From the Cleburne Times...full article at link...
SMITH, ROBINSON TO LEAD HURRICANE INTO DALLAS TO FACE SMU
Tulsa will open American Athletic Conference play on Oct. 5 at SMU.
Smith, Robinson and the Hurricane realize the challenge they have in their conference opener against the Mustangs next week.
“What stands out to me [about SMU] is they have a couple good receivers and I know they’re going to throw the ball a lot, so we’ve got to be ready to play a lot of coverage snaps knowing they’re going to pass the ball a lot more than other teams.”
“They’re pretty sound defensively and they play really hard every snap,” Smith said. “I think that’s a lot of the reason they’ve had success against the teams they’ve played so far. That’s the biggest thing is how hard they play and how fast they move around and get to the football.”
Next week’s game at SMU in Dallas will be the closest game to Johnson County the Hurricane play this season, and both Robinson and Smith are excited to be playing close to home.
“I’m definitely excited,” Robinson said. “I already know my family’s going to be there, of course, but I know a bunch of my friends are going to see the game, too. My family is at all of my games, but it will be good to have a lot more people to support me at this game.”
“I think it’s going to be really neat,” Smith said. “I have quite a bit of family coming to the game. It’s my first game back home in Texas in a couple years. I hope to see a lot of friendly faces out there and try to get a win against SMU.”
The starting quarterbacks for the showdown have a somewhat similar path in their college careers. After experiencing some success with Texas (like Smith did with Baylor), an injury forced Shane Buechele to miss a few games, and another quarterback — Sam Ehlinger — stepped up and took the starting job, similar to Charlie Brewer getting the starting job at Baylor. And, like Smith, Buechele transferred to an American Athletic Conference program, SMU. Now the two former Big 12 starting quarterbacks will square off in an AAC battle.
“I think that’s cool because I’ve known Shane since I was at Baylor and he was at Texas,” Smith said. “We’d talk some before and after those games. I think it’s neat we’re getting to match up again and go against each other. There’s a lot of similarities in our past as far as transferring and now being where we are. I’m excited for it. I’m sure he is, too. We’re both going to go out there and try to get a win for our teams.”
Walraven said he hopes football fans in Johnson County take advantage of this opportunity, with Smith and Robinson leading Tulsa into a big-time battle only an hour away.
“You’ve got an undefeated SMU team facing a Tulsa team on the rise, so get out there and enjoy the atmosphere,” Walraven said. “It’s a beautiful campus at SMU, and to be able to watch those two from this area is a great opportunity. It’s going to be a big game in conference play. Being able to support guys from here that are playing on the big stage, take advantage of it while you can because it doesn’t happen all the time. Be prideful that they’re representing our county with the things they’re doing on and off the field. I strongly encourage everyone to get out and make a day of it at SMU.”
Smith, too, hopes a high percentage of fans in attendance are from Johnson County.
“It’s not often you have two guys from the same county playing on the same college team, so I think it’d be awesome if a lot of supporters from Johnson County came out to the game against SMU,” Smith said. “I think it’ll help us get a win. We need as many Tulsa fans as we can get out there supporting us.”
Kickoff for the Tulsa at SMU game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 5 from Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.
SMITH, ROBINSON TO LEAD HURRICANE INTO DALLAS TO FACE SMU
Tulsa will open American Athletic Conference play on Oct. 5 at SMU.
Smith, Robinson and the Hurricane realize the challenge they have in their conference opener against the Mustangs next week.
“What stands out to me [about SMU] is they have a couple good receivers and I know they’re going to throw the ball a lot, so we’ve got to be ready to play a lot of coverage snaps knowing they’re going to pass the ball a lot more than other teams.”
“They’re pretty sound defensively and they play really hard every snap,” Smith said. “I think that’s a lot of the reason they’ve had success against the teams they’ve played so far. That’s the biggest thing is how hard they play and how fast they move around and get to the football.”
Next week’s game at SMU in Dallas will be the closest game to Johnson County the Hurricane play this season, and both Robinson and Smith are excited to be playing close to home.
“I’m definitely excited,” Robinson said. “I already know my family’s going to be there, of course, but I know a bunch of my friends are going to see the game, too. My family is at all of my games, but it will be good to have a lot more people to support me at this game.”
“I think it’s going to be really neat,” Smith said. “I have quite a bit of family coming to the game. It’s my first game back home in Texas in a couple years. I hope to see a lot of friendly faces out there and try to get a win against SMU.”
The starting quarterbacks for the showdown have a somewhat similar path in their college careers. After experiencing some success with Texas (like Smith did with Baylor), an injury forced Shane Buechele to miss a few games, and another quarterback — Sam Ehlinger — stepped up and took the starting job, similar to Charlie Brewer getting the starting job at Baylor. And, like Smith, Buechele transferred to an American Athletic Conference program, SMU. Now the two former Big 12 starting quarterbacks will square off in an AAC battle.
“I think that’s cool because I’ve known Shane since I was at Baylor and he was at Texas,” Smith said. “We’d talk some before and after those games. I think it’s neat we’re getting to match up again and go against each other. There’s a lot of similarities in our past as far as transferring and now being where we are. I’m excited for it. I’m sure he is, too. We’re both going to go out there and try to get a win for our teams.”
Walraven said he hopes football fans in Johnson County take advantage of this opportunity, with Smith and Robinson leading Tulsa into a big-time battle only an hour away.
“You’ve got an undefeated SMU team facing a Tulsa team on the rise, so get out there and enjoy the atmosphere,” Walraven said. “It’s a beautiful campus at SMU, and to be able to watch those two from this area is a great opportunity. It’s going to be a big game in conference play. Being able to support guys from here that are playing on the big stage, take advantage of it while you can because it doesn’t happen all the time. Be prideful that they’re representing our county with the things they’re doing on and off the field. I strongly encourage everyone to get out and make a day of it at SMU.”
Smith, too, hopes a high percentage of fans in attendance are from Johnson County.
“It’s not often you have two guys from the same county playing on the same college team, so I think it’d be awesome if a lot of supporters from Johnson County came out to the game against SMU,” Smith said. “I think it’ll help us get a win. We need as many Tulsa fans as we can get out there supporting us.”
Kickoff for the Tulsa at SMU game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 5 from Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.
