TU Football: Spring Game recap

After the stunning debut of Davis Brin in the Tulane game last season, there wasn't much question that Brin is The Man for Tulsa at quarterback this season.

In this year's Spring Game, Brin wasn't perfect, but still was clearly in command in leading the first team offense against the second string defense Saturday afternoon in front of around 1,000 fans at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery has always been high on Brin, and this spring has done nothing but enhance his opinion.

"I thought Davis had a good spring, he really did," Montgomery said. "I thought he was consistent, I thought he was accurate, I thought he anticipated throws. Making good decisions. Obviously there are some things we need to continue to work on.

"Overall, I'm really pleased with his progress. I'm pleased with the chemistry he has with our receivers, and he's seeing the field well. Now we still got work to do. But I like where he's at right now."

With a Tulsa team that was ranked for most of the season in 2020 returning just about everybody on offense and defense, the Spring Game was a tune-up for most of the team, with a few new players.

Fans were anxious to see how Brin would fare as Zach Smith's replacement. Surrounded by his entire starting offensive unit from last year, with the exception of tight end James Palmer (being held out), Brin showed TU has nothing to worry about.

Brin marched the offense down the field in all of his four drives starting from his own territory, with his first-teamers scoring touchdowns on their final two possessions. He finished 13 of 24 for 173 yards.

On Brin's first series, Zack Long missed a 26-yard field goal. Long converted on a 24-yarder on Brins' second series. Deneric Prince plunged over for a 1-yard TD on Brin's third series, and Prince scored from 8-yards away on Brin's final series of the scrimmage.

There were some missed opportunities, like when Brin slightly overthrew a wide open Sam Crawford on his second series on what would have been a 40-yard touchdown pass. On his final series, Brin hit Crawford on what would have been a 37-yard TD pass in the end zone, but Crawford let the perfect pass bounce off his hands.

JuanCarlos Santana, who caught Brin's Hail Mary against Tulane that sent the game into overtime on the last play of regulation, led Tulsa with 55 yards on 4 catches.

The Tulane game was such a breakthrough for Brin that it is never far from anyone's mind.

"That game definitely helped me gain a lot of confidence going into the spring, knowing that a lot of guys have my back," Brin said of Tulsa's double-overtime thrilling victory - Tulsa's last home game. "I'm excited we picked up where we left off in that game."

Montgomery admitted his offense in the Spring Game was very "vanilla', and thought if it had been a real game, more imaginative plays would have been called when Brin's offense was inside the 10-yard-line. But Montgomery said those plays would have called for more contact, and more risk of injury.

Montgomery's top goal was to get out of the scrimmage without injury and that goal was accomplished.

Brin could have used his considerable speed and running skills on a run-pass option or quarterback draw. But in a scrimmage where quarterbacks aren't supposed to be hit, there isn't any point to that.

Brin had returning starters Crawford, Santana, Josh Johnson and Keylon Stokes, as well as Josh Stewart at receiver rotating in with the first team, to go with Ethan Hall at tight end. The starting line of first team All-AAC Tyler Smith at left tackle, to go with Dante Bivens at left guard, Gerard Wheeler at center, Dylan Couch at right guard, and Chris Paul at right tackle was intact.

X'Zauvea Gadlin, a starter as a redshirt freshman in 2019, was back in spring practice after choosing to sit out the 2020 season due to Covid precautions. Gadlin was worked in with the first team at center and tackle. Wheeler experimented at guard for a few plays.

With Shamari Brooks being held out of the Spring Game due to being limited in spring drills coming off his knee injury just before the season, the Spring Game running attack featured Deneric Prince, Christian Lovick and Anthony Watkins.

Watkins led all rushers with 112 yards on 13 carries, including a 51-yard touchdown that ended the scrimmage on second and third teamers versus second and third teamers. Lovick had 105 yards on 14 carries, which featured a 59-yarder on two's and three's against two's and three's to end the first half. Prince, the starter, finished with 74 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.

Redshirt freshman Roman Fuller took most of the second team snaps at quarterback, and looked decent while his squad of second-teamers was overmatched against the first team defense. Fuller completed 12 of 18 passes for 85 yards. Walk-on Carson Collins was the only other QB, going 3 of 6 for 22 yards.

The first- team defense, even with first team All-AAC defensive lineman Jaxon Player being held out, dominated the second string offense. Other starters missing were fellow linemen Tyarise Stevenson and Cullen Wick, and safety Cristian Williams.

The second-team offense didn't come close to scoring against the first-team defense, barely crossing the 50-yard-line.

Anthony Goodlow, 6-foot-5, 256-pound starting defensive end from Del City, was the star of the defense. Goodlow had three tackles for loss, including two sacks.

"It was a great performance (by the defense), but we've still got a lot of work to do," Goodlow said. "We've got guys we've got to get back. We've got more depth, and overall we feel like we have a better team (this year)."

Starting alongside Goodlow on the defensive line with Player, Stevenson and Wick out were nose tackle Everitt Rogers and defensive end Deven Lamp. At linebacker were Treyvon Reeves at Star, Justin Wright in the middle at Mike, and Robert Revels at Will.

Revels, one of many to take advantage of an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to Covid, has played a lot in the past. Revels has the tall order of replacing the national defensive player of the year - the great Zaven Collins - in the starting lineup.

"You don't replace Zaven. The guy is fixing to be a first round draft pick," Montgomery said. "Those are big shoes to fill. Now, we've got a lot of guys, and Zaven will be the first one to tell you, a lot of guys on defense who made our defense what it was. Zaven was an integral part of it.

"We've got a lot of those guys back, and guys who've got to step in. And they've got to continue to tighten up together, and guys have to fly around and make plays. Even those games where Zaven missed a quarter or missed a half, or whatever, we had guys who stepped up and played at a really high level, and we've go to continue to do that."

Allie Green and Akayleb Evans were back starting at corner, with TieNeal Martin at free safety, Kendarin Ray at strong safety, and experienced Bryson Powers in for Williams at nickel back.

Reserves who looked good on defense were corners Tyon Davis and Ryan Nixon, Mike linebacker Dorian Hopkins, Will linebacker Mitchell Kulkin, safety L.J. Wallace, and corner Reggie Ellis - all making plays. Also coming through was walk-on Joseph Anderson, a 6-1, 271-pound junior defensive lineman from Anadarko, who had two sacks.

On offense, redshirt freshman Malachai Jones from Spring, Texas caught 4 passes for 37 yards and showed some spark. Cannon Montgomery caught 4 passes for 24 yards.

Graduate transfer Jon-Michael Terry from OU played limited snaps at linebacker.

With almost all of Tulsa's starters returning from the outstanding 2020 season, 2021 shapes up to be one of the most anticipated years in recent Golden Hurricane history. The Spring Game was just a preview.