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Tulsa Begins Spring Football Practice on Monday
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 18, 2005
Tulsa, Okla. - The Tulsa football team will open spring drills on Monday, March 21, following the school's spring break week. Tulsa begins preparations for its first season in Conference USA.
Tulsa completed the 2004 campaign with a 4-8 overall record, losing two games in overtime as well as one contest against nationally-ranked Boise State on a last second field goal. Tulsa closed out the 2004 season with consecutive victories against San Jose State and #24-ranked UTEP.
Tulsa will conclude its 15 practices of spring drills on Friday, April 15 with the Annual Spring Game that has been dubbed "TU Football Spring Cruiz'n Festival".
Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe welcomes back 42 letterwinners, including 17 on offense, 22 on defense and three specialists. Tulsa returns six starters on both offense and defense, while 10 more part-time starters return to the Hurricane roster.
"We're excited to get back on the field and start to develop our football team for the 2005 season. We lost some good football players and there are some holes we need to fill. But, I'm confident that we have a great group of guys coming back that can quickly fill those roles. It will be fun and exciting to see how things shape up," said Kragthorpe.
Perhaps the biggest battle heading into spring drills will be at quarterback where sophomore Paul Smith and red-shirt freshman David Johnson will compete to follow in the footsteps of the graduated James Kilian.
Both Smith and Johnson red-shirted last season, however, Smith, did see playing time as a true freshman in Tulsa's Humanitarian Bowl season of 2003. He completed 62-percent of his passes for 297 yards and one touchdown in eight games that season. His best game came against San Jose State, filling in for an injured Kilian, as he completed 10-of-17 passes for 166 yards and led Tulsa on four scoring drives to defeat San Jose State and guarantee Tulsa a Bowl game appearance.
Johnson had a solid prep career at Portland's Southridge (Ore.) High School. He completed 61-percent of his passes as a senior for 1,640 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also rushing for 375 yards and four TDs
"We have two very, very capable guys in Paul and David. I'm excited to get on the field and work with and watch them perform. I think they're both very talented," said Kragthorpe. "We had the luxury of being able to red-shirt Paul last year, and he was able to get all the reps as the #2 quarterback. Paul is bigger, stronger and more physical this year. David is a tremendous athlete and throws the ball extremely well. Both these guys can throw the ball vertically and outside the numbers, which are the toughest passes you have to complete as a quarterback. I'm excited to watch these two guys compete. They're both great competitors and I think it will be a heck of a competition."
Tulsa returns two running backs who combined for 1,661 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns last season. Uril Parrish comes into his senior season after becoming just the 11th player in school history to gain over 1,000 yards in a single season and the first since 1997. He ran for 1,064 yards, a 5.1 average per carry and eight touchdowns in 2004.
Junior Brandon Diles is the other returning running back, as he totaled 597 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground for the Hurricane a year ago.
"The running back spot is probably the deepest position on our offense right now with two guys that have had significant playing time returning in Uril and Brandon," said Kragthorpe. "Put Cauvey Jackson into the mix and add red-shirt freshman Tarrion Adams and we have excellent depth."
The offensive front returns three starters and two part-time starters. Tulsa loses all-WAC first team center Derek Warehime and guard Matt Black, but returns starters Jeff Perrett, Aaron Danenhauer and Mike Mengers, all juniors. Senior Jesse Stoneham also returns in 2005, but will be relegated to non-contact drills in the spring after coming off a knee injury from last season.
Danenhauer will move from his guard spot from a year ago to center, while Mengers and Perrett handle the tackle spots. Mengers replaced Stoneham in the starting lineup a year ago following the injury. Stoneham can play either guard or tackle for the Hurricane.
"We have some guys on the offensive line coming back that we can count on. I like the fact that we're building depth on our offensive line. I think we have some candidates that are able to step into starting roles," said Kragthorpe.
All-America kickoff returner Ashlan Davis returns to the wide receiver position for the Hurricane. Davis caught 30 passes for 462 yards from his receiver slot last year, but stunned opponents and amazed fans with his kickoff return ability. He established a new NCAA single-season record with five kickoffs for touchdowns, covering 100, 94, 83, 96 and 74 yards, and breaking the previous record of three returns for TDs in a season. He'll enter the 2005 campaign needing one kickoff return for a touchdown to tie the NCAA mark for career TDs scored on kickoff returns.
"We lost some receivers who have made plays for us, but Ashlan returns, and Landon Keopple has done some good things for us. Donnie Johnson's role will expand, and we'll see how far he can take that role," added Kragthorpe. "We have some junior college guys coming in next year that can give us some depth at receiver as well."
Defensively, the Hurricane lost five starters but returns three of it's top-five tacklers from the 2004 season.
"We have some holes defensively to fill, particularly at the linebacker spot. Nick Bunting and Nelson Coleman return from significant playing time, and Chris Chamberlain did some good things for us last season as a true freshman," said Kragthorpe. "In the secondary we lose some players, like Jermaine Hope and Clint Rountree that we'll have to find guys to step into their roles. I'm confident we have the depth to do that. On the defensive line we have some young guys like Walter Boyd and Brandon Jones who received a lot of playing time last year."
Bunting, a second-team all-WAC linebacker last yer and the 2003 WAC Freshman of the Year, anchors the linebacker corps for the Hurricane. He tallied 88 tackles and five stops for -22 yards a year ago. The sophomore, Chamberlain, also returns to linebacker after moving into a starting role as a true freshman in 2004 and compiling 48 tackles and six stops for -41 yards.
The defensive front features senior Brandon Lohr, who totaled 69 tackles while seeing time at both nose guard and end last year, and junior Robert Latu, another returning starter from 2004. Latu tallied 21 tackles last year, while a trio of freshmen, Jones and Boyd, both true frosh, and red-shirt freshman Cody Madison, all saw valuable playing time.
The secondary returns four players who saw starting time last year, including Bobby Blackshire, Shannon Carter, Jeff Thibodeaux and Nick Graham. Blackshire was third on the team from his bandit position in tackles with 77, while Carter totaled 45 and Graham had 40 stops.
The 15 spring practices are scheduled for Skelly Stadium and most are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The annual spring game -- TU Football Spring Cruiz'n Festival -- is scheduled for April 15 in Skelly Stadium at 7:00 pm. Spring practices are open to the public.
Spring 2005 Practice Dates:
MARCH 21 (Mon.), 23 (Wed.), Fri. (25), 28 (Mon.), 30 (Wed.)
APRIL 1 (Fri.), 2 (Sat.), 4 (Mon.), 6 (Wed), 8 (Fri.), 9 (Sat.), 11 (Mon.), 13 (Wed.), 14 (Thurs.), 15 (Fri.)
