Tulsa Spring Football Practice Begins Sunday

Photo by: Brett Rojo

Tulsa Spring Football Practice Begins Sunday

2/28/2020 9:00:00 AM | Football

TULSA, Okla. –– The Tulsa football team will be on the turf at H.A. Chapman Stadium Sunday afternoon as the Golden Hurricane goes through the first of 15 spring practices in preparation for the 2020 season.

Spring practice will be split in two segments, including seven practices before Spring Break and eight practices, including the Annual Spring Game, after the one-week break.

"We're excited to get started on Sunday," said Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery.

Tulsa returns 44 letterwinners, including 20 on offense, 22 on defense and two specialists. The Tulsa offense has 9 returning starters, including six others that have seen starting time. On defense, Tulsa returns 4 starters and seven returning players who have at least one career start.

"We have a lot of experience coming back with guys who started last year or have starts in their careers. This is probably the most experienced team we've had on both sides of the ball since I've been here," said Montgomery.

On offense, Tulsa returns a 3,000-yard passer in the likes of Zach Smith, a 1,000-yard rusher with Shamari Brooks and 1,000-yard receiver Keylon Stokes. Brooks will be joined in the backfield by Corey Taylor II as the duo enter their senior seasons with a combined 4,200 rushing yards and 44 rushing touchdowns in their careers.

Shamari Brooks looking for daylight — Shamari Brooks

"On offense, we can start spring off a little faster from an install standpoint with the experience we have coming back. It's the first season since year two that we have our quarterback returning, and I'm excited about that," added Montgomery.

Smith threw for 273.2 yards per game and 19 touchdowns in 12 games a year ago, while he totaled a 131.9 pass efficiency rate.

Stokes is the leader of a receiving corps that returns 85-percent of it total receiving yards. He totaled 1,040 receiving yards and 6 TDs last year, while Sam Crawford, Jr. returns after catching 59 passes for 777 yards. Josh Johnson with 495 yards and JuanCarlos Santana with 233 yards also return to help lead Tulsa's receivers. James Palmers leads the tight ends position with 8 starting assignments a year ago.

Tulsa's offensive line returns four of five starters as right tackle X'Zauvea Gadlin and left guard Chris Paul started all 12 games in 2019. Gerard Wheeler returns at center, while Dylan Couch, Dante Bivens, Tiller Bucktrot and Tyler Smith all saw starts last year.

Linebacker Zaven Collins leads a defense that showed steady improvement each of the last two seasons. The Hurricane defense held the opposition to 394 yards per game.

"Defensively, we're losing a lot of production in guys like Trevis (Gipson), Reggie (Robinson) and Cooper (Edmiston), so we have some big shoes to fill," said Montgomery. "There's some holes to fill there, but I'm excited about the young ruys that are stepping up to take over those reins. We still have a lot of those necessary tools defensively to continue to keep the progression that we've made over the last couple years."

Collins totaled 97 tackles, 8 TFLs for -27 yards and 3 pass break-ups last year. Yohance Burnett, Robert Revels III, Treyvon Reeves, Grant Sawyer and Justin Wright all have experience to fill-in for the graduating Cooper Edmiston and Diamon Cannon at the linebacker positions.

Zaven Collins on defense — Zaven Collins

The defensive front loses two stalwarts in the likes of Trevis Gipson and Shemarr Robinson, but the Hurricane does not lack experience on the front line either. Nose guard Jaxon Player returns as a starter to the 3-man front, while Tyarise Stevenson, Cullen Wick, Anthony Goodlow and Deven Lamp bring valuable experience in 2020.

Tulsa's secondary returns starters Cristian Williams at nickel safety and Allie Green at cornerback. Akayleb Evans, who has started 14 games at corner in his career, will return this year from injury, while safeties Bryson Powers and TieNeal Martin have combined to start 11 games for the Hurricane.

Williams had 57 tackles and 3 pass break-ups, while Green totaled 45 stops and 4 pass break-ups last year. Safety Kendarin Ray turned in a solid season as a red-shirt freshman a year ago with 40 tackles and a team-high 3 fumble recoveries. Corners Tyon Davis and Ryan Nixon and safety Daiquain Jackson also bring experience to the defensive backfield.

The Annual Spring Game is set for Saturday, April 4 with an 11:30 a.m start time. Tulsa will open the season at home against the Toledo Rockets on Saturday, September 5.

SPRING PRACTICE DATES
Sunday, March 1 (Helmet Only)
Tuesday, March 3
Thursday, March 5
Saturday, March 7
Sunday, March 8
Tuesday, March 10
Thursday, March 12
PRO DAY – March 12
SPRING BREAK
Tuesday, March 24
Thursday, March 26
Friday, March 27
Saturday, March 28
Tuesday, March 31
Thursday, April 2
Friday, April 3
Saturday, April 4, 11:30 AM (Spring Game)