Navy presents another tough challenge for Tulsa

With the Golden Hurricane reeling from consecutive defeats on last-play-of-the-game field goals, Tulsa has the unenviable task of rebounding from a 1-3 start.

Just how hard has it been in Tulsa history to overcome a 1-3 start? Only one of 12 TU teams in the past 31 years, the 2011 Golden Hurricane, has rebounded from a 1-3 start or worse to wind up with a winning record.

And keep in mind, that 2011 team, which finished 8-5 in Bill Blankenship’s first season, lost those three games against three teams ranked in the top seven. It started with a 47-14 loss at #1 Oklahoma, then a 31-3 win at Tulane before losing to #7 OSU 59-33 at home. Its third loss was 41-21 at #4 Boise State.

By comparison, this year’s loss at OSU was understandable, and losing at Toledo is far from the worst loss in school history. But getting dominated on the line of scrimmage (TOP 42:28 – 17:32, yardage 446-286, plays 73-58) to a middling New Mexico team really stings.

Facing Navy (3-0) is an incredibly tough task for a team that is struggling with confidence. A victory this Saturday afternoon at H.A. Chapman Stadium would go down as one of the most impressive in recent Tulsa history, all things considered.

Navy’s option running offense has always been a nightmare for the Hurricane to stop in its two games in Tulsa, in which Navy won both by a combined score of 73-21. Limiting long drives by the Midshipmen would go a long way to keeping this year’s game competitive.

Last week against New Mexico, Tulsa’s defense perked up in the second half, with its only points allowed being a 53-yard field goal on the final drive where the Lobos were given great field position due to quarterback Chad President’s first career interception. New Mexico had to only travel 22 yards on 10 plays for the game-winning kick.

Perhaps playing another option running team, although somewhat different than New Mexico, in back-to-back weeks will help the Golden Hurricane defense. It certainly helped when defensive end Jesse Brubaker played in the second half after sitting out the first half due to a suspension for targeting against Toledo.

Also helping was Petera Wilson’s 17-tackle performance while playing the Mike (middle) linebacker spot. Tulsa’s only touchdown allowed in the 16-13 loss came before Wilson took over in the middle for starter Cooper Edmiston. Normally spending more time as a pass rushing defensive end, Wilson is also a very capable linebacker.

“Just because of the nature of the team is why you saw me more heavily in the middle,” said Wilson, Tulsa’s sack leader in 2016 with 6.5. “It will be that way against Navy as well.”

“I thought Petera had an unbelievable game. He stepped in and played extremely well,” said Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery of the 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior from Memphis. “This offense really plays to his strengths. He gets to play downhill and go attack, and he made some big tackles for us. I thought he really sparked the defense when he came in.”

Tulsa should be able to win games where it only gives up 16 points. To put it simply, the offensive performance against New Mexico was unacceptable, especially in the passing game.

President is still experiencing growing pains as a first year quarterback, but if the offense continues to struggle, it would be surprising if Luke Skipper doesn’t soon get an opportunity to show what he can do. After all, the two were supposed to share time at the start of the season, and Skipper is thought to be the better passer.

Known for being an outstanding runner, President rushed for a shocking minus four yards on six carries against New Mexico a week after topping the 100-yard mark at Toledo. As a passer this season, President has completed only one touchdown pass, and is averaging 169.2 yards per game, compared with 257.2 yards per game and 32 touchdowns last season by Dane Evans.

With Tulsa’s defense averaging giving up 42.8 points per game, a better passing game is a must if Tulsa wants to avoid a losing season.

Navy is a tough one in which to try and turn things around. By comparison, the 2011 team got North Texas, UAB, Rice, SMU, UCF, Marshall and UTEP to jump start what turned out to be a seven-game winning streak. This year, the remaining games of Navy, Houston, UConn, SMU, Memphis, USF and Temple appear to be much more formidable.

The last TU team before the 2011 team to come back from a 1-3 start was the 1985 Golden Hurricane, which finished 6-5 in Don Morton’s first season. It had defeated Houston in week one before losing a nailbiter to Texas Tech at home, and also lost on the road at Arkansas, Texas A&M and #6 OSU.

But those were the good old days of the Missouri Valley top heavy schedules where Tulsa would play a very tough non-conference schedule before whipping up on the outmanned MVC teams. The 1984 team, John Cooper’s last TU squad, with Bill Young as defensive coordinator, had losses at #8 BYU, Arkansas, and at home to #10 OSU.

For the 2017 Golden Hurricane, a couple of missed field goals, instead of makes, at the end of the game could have had TU looking at 3-1 record with few worries. Last year, Tulsa won all three of its overtime games.

But in the end, it is amazing how the better teams usually find a way to win close games. For this season, Tulsa hasn’t been the better team. Not yet, at least.

To turn around the season, the players must step up their performance, starting with the Navy game.

“Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time situations,” Wilson said.