for Tulsa students.

Tulsa opens the season on Thursday night, August 31 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Stillwater

Practice Report #17: Tulsa Focuses on Special Teams in Saturday Practice

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