Coming off a brutally heartbreaking road loss, combined with playing a difficult team like Navy, Tulsa will have its hands full on Saturday evening.
Navy (3-1, 1-1 AAC) is the type of team that gives opponents fits, especially Tulsa. Navy's option offense would seem like it wouldn’t be hard to stop, since it hardly passes. But preparing for the type of offense you rarely face is always problematic.
Tulsa (2-3, 0-1) has the unenviable task of overcoming a demoralizing loss and playing a team that it has had no recent success against, when TU hosts Navy at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
A win over Navy would get Tulsa back momentum and confidence that is sorely needed going into its hardest conference game of the year the following week at No. 25 Cincinnati.
But a loss to Navy would make TU beating Cincy as likely as Donald Trump getting a buzz cut and playing weekly golf with Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler at Turnberry.
So beating Navy is paramount. Tulsa is playing at home. Navy is coming off a 3-10 season. There is no excuse to lose this game, although the oddsmakers have it as a virtual pick-em game, with Tulsa being given as much as a point advantage.
The thing about losses like the SMU game is that it can demoralize a team or make it stronger. The best bet is that Tulsa will come back stronger and will handle Navy.
The Golden Hurricane has too many high character, competitive, outstanding players this year to think Tulsa will fold. Seniors like Cooper Edmiston, Manny Bunch, Trevis Gipson and Keenen Johnson, to name a few. Other upperclassmen like Shamari Brooks, Zach Smith and Keylon Stokes.
The fact that Tulsa was manhandling a ranked SMU team on the road for most of last week's game speaks to Tulsa’s ability. It takes a talented team to do that.
Smith and his receivers generated over 300 yards again in Dallas. The offensive line did a tremendous job of keeping the pass rush of national sack leader SMU at bay. Brooks ran tough. TU did a lot of terrific things in the game.
It is imperative that Tulsa keeps its offense in gear against the Midshipmen. And then it is up to the defense to keep Navy from grinding out first downs with its mind-numbing, run-oriented option offense. Get them off the field, and Tulsa wins.
Navy is a tough team to figure out. Normally a strong program, the Midshipmen haven’t been nearly as strong the past few years. They finished only 7-6 in 2017, then suffered through a tough, three-win 2018 season.
At 3-1 this season, Navy hasn’t played a sissy schedule, but hasn’t beaten anyone that impressive, either. Navy’s 35-23 loss at undefeated Memphis is no disgrace. But beating FBS Holy Cross and East Carolina means very little as well. The Midshipmen’s 34-25 home win over a decent Air Force team was nice, but not a great win.
What Navy has going for it is momentum. Navy scored the game-winning touchdown against Air Force with less than 30 seconds remaining.
For whatever reason, Tulsa has not fared well at all against Navy under coach Philip Montgomery, especially at home. Tulsa got thumped 44-21 in Tulsa by a really good Navy team in 2015, and a bad Tulsa team got physically whipped 31-21 in Tulsa in 2017 in a game that wasn’t as competitive as the final score would indicate.
On the other hand, Tulsa performances at Navy have been much better. A tough 42-40 loss with controversial officiating in 2016, and a 37-29 loss last year in Annapolis.
The key to stopping Navy this year is stopping quarterback Malcom Perry. Quite frankly, Perry is a nightmare. He needs to be stopped at all costs. Period. Stop him, and Tulsa wins.
Perry is very efficient and is a good athlete. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound senior is Navy’s leading rusher, averaging 96.5 yards per game at 4.7 yards per carry.
But Perry is also an effective passer in limited tries. Attempting between seven to 10 passes per game, his completed passes are almost always daggers to opposing defenses. He is 22 of 33 (66.7 percent) for 480 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. His 120 yards per game is a step up from recent Navy quarterbacks.
Tulsa’s next biggest challenge is solving its place kicking problems. Switching kickers in overtime is always a bad sign, especially when the kicker you are switching to hasn’t tried a field goal all season. With Jacob Rainey appearing to be injured, Zack Long was put in the unenviable position of having his first career field goal attempt come from 42 yards away in the third overtime. The result was predictable.
Rainey is four of seven for the season, with his longest made attempt coming from 32 yards. He was one of three last week, including missing what would have been a game-winning 43-yarder in the second overtime.
It is unclear why Jenks graduate transfer Danny Donley hasn’t gotten a chance yet. Donley was 10 of 10 for Drake last season, with nine coming from under 40 yards. His longest was a 45-yarder. Donley’s health may still be an issue, as he wasn’t available during the fall preseason scrimmage and had been battling a quad issue early this season.
Whatever confidence issues Tulsa has, it must start this week to get back on track to a winning season. With all the talented, strong-minded players on the Golden Hurricane roster, there is a good chance TU will do just that.
