One of our readers, jimmyd, who also hangs out with SoonerBS over at Cappers Empire, sent me this thorough and humorus preview of the Tulsa Hurricane.

2013 in Review

Tulsa finished 3-9 (2-6) and next to the bottom of the C-USA West conference last year. Thank you UTEP. Mind you, this was vs. competition that included Southern Miss, who won a game for the 1st time in 2 years, UTSA a 1st time Div 1 school and some ex-Sun Belt left overs in FIU, FAU, and MTSU. Yep just an absolutely killer schedule.

So how was Spring 2014?

Well, we have a new basketball coach after losing one of the new up and coming coaches. He comes from Mizzou, with baggage. The weather has been quit delightful.

Oh, and TU in one of their inspired moments is moving to the very young AAC conference to hook up with some old friends like UCF, Cinncy, Houston, and they are going to bring along some old friends with them in ECU. Rice, Tulane and Marshall.

Yes, the competition just wasn’t there anymore, so TU decided to step it up a notch. Of course, money, as always, had nothing to do with it. This is amateur college athletics you know.

Oh, and did I mention that TU is a very private school and the smallest in FBS, and they paid the new B-Ball coach $1.6 mil while the football dude has to struggle on $800,000. Double $. Strange. Pissed? I wonder.

And all the while they shot down any discussion of instituting any kind of a degree in Athletics, Play Ground Mgmt, Home Econ, Sports Sinew Therapy. No, you must still get a degree in Petroleum Engr, Law, Pre-Med, or something actually useful. So there went 96.437% of the recruiting base.

And on top of all this, TU had some spring drills, frills, and grills. Plus a somewhat entertaining Spring Scrimmage Football game. So let’s talk about that.

What to expect from Tulsa in 2014

TU had a half way decent defense last year and a pitiful offense. This from a team that just a couple years ago was one of the most prolific offensive teams in the country.

They were missing an all-American CB in Demarco Nelson due to academics, but the defense brought some younger talent to the table and they proved to be quite capable by years end. They and Nelson are back and improved.

So improved, that they make the offense look like s..t. Which, now that I think about it, they would look like vs. even the Sun Belt.

TU has a starting QB named Dane Evans, who won 3 games last year and looked horrible. They had an offensive line that was a sieve. They had some really talented running backs who had nobody to block for them last year and they had WRs that had no hands.

Oh my, what a new year brings and a new conference and a new beginning. They still have Evans, who in the spring game went 4 for 19 for 31 yds. Yes indeed, he looks much improved …. NOT!. They graduated the best of the offensive line, and it still looks like a sieve, jut with bigger holes.

TU has WRs that still have no hands, but now they can’t run either. And all those talented RBs graduated, and are being replaced by what looks like a very talented rFr named James Flanders.

HC Blankenship says it best. “I think we’ve done a lot of work in making those simple plays that hurt us last year. Some days were better than others.” Simple plays, and they still can’t get it right.

HC says TU will probably have a QB competition in the fall, can’t hurt. If the simple plays remain a struggle, the AAC promises to be a much bigger challenge than Conference USA.

Position Grades

QB = F  Evans no way is a QB. He should be a WR. The backup J. Calcagni is a better option. He may win it in fall drills. And true fr Jabe Burgess has a real future ahead of him. Just a little raw. But who knows. They may throw him to the wolves to get the experience.

RB= B  This will be the only shinny thing about this offense.

WR= D  Too many dropped balls and no sync with the QB.

OL = D Weak. Pieces don’t fit together.  

DL = C+  Average +, and will get better.

LB = C+  Ditto.

DB = B  And has the potential to be really really good.

The Schedule & Summary Judgement

The schedule sets up nicely. TU gets OU at home. Wow. In the 2nd game. Expect a sea of OU red. Even from the TU fans. And one hell of a party .

The 1st game is a homer vs. an improving Tulane team. Conference game. Thursday nite. TV. Aug 28th. TU has owned the Green Wave in years past, but this one could be interesting.

TU also gets Tx St, FBS provisional moving up from FCS and Temple. And FAU on the road.

But with the likes of @Col St, @UCF, @Hou, vs. ECU, vs. SMU, vs. So Fl, I see a 3 win team again with a maybe a fourth win if they can get by Tulane. Hey. That’s a 33% improvement from last year.

This is a Fade team this year, but spreads will be high. One game to look at is OU. HC Stoops doesn’t like to beat up on little sister TU (OSU is a different animal) and it being the 2nd game, subs will probably play the 2nd half. Can TU stay within 40+ vs. OU subs? 

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