Hurricane trending up as TU travels to Fresno State

Being a huge favorite on the road can be a good and bad thing. Tulsa certainly is expected to continue previously inept Fresno State’s misery this Saturday afternoon.

Should Tulsa be worried?

Yes and No. Yes, because the Bulldogs probably aren’t as bad as they seem. And yes, because every team has to guard against overconfidence. Tulsa is improved, but can’t just show up and expect to win.

And winning on the road is never easy.

No, however, is because no matter what, every team has to go take care of business. Tulsa should be focused and ready.

Fresno State (1-2) looks to be bad. But losing on the road at Nebraska and Toledo is not a disgrace. Yes, the Bulldogs played horribly, and the scores were lopsided. But Nebraska is at worst a decent Big Ten team, and Toledo is usually good, beating Arkansas last year.

As for Fresno State’s lone victory, winning at home against Sacramento State tells us nothing.

Fresno State should be fully expected to play much better at home. But will it be enough to reverse a downward trend for coach Tim DeRuyter?

After two very successful seasons in 2012 and 2013 with records of 9-4 and 11-2, reality set in, as it does for many third year coaches who inherit talent. Records of 6-8 and 3-9 followed in 2014 and 2015. The program seems to be in disarray. The faithful are yearning for the Pat Hill days.

With any program, in the end, it always comes down to coaching and players. Tulsa has both.

Second year TU coach Philip Montgomery is looking to cement what looks to be a really good hire for Tulsa (2-1). To do that, beating the likes of Fresno State is essential.

“We've got to get better but I think we're on the right track,” said Montgomery. “We've just got to continue to keep working and pushing and understanding, you know, next week we've got another big opponent, and then the next week and the next week. You look at our conference and how it's falling right now, and boy, there's some really, really tough teams in our conference.”

Tulsa’s trending towards an improved 2016 season is clearly because of its defense, since its offense still appears to be potentially lethal to opponents.

The defensive improvement has been much ballyhooed. Some reasons are pretty obvious. Most obvious is that co-defensive coordinators Bill Young and Brian Norwood are good coaches.

Young was coordinating good Tulsa defenses when the remnants of the disco era were still fresh. But unlike disco, Young’s coaching never goes out of style. His knowledge just keeps building.

The returning players all appear to be improved and more in tune to what the coaches want. Their experience is clearly helping.

Starters like defensive end Jeremy Smith, defensive tackle Jerry Uwaezuoke, linebackers Trent Martin, Craig Suits and Matt Linscott, cornerback Kerwin Thomas, and safeties Jordan Mitchell and Jeremy Brady clearly have stepped up their games this season.

Most of their improvement is due to being more experienced, combined with being a more cohesive unit that has played together.

Then there are players like Jesse Brubaker, who played well at defensive tackle last season but was switched to defensive end. The move looks brilliant, as Brubaker has clearly upped his game.

The move of middle linebacker Petera Wilson is paying off as well. He is back in his pass rushing defensive end role of 2014 on passing situations, and is providing needed quarterback pressure. The fact that he can back off into coverage at any time is an added bonus to confuse opponents.

Kolton Shindelar is picking up where he left off at the end of last season as a pass rushing defensive tackle. He is tall, fast and athletic, and his second long interception return last week against NC A&T showed that.

Safety McKinley Whitfield put on a show last week. An interception and two blocked punts showcased his talents. Fast, tall and athletic as well, the 6-foot-4 Whitfield was raw last year as a true freshman from Spiro, but now looks like he has star potential.

Perhaps the most fun story this year is Hayden Carmen. The senior defensive tackle is a former walk-on who is making the most of his opportunity as he’s forced his way into the starting lineup. His play allowed the coaches the luxury of moving Brubaker to defensive end.

Defensive end Myles Mouton is another player getting some playing time. He looked good in spring practice playing defensive tackle as well. Frankie Davis started the first game at defensive end and has done some good things.

In past years, someone like red shirt freshman defensive end Trevis Gipson would be playing a lot, perhaps starting. A bit green but possessing a lot of ability, Gipson got his first sack last week. But he has been mostly limited to special teams due to the players ahead of him.

At corner, juco transfer Keanu Hill is playing really well. He and Thomas form the best cornerback combo for Tulsa in years. And redshirt freshman Keidrien Wadley is in the rotation at corner and can play. He also is an exciting punt returner.

Perhaps most encouraging is the most talented players of the unit are not seniors. Players like Smith, Shindelar, Mitchell, Whitfield, Thomas and Hill all look like they have NFL ability.

So with the talent and coaching in place, there is every reason for 2016 to be an outstanding season.

• Tulsa’s defense has shined in first three games
• Looking back at two previous TU-FSU games
• Tulsa at Fresno State – Game Week Newsstand
• Tulsa Football: Inside the Numbers
• Special Teams provide big boost for TU
• Hurricane making strides on offense