Sleep causes nightmares for opposing defenses, especially when Sleep appears in the form of Tulsa's Keylon Stokes.

Stokes' moves have been freezing defensive backs, effectively putting them to sleep, since he was in high school, hence the nickname "Sleep" his high school teammates gave him during practice.

The big play abilities of Stokes and Sam Crawford Jr., along with their dependability, are big reasons the Tulsa receivers should be the best they have been in years.

"Sleep, he had a thousand (yards), Sam was really close to a thousand last year, both of those guys came up with big plays for us," Montgomery said. "For the first time in a long time, I think we have some experience coming back at the receiver spot. Some guys that have put up big numbers and have made big plays in games. Guys that are confident about what they are doing in the offense."

One thing is for certain. Even though good receiver play doesn't guarantee success, it is essential for a successful team.

Every winning Tulsa team since before World War II has had good, quality receivers. Even the run-oriented winning teams all had receivers who made plays. Perhaps they didn't put up eye-popping numbers, but they made plays.

Stokes is poised to have a monster senior campaign coming off his 2019 season where he had 1,040 yards and six touchdowns on 62 catches for a 16.8 average.

Showing constant improvement since arriving as the little brother to TU great Keevan Lucas, Stokes had 575 yards and two touchdowns on 41 catches as a sophomore, and six catches for 143 yards and a 23.8 average as a true freshman.

Wearing the same number 2 as his older brother who played the four seasons just before Stokes arrived, Stokes has 109 catches for 1,758 yards in his career. A similar season would put him past Josh Atkinson to go into sixth place on TU's all-time yardage list.

It would take 1,492 yards to tie Lucas for third place in TU history, and 1,586 yards to pass former Miami Dolphins standout Howard Twilley to become TU's all-time leading receiver.

Stokes is certain he has improved since last season.

"Last year, I felt I was doing a lot of things that were good, but then again, I feel like when working in space, I feel like I had to work on my breakaway speed a lot over the off season," Stokes said. "Really, for me, I feel like getting faster was something that just needed to get done. My speed, right now, is something I feel very confident in."

The 6-foot, 190-pounder from Marvel, Texas, finds it hard to believe it is already his senior season. He should have believed his brother.

"It went by really fast. I never listened to my brother when he said college goes by fast," Stokes said. "So now, that is something that I have to say, now I know (he was) right.”

The urgency of having a strong senior season is certainly there for Stokes.

"You put your body through all this stress and all this pain and stuff, so you just want to finish off great, and you want to leave a statement and let everyone know that I gave it my all for all four years," Stokes said. "That's just what I want to do. I want to leave my legacy for my team, and I want to give it all for my team."