From "Today's U"...
After struggling through a brutal 2-10 season in 2014, Tulsa decided to pull the plug on the Bill Blankenship project. Blankenship guided the Golden Hurricane to a 19-8 record in his first two seasons at the helm, including an 11-3 campaign in 2012. However, things quickly soured, and Tulsa staggered to a 5-19 record during its final two years under Blankenship.
School officials have brought in Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery to try and turn things around, with the hope that he’s able to bring his brand of high-octane football to the Golden Hurricane offense.
Luckily for him, 10 starters are returning on offense for Tulsa in 2015, which could be bad news for opposing defenses.
Leading the charge on offense will be junior quarterback Dane Evans, who endured an up-and-down 2014 season. Evans ranked third in the AAC in passing yards (3,102) and was tied for third in passing touchdowns (23), but also led the conference with 17 interceptions. In addition, his 55.4 completion percentage ranked eighth among the 10 AAC signal callers who had at least 200 pass attempts on the year.
For Tulsa fans, there is reason for cautious optimism heading into next season. He’s shown flashes of being a stellar starting quarterback, but has been prone to making his fair share of costly errors. The good news: his favorite target is also returning.
Wide receiver Keevan Lucas was a breakout star for the Golden Hurricane in 2014, proving to be one of the few major positives in an otherwise lost season.
Lucas led the AAC with 11 receiving touchdowns and was second to only ECU’s Justin Hardy in both receiving yards (1,219) and receptions (101). Lucas’s 1,219 receiving yards were the sixth-most in school history and made him the first Tulsa receiver to accumulate 1,000 yards in a single season since 2007.
And with Hardy, Breshad Perriman and Cam Worthy all gone, Lucas is the only returning receiver in the conference to have recorded more than 1,000 receiving yards in 2014.
In addition to Lucas, the rest of the core of Tulsa receiving corps is returning as well, which includes players such as Keyarris Garrett, Joshua Atkinson and Bishop Louie. Last year, Garrett finished the season with 698 yards and five touchdowns on 47 receptions, Atkinson added 416 yards on 35 catches, and Louie recorded 274 yards and one touchdown on 23 receptions.
Having so many familiar targets to throw to during the upcoming season can only help Evans in his development. Combine that depth with Montgomery’s penchant for passing (which he used to great success during his time with Baylor), and you should expect on seeing a potent aerial attack that is the crutch of Tulsa’s offensive game plan.
Senior Zack Langer will be Tulsa’s anchor in the backfield as he looks to continue to be a major contributor to the Golden Hurricane offense.
Langer posted 801 yards and four touchdowns on 196 carries last season. Those are solid numbers, but don’t exactly jump off the page either. He finished fifth in the AAC in rushing yards, but his 4.1 yards per carry ranked just 14th among the 16 running backs in the conference with at least 100 carries.
Also returning at running back is junior James Flanders, who finished the year with 456 yards and one touchdown on 102 rushes.
The fact of the matter is that the run game likely won’t be the main focus of Montgomery’s offense, but a solid rushing attack, of course, is still important because it prevents opposing defenses from only worrying about defending the pass.
Though the defense is an area of major concern and the program is in rebuild mode, Tulsa’s offense is one area that is expected to see clear signs of improvement on offense in the near future under Montgomery.
With so many starters returning on offense from last year’s team, that improvement could happen sooner rather than later.
After struggling through a brutal 2-10 season in 2014, Tulsa decided to pull the plug on the Bill Blankenship project. Blankenship guided the Golden Hurricane to a 19-8 record in his first two seasons at the helm, including an 11-3 campaign in 2012. However, things quickly soured, and Tulsa staggered to a 5-19 record during its final two years under Blankenship.
School officials have brought in Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery to try and turn things around, with the hope that he’s able to bring his brand of high-octane football to the Golden Hurricane offense.
Luckily for him, 10 starters are returning on offense for Tulsa in 2015, which could be bad news for opposing defenses.
Leading the charge on offense will be junior quarterback Dane Evans, who endured an up-and-down 2014 season. Evans ranked third in the AAC in passing yards (3,102) and was tied for third in passing touchdowns (23), but also led the conference with 17 interceptions. In addition, his 55.4 completion percentage ranked eighth among the 10 AAC signal callers who had at least 200 pass attempts on the year.
For Tulsa fans, there is reason for cautious optimism heading into next season. He’s shown flashes of being a stellar starting quarterback, but has been prone to making his fair share of costly errors. The good news: his favorite target is also returning.
Wide receiver Keevan Lucas was a breakout star for the Golden Hurricane in 2014, proving to be one of the few major positives in an otherwise lost season.
Lucas led the AAC with 11 receiving touchdowns and was second to only ECU’s Justin Hardy in both receiving yards (1,219) and receptions (101). Lucas’s 1,219 receiving yards were the sixth-most in school history and made him the first Tulsa receiver to accumulate 1,000 yards in a single season since 2007.
And with Hardy, Breshad Perriman and Cam Worthy all gone, Lucas is the only returning receiver in the conference to have recorded more than 1,000 receiving yards in 2014.
In addition to Lucas, the rest of the core of Tulsa receiving corps is returning as well, which includes players such as Keyarris Garrett, Joshua Atkinson and Bishop Louie. Last year, Garrett finished the season with 698 yards and five touchdowns on 47 receptions, Atkinson added 416 yards on 35 catches, and Louie recorded 274 yards and one touchdown on 23 receptions.
Having so many familiar targets to throw to during the upcoming season can only help Evans in his development. Combine that depth with Montgomery’s penchant for passing (which he used to great success during his time with Baylor), and you should expect on seeing a potent aerial attack that is the crutch of Tulsa’s offensive game plan.
Senior Zack Langer will be Tulsa’s anchor in the backfield as he looks to continue to be a major contributor to the Golden Hurricane offense.
Langer posted 801 yards and four touchdowns on 196 carries last season. Those are solid numbers, but don’t exactly jump off the page either. He finished fifth in the AAC in rushing yards, but his 4.1 yards per carry ranked just 14th among the 16 running backs in the conference with at least 100 carries.
Also returning at running back is junior James Flanders, who finished the year with 456 yards and one touchdown on 102 rushes.
The fact of the matter is that the run game likely won’t be the main focus of Montgomery’s offense, but a solid rushing attack, of course, is still important because it prevents opposing defenses from only worrying about defending the pass.
Though the defense is an area of major concern and the program is in rebuild mode, Tulsa’s offense is one area that is expected to see clear signs of improvement on offense in the near future under Montgomery.
With so many starters returning on offense from last year’s team, that improvement could happen sooner rather than later.
