Big Plays Highlight Tulsa Spring Game

4/10/2021 2:35:00 PM | Football

TULSA, Okla. –– The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team had its Spring Game on Saturday and will close out the 15 days of spring practice with its final workout on Tuesday.

The Tulsa offense opened the scrimmage with a 36-yard pass play from Davis Brin to JuanCarlos Santana and went on to score a total four TDs and one field goal. All four of Tulsa's touchdowns came on the ground but were set up by some key pass completions, and two of the scores went for 50+ yards.

The defense did not force a turnover but had a number of big plays and was solid most of the day in the red zone. The Hurricane defense picked up where it left off in the 2020 season with 11 tackles for lost yardage, including five quarterback sacks. The "D" also had four pass breakups.

"I was pleased with what we saw today, first, we walked off the field healthy and that's what we wanted to do. I'm glad to see our fans back out and us being able to play in front of them was nice," said Tulsa Head Coach Philip Montgomery. "I was pleased with today, but we'll learn more as we watch the tape. We wanted to keep if pretty vanilla and we were able to do that. We were able to execute and work on the things that we've been working on all spring long."

Tulsa's offense had two 100-yard rushers with Anthony Watkins gaining 112 yards and one TD on 13 carries, Christian Lovick had 105 yards and one TD on 14 carries and Deneric Prince scored two touchdowns and gained 74 yards on 15 carries.

Tulsa quarterbacks completed 28-of-48 passes for 280 yards. Brin completed 13-of-24 passes for 173 yards and Roman Fuller connected on 12-of-18 passes for 85 yards. A total of 12 different receivers caught passes for the Hurricane, led by Keylon Stokes with four catches for 56 yards and Santana with four receptions for 55 yards.

On the second drive behind center for Brin, the Hurricane settled for a 24-yard Zack Long field goal to start the scoring. On Brin's next possession, he led the Hurricane offense on a 14-play, 72-yard drive as Prince scored from one yard out.

Lovick raced 59 yards for Tulsa's second touchdown of the day on Tulsa's ninth offensive possession with Carson Collins calling the signals. The run capped a 3-play, 70-yard drive.

Two possessions later, Brin again led the Hurricane on a scoring drive that stretched 70 yards in 12 plays as Prince recorded his second TD with an 8-yard run.

Watkins' 51-yard touchdown run was the final play of the contest.

Asked about the emphasis the Hurricane has placed on cutting down on penalties, Montgomery said, "We cut down on mistakes but not enough of it. We still had too many areas where we have to be better and more disciplined –– some of it was the flow of the scrimmage, some of it was not focused in enough. You have to have a little bit of rhythm and when you get into that rhythm you're in a much better spot, we still have work to do, but we're getting there."

The Hurricane was without some key players today on offense with running back Shamari Brooks, quarterback Seth Boomer and tight end James Palmer sitting out contact work recovering from injury. On defense, linemen Jaxon Player, Tyarise Stevenson, Cullen Wick and Haydon Grant and safety Cristian Williams missed the game.

Tulsa will open the 2021 season on Thursday, Sept. 2 against UC Davis before taking to the road for games at Oklahoma State and Ohio State on back-to-back weekends. Season tickets are available online at TulsaHurricane.com or by calling 918.631-4688.

SCORING
Zach Long 24 FG (11 plays, 69 yards)
Deneric Prince 1 yard run, Tipton PAT (14 plays, 72 yards)
Christian Lovick 59 run, Tipton PAT (3 plays, 70 yards)
Deneric Prince 8 run, Long PAT (12 plays, 70 yards)
Anthony Watkins 51 run, no kick (8 plays, 70 yards)

RUSHING LEADERS
#23 Anthony Watkins, 13-for-112 yards, 1 TD, 51 Long
#6    Christian Lovick, 14-for-105 yards, 1 TD, 59 Long
#8    Deneric Prince, 15-for-74 yards, 2 TDs, 21 Long

PASSING LEADERS
#7    Davis Brin, 13-for-24, 173 yards, 36 Long
#10 Roman Fuller, 12-for-18, 85 yards, 16 Long
#16 Carson Collins, 3-for-6, 22 yards 11 Long

RECEIVING LEADERS
#2    Keylon Stokes, 4-for-56 yards, 18 Long
#5    JuanCarlos Santana, 4-for-55 yards, 36 Long
#4    Josh Johnson, 3-for-40 yards, 22 Long
#22 Malachai Jones, 4-for-37 yards, 16 Long
#20 Cannon Montgomery, 4-for-24 yards, 10 Long
#1    Josh Stewart, 2-for-22 yards, 15 Long
#86 Kamdyn Benjamin, 1-for-11 yards
#28 Corbin Daniels, 2-for-11 yards, 7 Long
#84 Joel Paxton, 1-for-7 yards
#80 Bayne Tryon, 1-for-7 yards
#15 Malik Rodgers, 1-for-5 yards
#23 Anthony Watkins, 1-for-5 yards

TACKLE LEADERS
#1    Kendarin Ray, 5 tackles
#40 Mitchell Kulkin, 5 tackles, 1 TFL
#22 LJ Wallace, 4 tackles, 2 PBU
#28 Jett Hendrix, 4 tackles
#41 Dorian Hopkins, 4 tackles, 1 TFL
#58 Deven Lamp, 4 tackles, 2 TFL
#94 Anthony Goodlow, 3 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 Sacks