Take a look at what Tulsa had to overcome to be the Conference USA champions on the way to a fantastic nine-win season.
First there was the shift from the WAC to its new league where no one gave it a chance to do much in a division with UTEP and Houston. There was the parade of superstar college running backs that the defense had to face from Minnesota's Laurence Maroney to Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson to Patrick Cobbs of North Texas to DeAngelo Williams of Memphis.There was the loss to UTEP meaning it would take a miracle just to get to the Conference USA title game, and then the Golden Hurricane had to play a road game at UCF to win the championship. Finally, there was the Liberty Bowl against a Fresno State team that pushed USC to the wall.
Even with everything the team had to deal with, it still came within a few big plays of finishing 12-1. But that's getting greedy after the program's best season since 1991.
Head coach Steve Kragthorpe took one of America's worst programs and made it competitive with the breakout 2003 season followed up by the huge 4-8 disappointment in 2004. Now the Golden Hurricane doesn't have to just meet expectations, it has to exceed them and can't fall flat like it did two years ago. There's hardly much chance of that happening with as much talent as anyone in the league.
As good as last year was, the potential is there to be even better with 42 lettermen returning including QB Paul Smith, four starters to the offensive line, and most of a defense that should be the best in the league. Most importantly, the team has to be every bit as rock solid after finishing fourth in the nation in turnover margin, committed 21 fewer penalties than its opponents, and was a consistent, efficient offensive machine after the losses to Minnesota and Oklahoma.
There are a few concerns to worry about. All-America tight end Garrett Mills and top receiver Ashlan Davis are gone leaving two gaping holes. The run defense might not have been as bad as the final numbers would indicate thanks to all the great ground games it faced, but more consistency from the defensive line would be nice. And then there are the expectations. With this team, anything less than another Conference USA title will be a major disappointment.
Will Kragthorpe start getting a few calls from the bigger schools? He hasn't had to deal with the spotlight of being the new hot coach on the block quite yet, but that will quickly change after what he has been able to accomplish. As long as he's around for another few years, the window is still wide open for this team to win multiple titles. Coming up with two straight would be just fine for now.
The Schedule: There's not a game on the schedule Tulsa can't win. There's not a BCS league team on the slate with the toughest non-conference games at BYU and at Navy. There's a tough conference stretch of three road games in four weeks with the one home oasis against UTEP for what might be the West Division title. Things ease up late playing at SMU and at home against Tulane, so if the Golden Hurricane can survive the midseason, it should be another good year.
What you need to know on offense ... It's not going to be the most explosive offense around, but it'll be steady and very, very effective with seven returning starters to an attack that led the league with a 33-point average. Expect another good year thanks to the return of QB Paul Smith and four very good starters to what should be an improved offensive line. The loss of leading rusher Uril Parrish won't hurt with the three-headed monster of Brandon Diles, Tarrion Adams and Oklahoma transfer Courtney Tennial making the ground game stronger. The big problem is at receiver losing All-America TE Garrett Mills and top WR Ashlan Davis.
Best Offensive Player: Junior QB Paul Smith. UTEP's Jordan Palmer and Houston's Kevin Kolb will get all the national publicity and all the headlines, but Smith might be the best quarterback in the league. He's a steadier, mistake-free passer who did a great job of coming through when he had to while Palmer, Kolb and UAB's Darrell Hackney were melting down in the conference race.
What you need to know on defense ... If this isn't the best defense in Conference USA, it'll be close. The linebacking corps is terrific with six great options and an all-star cast among the front three led by Nick Bunting on the strongside and Nelson Coleman in the middle. The secondary could be even better thanks to the return of big hitting safety Kedrick Alexander along with All-Conference USA safety Bobby Blackshire and corner Nick Graham. There's plenty of room to tinker in the 3-3-5 alignment with enough size up front to play a true 4-3 against the run and enough speed and size among the backup linebackers to add another speed rushing end to the mix.
Best Defensive Player: Senior LB Nick Bunting. This went from being a no-brainer to very, very debatable over the last year. Bunting is the leader of the defense with 252 career tackles, but free safety Bobby Blackshire, middle linebacker Nelson Coleman, and the return of safety Kedrick Alexander make it a race for the honor of being the team's best defender. In other words, there are plenty of playmakers on the Tulsa defense.
Key player to a successful season: Senior WR Idris Moss. It's easy to be an efficient passer when you have a tight end like Garrett Mills and a deep threat like Ashlan Davis to throw to. Those two are gone with the leading returning wide receiver, Moss, back after finishing fifth on the team in catches. He might not be explosive, but he has to be a realiable target on the inside.
The season will be a success if ... Tulsa wins the Conference USA title. This is the league's best team and anything less than a second straight championship will be seen as a failure no matter what else the team does.
Key game: Oct 27 vs. UTEP. The following week's game at Houston might not mean much if Tulsa can't get by UTEP. The Miners won last year's showdown 41-38 but couldn't take advantage losing its final two conference games to allow Tulsa to backdoor its way in to the division title.
2005 Fun Stats:
- Turnovers: Opponents 36 - Tulsa 18
- Third down conversions: Tulsa 95 of 195 (49%) - Opponents 72 of 183 (39%)
- Interception return average: Opponents 33.6 yards per return on 8 interceptions - Tulsa 7.8 yards per return on 22 interceptions
