The hearts of the walk-ons and former walk-ons like Kirk Francis and Kamdyn Benjamin are what makes Tulsa football tick.
That, and the under-recruited players, who, along with the walk-ons, blossom and become standouts.
"Tulsa has had its best teams when there's a bunch of guys with chips on their shoulders with something to prove," said first-year Tulsa coach Kevin Wilson, himself a former walk-on who became a starting offensive lineman at UNC.
Obviously, getting highly ranked recruits is important. Tulsa'a first full recruiting class under Wilson is shaping up to be the highest ranked Tulsa class in a long time.
But when guys like Francis and Benjamin are working and playing their hearts out, it provides a great example, as well as great play.
Both Francis and Benjamin had breakout games last week in Tulsa's 24-22 loss at No. 20 Tulane last Saturday.
They will both get a chance to further prove themselves when Tulsa plays at home against North Texas on senior day this Saturday at 2 p.m. at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Both teams are 3-7, 1-5 in the AAC.
Francis, a 6-foot-1, 188-pound true freshman walk-on from Metro Christian, was 22 of 34 passing for 345 yards last week. Benjamin, a 5-8, 175-pound former walk-on senior from Cedar Hill HS in Texas, had 8 catches for 157 yards.
Francis had played well after taking over in the third quarter in Tulsa's overtime loss the previous week against Charlotte. But nothing like his performance against Tulane, which produced the second most yards of a freshman quarterback at TU, and was 101 yards more than Tulsa's top total this year, which was produced by Cardell Williams.
Tulsa legend and former NFL starting quarterback T.J. Rubley was 27 of 36 for 386 yards in the season opening game as a true freshman in 1987 at OSU.
The bottom line is that it's striking how different a team can look when it has a quarterback playing well.
The performance by Francis against No. 20 Tulane was certainly eye-opening. And it was amazing how much better the rest of the team looked when a quarterback was producing.
"By the way, you haven't been pass-blocking really well. By the way, you haven't been getting a lot of separation in your routes. All of a sudden, those things were all good," Wilson said about the team with Francis in the game. "Protection was holding up. Guys were getting some separation. And Kirk played very well."
Quarterback play is so important at all levels. That's why NFL teams pick QB's so high in the draft every year. Without a quarterback, your team doesn't have much of a chance.
"When that position has played well this year, we've looked like a pretty good team," Wilson said of his quarterbacks. "And when that position hasn't, we've looked pretty poor."
Cardell Williams, who has looked really good at times, including an AAC Player of the Week honor against Temple, where he was 14 of 17 for 244 yards and 3 TD's, is likely out again with a shoulder injury. Although he hasn't been ruled out.
Braylon Braxton, the starter at the beginning of the season and for the last three weeks, hasn't had much success this year. He's thrown 6 interceptions in 50 pass attempts, and has completed 44 percent of his passes for less than 10 yards per completion for 212 yards and 2 TD's.
Braxton has still been playing in short yardage situations since being pulled the last two weeks. He completed a short TD pass to a wide-open, leaping Benjamin to get the game to within 2 points against Tulane, but his ensuing conversion pass was off target.
The entire mood of the team, both sides of the ball, was different with Francis in the game.
"With him out there, we definitely got our rhythm going, and he definitely got into a rhythm," Benjamin said. "He was doing his thing, and we were able to put up a good performance with him out there."
For Benjamin, it has been a long journey to success. A fifth-year senior with a year of eligibility left, he had caught 3 passes for 18 yards before this season. Now, he is Tulsa's leading receiver with 33 catches for 491 yards and 4 TD's.
Wilson has the highest praise for Benjamin. He talked about how Benjamin has been adaptable and has excelled after being switched from the slot to the outside because of injuries to previous leading receivers Marquis Shoulders and Devan Williams. Benjamin even switched sides from left to right without a hitch.
"The other day (against Tulane), he caught an out-and-up on the right side. I asked him, 'how many times have you run that route,' and he said, 'that was the first time, coach’," said Wilson. "And he was getting held, and he made a competitive catch."
