Let's be frank- this team was utterly depressing last year. Tulsa fans watched their Golden Hurricanes play as well as you could against 3rd-ranked Oklahoma in the first game of the year. They eventually lost 37-0, and things went downhill immediately (won only one game).

The positive, urgent attitude of Kragthorpe has instilled boundless optimism in the Oil City though. He came in and has promised starting roles to no one, thus making competition intense and bringing out the best of abilities in everyone. He vows to combine hard work and fun into a winning combination that proved so successful for his mentor, LaVell Edwards. If he can produce anything close to what ole LaVell did in Provo, the people in love with Tulsa are going to be smiling once again.

Offensively, they must control the ball and the clock. The Hurricane did a pretty good job of hanging on to the football, evidenced by their +6 TO margin, but were only on the field for roughly 27 minutes per game. As mentioned earlier, that puts unwanted stress on their defense and gives opposing coaches room to gamble. Ball control is especially crucial until the new QB has shown he can comfortably swim and can take off his "floaties" and make his way to the deep end. For this reason, Eric Richardson and the running game are going to have to carry an accentuated amount of weight this season to get the ball rolling. With a troubled offensive line, we throw in the red flag here.

Defensively, focus lies on the pass rush and stopping the run. Amazingly, even with the best pass defense in the WAC, Tulsa had the second worst defense. Why? Because they could not stop anyone from running the football. Accordingly, emphasis will go toward thwarting the ground attack and (again) creating turnovers. To do this, the line must stiffen so the linebackers and secondary can zoom in and plunder.

The schedule gives Tulsa a swift kick in the groin right off the bat with road trips to Minnesota and Arkansas. They will recover after that with home games vs. SW Texas State and Arkansas State, then they dip into the WAC schedule. Tough break for them, playing Hawaii and Boise State back-to-back, but they miss Fresno State this year. We see them competing in every WAC game, and, although they probably lose games to the aforementioned WAC teams, expect the Golden Hurricane to compete and win as opposed to last season's version. We see this as the start of something good at Tulsa.

Passing: James Kilian, 52-22-2, 208 yds., 1 TD

Rushing: Eric Richardson, 182 att., 957 yds., 6 TD

Receiving: Romby Bryant, 49 rec., 593 yds., 7 TD

Scoring: Romby Bryant, 7 TD, 42 pts.

Punting: Cort Moffitt, 75 punts, 40.2 avg.

Kicking: Brad DeVault, 7-12 FG, 11-17 PAT, 32 pts.

Tackles: Jorma Bailey, 71 tot., 46 solo

Sacks: Josh Walker, 2 sacks

Interceptions: Darrell Wimberly, 3 for 28 yds.; Jeff Thibodeaux, 3 for 28 yds.

Kickoff returns: Sherman Steptoe, 22 ret., 18.5 avg.

Punt returns: Jermaine Landrum, 16 ret., 7.0 avg.

FS Jeff Thibodeaux

Sherman Steptoe was striding on the heels of Tulsa receivers all spring and made his way into the starting lineup. He is an unbelievable athlete with great acceleration and adherent tackling skills. He will be a steady provider for this defense. It would not surprise us to see the Golden Hurricane play some young/new talent on defense this fall. One of them is Kinny Spotwood. Spotwood was the Texas 5A Defensive Player of the Year and is very quick and agile. He could step in at OLB this fall if things work out that way. Other contributors this year will be JUCO transfers LB Shane Graham (son of DC Todd Graham), DE Brandon Jones, and FS Michael LeDet, as well as true frosh FS Bobby Blackshire… CB C.J. Scott spent most of the spring rehabbing an injury that kept him out last season. His recovery will radiate experienced leadership among the DBs.