Tulsa caps spring drills with solid work in annual Spring Game

Although Luke Skipper isn’t necessarily penciled in as the starting quarterback in the fall, it was again pretty evident Saturday that it will be a shocker if he isn’t the starter on opening day in the fall.

Skipper led the first-team offense to touchdowns on all four of his possessions in the annual Spring Football game, completing nine of 15 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown in front of around 500 die-hard fans on a blustery, cold spring day.

“We called it the winter classic,” TU coach Phillip Montgomery said of the chilly day. “I thought we made some plays at the receiver spot, we made a couple of throws at the quarterback spot that I liked. We ran the ball effectively.”

With temperatures starting below freezing at the start of the game after 11 a.m., it was not the easiest day for passing. However, Skipper and Seth Boomer both looked sharp in leading the Golden Hurricane’s number one offense against the second-string defense.

“I like the way we are progressing at the quarterback spot,” said Montgomery. “We’re not there yet. We’ve still got work to do. But I think those guys are locked in about what I want them to do. We’re moving the ball better. Our eyes are in the right spot.

“We’re giving our guys the opportunity to make plays. With some of the things we are doing defensively, I think it has challenged our quarterbacks to be more accurate, more precise about what they are reading and seeing. Our receivers have gotten so much better from a route standpoint. I think when you put those things in play, we’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”

Boomer completed seven of nine passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, while TU scored touchdowns on two of his three possessions. The one series where he didn’t lead a score ended in a sack by Payton Prince.

A total of six quarterbacks played, with true freshman Davis Brin, Baylor transfer Zach Smith, Will Hefley, and Brandon Marquardt taking snaps exclusively with the second team against the first-team defense.

Those four quarterbacks obviously had considerably less to work with on offense, and they combined for only a field goal on 11 possessions. All possessions in the scrimmage started anywhere from the 15 to the 32-yard-line deep in its own territory.

The first-string defense outscored the second-string offense, as safety Cristian Williams cut in front of a receiver and intercepted a Brin pass and returned it 30 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown.

“I loved seeing our defense get a couple of turnovers. There were a lot of three-and-outs in there,” Montgomery said of his first-team defense.

Brin, who enrolled early in the spring semester from high school, finished five of 11 for 58 yards. He led the second-string to its only points, a 37-yard field goal by Nathan Walker. Besides Walker, John Parker Romo and Tristan Lacey all shared on the extra points. Walker and Romo appear to be competing for the kicking job.

Smith completed seven of 15 passes for 59 yards and an interception, but he had a long pass to Keylon Stokes called back due to a penalty.

Starting on offense were Skipper, Shamari Brooks at running back, Chris Ivy at left tackle, Tyler Bowling at left guard, Chandler Miller at center, Tiller Bucktrot at right guard, Willie Wright at right tackle, and Justin Hobbs, Keenen Johnson, Sam Crawford, and Jarion Anderson at receiver. When going with only three receivers, Chris Minter started at tight end.

On defense, TU opened up with a three-man front, but used a lot of four-man fronts as well. The starting three linemen were Trevis Gipson at left end, juco transfer Jajuan Blankenship at defensive tackle and Myles Mouton at right end. When going with another defensive tackle, the first in was Tyarise Stevenson.

Cooper Edmiston started in the middle at linebacker, while Diamon Cannon was at Star linebacker and Robert Revels started at the Will position. Starting at corners were Reggie Robinson and Akayleb Evans, with Cristian Williams and Sam Gottsch starting at safety. Redshirt freshman Marcus Mays from Edison started as the extra safety.

Gipson was a beast on defense pressuring the quarterbacks, recording a sack among three tackles, and breaking up a pass. The 6-4 junior has increased his weight from 205 pounds when he enrolled to 253 pounds.

“Since the fall I’ve improved quite a bit,” said Gipson. “I’ve put on a lot of weight, so it’s helping me a lot on stopping the run and also being able to turn the edges a little bit more and not being driven into the ground. I’m stronger and faster.”

Of the defensive backs, Robinson was perhaps the most impressive, along with Williams. Robinson broke up three passes and intercepted a pass from Smith, as well as registering three tackles. Safety Ryan McDaniel broke up two passes to go with eight tackles, and Daiquain Jackson led TU with nine tackles.

Also making an impression on defense was backup middle linebacker Zaven Collins, who had five tackles and showed quickness at the position, as well as Revels, who had six tackles, including a tackle for loss.

On offense, Brooks led the way with 96 yards on 10 carries, and he appeared to have no side effects from a broken collarbone that ended a brilliant freshman season. Corey Taylor, also coming back from an injury after a promising start last season, finished with 58 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

“It’s good to have him (Brooks) and Corey both back after injury from last year,” Montgomery said. “He’s (Brooks) a guy that has a special talent. We’re really happy to have him. But he’s a guy that continues to play the way we want, he plays hard and plays with a chip on his shoulder. He runs angry. He has some moves to him. He’s a very intelligent football player, and he’s expanding his game.”

Ramadi Warren, coming back from missing two seasons due to academics, carried five times for 23 yards and a touchdown in limited action. Javon Thomas had 59 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, while Reed Martin carried five times for 36 yards.

The most impressive plays by the receivers were Crawford’s 33-yard touchdown catch in the left corner of the end zone from Boomer, and a 31-yard touchdown catch-and-run from Skipper on a fourth down pass on the first-string’s last possession of the game.

The passes were spread around, with 13 different players catching passes. Stokes, who is expected to start this season after a promising freshman season, mysteriously didn’t play until late in the game. He caught two passes for 18 yards. Cannon Montgomery, the son of Philip Montgomery, caught three passes for 11 yards.

As for the quarterback position, Montgomery is keeping the competition open, but is happy about how Skipper is progressing.

“He got a lot of experience under his belt last year,” Montgomery said. “I thought throughout the spring he has shown a lot of maturity from that standpoint. I think having that experience can guide him to what he is going to become.

“He’s going to have a chance to be our starter, just like a couple of other guys, but he’s a guy that has played really well and has been much more consistent over this spring ball than he has been since I have been here.”

Skipper was playing without receiver Josh Stewart, who started the first half of last season as a redshirt freshman before getting injured. He was one of several players being held out of the spring game due to injury issues, including left tackle Waahid Muhammad, who is competing with Ivy for a starting position.

Also, part-time starter at quarterback, Chad President, is still recovering from a knee injury and hasn't practiced this spring.

On defense, three starters at safety - McKinley Whitfield, Jordan Mitchell and Manny Bunch - were held out as well. Other noteworthy players absent from the spring game included defensive tackle Shemarr Robinson and cornerback Keidrien Wadley.

Juco transfers who got significant playing time besides Blankenship were linebacker Yohance Burnett (five tackles, one pass broken up), cornerback Malik Welch, defensive end Cullen Wick (three tackles) and guard Judge Hardin.

Now it is time for TU fans to wait for fall camp and to see which incoming freshmen can make an impact. And to see if Tulsa can bounce back after last season’s disappointing season.

Rushing

Shamari Brooks, 10 for 96 yards

Javon Thomas, 7 for 59 yards, 1 TD

Corey Taylor II, 10 for 58 yards, 2 TDs

Reed Martin, 5 for 36 yards

Ramadi Warren, 5 for 23 yards, 1 TD

Brandon Workman, 7 for 21 yards

Luke Skipper, 5 for 20 yards

Seth Boomer, 3 for 0 yards

Davis Brin, 1 for -2 yards

Zach Smith, 2 for -11 yards

Passing

Seth Boomer, 7-of-9 for 102 yards, 1 TD

Luke Skipper, 9-of-15 for 88 yards, 1 TD

Zach Smith, 7-of-15 for 59 yards, 1 INT

Davis Brin, 5-of-11 for 58 yards, 1 INT

Brandon Marquardt, 1-of-2 for 4 yards

Will Hefley, 0-of-0 (1 series)

Receiving

Jarion Anderson, 2 for 52, 1 TD

Keenen Johnson, 5 for 44 yards

Sam Crawford Jr., 2 for 41 yards, 1 TD

Cole Neph, 3 for 33 yards

Juancarlos Santana, 2 for 27 yards

Chris Minter, 2 for 25 yards

Jordan Brown, 2 for 21 yards

Justin Hobbs, 3 for 20 yards

Keylon Stokes, 2 for 18 yards

Cannon Montgomery, 3 for 11 yards

Andrew McKinnis, 1 for 10 yards

Shamari Brooks, 1 for 5 yards

Avery Gragg, 1 for 4 yards

Tackles

Daiquain Jackson, 9 tackles

Ryan McDaniel, 8 tackles, 2 PBU

Zaven Collins, 6 tackles

Marcus Mays, 6 tackles

Diamon Cannon, 6 tackles, 1 PBU

Robert Revels, 6 tackles, 1 TFL/-1 yds

Cristian Williams, 5 tackles, 1 INT

Yohance Burnett, 5 tackles, 1 PBU

Montray Norris, 5 tackles

Treyvon Reeves, 5 tackles

Jacob Pugh, 4 tackles

Reggie Robinson, 3 tackles, 3 PBU, 1 INT

Akayleb Evans, 3 tackles

Cooper Edmiston, 3 tackles

Deven Lamp, 3 tackles

Myles Mouton, 3 tackles, 2 sacks/-8 yds

Trevis Gipson, 3 tackles, 1 sack/-5 yds, 1 PBU

Allie Green, 2 tackles

Forrest Harrell, 2 tackles

Beau Wooden, 2 tackles, 1 TFL/-1 yds

Payton Prince, 2 tackles, 1 sack/-6 yds

Jajuan Blankenship, 2 tackles, 1 TFL/-1 yds

Sam Gottsch, 1 tackle, 3 PBU

Christian Bricker, 1 tackle

Tyarise Stevenson, 1 hurry