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Tulsa Football Team Excited About 2008 Campaign
7/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 27, 2008
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Tulsa, Oklahoma -
With the start of preseason football camp just a week away, we take a quick look at the Golden Hurricane team for the 2008 campaign. Later this week, we will focus on the offense and defense.
In it's pursuit of perfection, the Tulsa football team will return a potent offense in 2008 and a defense that will look to continue its dominating performance from the GMAC Bowl this past January.
Tulsa established 29 school records, 15 Conference USA marks and four NCAA records a year ago.
The Golden Hurricane comes into the 2008 campaign with high expectations.
After tying a school record with 10 wins last year, what does Head Coach Todd Graham and his troops have in store for the 2008 campaign. "I'm very excited about this team and the opportunities we have this year. We have a chance to accomplish some great things, but I can tell you we'll be in a whole bunch of close football games just like we were last year, and we're going to have to win all of them," said Graham.
"Our kids walk onto the field and expect to win. We expect to win championships. We want to be Conference USA Champions and Bowl Champions, and that's high expectations especially from where we were six years ago," added Graham.
"The key on our football team this year is quarterback and linebacker because that's where we lost two of our better leaders and players," said Graham. But, after spring drills, Graham feels good about both positions for the Hurricane.
"One of the things that gives me confidence is that our offensive and defensive lines will be the best we've had since I've been associated with the program, and that usually is a great indicator for success," added Graham.
The nation's leading offense in 2007 returns nine starters and weapons galore. The Hurricane offense amassed 543.9 yards, including 371 through the air and 172.9 on the ground, and scored 41 points per game. Tulsa's only losses to graduation included tackle Walter Boyd and the school's career passing leader Paul Smith. Tulsa's offense set 24 individual and team records a year ago.
It was an offense that had a 5,000-yard passer, one 1,000-yard rusher and three 1,000-yard receivers - becoming the first team in NCAA history to accomplish that feat.
"We're in our second year of the system so our guys are so much farther along at understanding the blocking schemes and understanding the schematics of our run-pass game," added Graham.
The Hurricane offense returns its top four rushers from the 2007 campaign as well as its top six receivers. Tulsa's receiving corps should be considered as one of the top groups in the country, if not the BEST.
Senior Brennan Marion, the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year in 2007, broke a 30-year NCAA record when he averaged 31.9 yards per catch with 1,244 yards and 11 touchdowns on 39 receptions. Tulsa's two other 1,000-yard receivers were just true freshmen in 2007, both earning Freshman All-America and C-USA all-freshman team merits -- Trae Johnson, who caught 70 passes for 1,088 yards and a team-best 13 touchdowns and Charles Clay, Tulsa's returning fullback, caught 69 passes for 1,024 yards and seven TDs.
"We have a very, very talented group of receivers. I believe it's one of the top-5 receiving groups in the country"" said Graham.
Despite the loss of Smith at quarterback, it appears that the Hurricane has equipped itself with capable gunslingers. Senior David Johnson, Smith's understudy for the last four years, will get his chance to show his ability.
"Our quarterback will have to manage the game and not turn over the football, operate the offense and distribute the ball to the multitude of talented guys we have on the offensive side of the ball," said Graham. "We don't look to miss a beat offensively. The key to our offensive productivity will be the quarterback position."
Although he'll enter the fall leading the quarterback charge, Johnson will be joined at the quarterback position by Bakersfield Junior College transfer Jacob Bower, who originally signed with BYU out of high school, and led his JUCO team to a 12-1 record while completing 61-percent of his passes.
At running back, leading rusher Tarrion Adams totaled 1,225 yards and eight TDs on the ground. Sophomore Jamad Williams showed signs of brilliance last year as a red-shirt freshman by gaining over 400 yards. Clay will also get plenty of carries, as he averaged 5.3 yards per carry a year ago to go along with his 1,000+ receiving yards.
If that didn't provide enough potency, senior Courtney Tennial, who missed last year with an Achilles injury, returns for a sixth year of eligibility. In 2006, Tennial rushed for 845 yards and 14 touchdowns and appears to be on his way to a full recovery after a solid spring performance.
The offensive line and tight end positions should be solid again. Tackle Rodrick Thomas and guard Justin Morsey, the two seniors, are the anchors of the offensive front, while junior tight end Jake Collums returns as the starter.
"There's no substitute for experience and we return four of our five starters on the offensive line. We have really good depth this year," said Graham.
Despite losing all three starting linebackers and two safeties, Tulsa coaches feel good about its chances on defense in 2008. "Coach Patterson and I really feel like this is the best defensive recruiting class that we've had here in our time," said Graham. "Our line and secondary will be our strengths defensively."
Senior end Moton Hopkins, a second-team all-C-USA performer, and cornerback Roy Roberts are the leaders on defense. Last year, Hopkins tallied 71 stops and Roberts had 45 tackles while leading Tulsa in pass break-ups with 12 and interceptions with three.
Hopkins is joined on the other side of the defensive front by returning starter George Clinkscale. The nose guard position will be handled by senior Terrel Nemons, who has seen considerable action since coming to Tulsa, and junior Wilson Garrison, who made solid contributions last year after transferring from NE Oklahoma A&M.
"We have a lot of experience up front, but when you talk about defensive line you have to start off with Moton Hopkins," said Graham. "We feel we have a lot of depth, size and athleticisim on the defensive line."
Joining Roberts in the secondary are two other returning starters as Charles Davis at free safety, and Kenny D. Sims at cornerback give the Hurricane a strong secondary. Davis had 73 stops and eight pass break-ups last year, while Sims had 52 tackles.
Numerous newcomers and young players will compete to fill in at the other two secondary positions and provide a lot of depth.
"At corner and free safety, we have a lot of good experience and a lot of depth, and there will be some new guys with potential to break into the lineup at SPUR and BANDIT," said Graham.
The linebacker corps took a hit with graduation losses of three 100+ tacklers, however, Tulsa coaches were pleased with the play of the position in spring drills and feel good about the returning depth. The starters at linebacker entering the fall will be Mike Bryan, Tanner Antle and Curnelius Arnick.
When preseason camp begins the Tulsa defense will get an influx of 12 newcomers, a number of whom will be expected to be key components of the 2008 defense. Most of those players spent the summer on campus.
