Tulsa must regroup ahead of road contest at Cincinnati

Trying to reverse negative momentum can be like swimming into a current. Possible, but very difficult.

Tulsa has the unenviable test of playing at No. 21 Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon in a game that most would think Tulsa has as much of a chance of winning as one has of winning the lottery. The approximately 17-point spread would seem very generous to Tulsa.

Despite the long odds, don’t write off the Golden Hurricane for two reasons. First of all, this Tulsa team doesn’t give up. It was playing hard even at the end of the 45-17 Navy debacle last week.

TU coach Philip Montgomery wasn’t just imparting coach talk when he was talking about when the game got out of hand, and how Tulsa quickly needs to get over it.

“Our guys continued to work extremely hard and fight throughout,” Montgomery said after the Navy game. “We’ve got to move past this one. It’s one game. We’ve got an extremely tough schedule in front of us, and next week (Cincinnati) is going to be another tough one.”

Most importantly, this TU team has talent. With players like quarterback Zach Smith, defensive end Trevis Gipson, linebackers Zaven Collins and Cooper Edmiston, running back Shamari Brooks, and receiver Keylon Stokes, to name a few, Tulsa has the talent to play with most teams in the country.

Make no mistake. Cincinnati (5-1, 2-0 AAC) is very talented and accomplished. However, playing Cincy is not like playing a team such as Ohio State, for example. Cincy lost 42-0 at No. 4 Ohio State in week two of this season.

But there is no reason the Golden Hurricane can’t, at the very least, by competitive against the Bearcats. Tulsa’s biggest obstacle will be reversing the negative momentum of the last two weeks.

Losing a 30-9 fourth quarter lead at SMU started Tulsa’s downward spiral that played a huge role in the Hurricane’s lopsided loss to Navy last week. Accelerating the process was a 98-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Sam Crawford that got called back on a booth review that would have given Tulsa the lead.

Worse than that was Crawford getting a non-penalized, helmet-to-helmet cheap shot that knocked him out of the game early in the second quarter. Without those two negative turn of events for Crawford, it is highly unlikely Tulsa gets clocked by Navy like it did. A completely different game.

When events like that happen to a team that is struggling to find its identity, turning around momentum at the time can be nearly impossible. It’s kind of like a golfer early in the round hitting a tee shot on a par-3 off the pin that bounces in the water. Tiger Woods in his prime probably recovers. But the lesser golfers would have a very tough time.

So it is time for Tulsa (2-4, 0-2) to put the last two nightmarish games behind it and focus on Cincinnati. It would be a big help if Crawford is healthy and is playing. But even if Crawford can’t go, a player like JuanCarlos Santana could step up and have a big game.

Tulsa’s fifth receiver in the rotation this season, Santana took advantage of his opportunity for increased playing time against Navy, leading Tulsa with nine catches for 98 yards. The 6-foot-1, 176-pound sophomore from Katy, Texas has 17 catches for 214 yards this season.

Cincinnati is an interesting team in that, although talented, doesn’t overwhelm opponents. No gaudy stats. No lopsided victories over noteworthy opponents.

Cincy’s attention-getting victories were both at home. The only impressive one was against then No. 18 UCF by a 27-24 score. Cincinnati also beat UCLA 24-14 in its opener, but that victory looks average considering UCLA is 1-5.

The Bearcats are coming off a 38-23 win at a Houston team that has thrown in the towel for the season in front of an afternoon crowd that makes TU’s average home crowds look packed by comparison.

Desmond Ridder leads the Cincy attack at quarterback. He is a solid QB who can run and pass, but isn’t overwhelming at either. He has passed for 1,227 yards for a 204.5 yard-per-game average, and has 179 yards rushing for the season. He has 13 touchdown passes but has been intercepted five times.

The most impressive thing about Ridder is that he isn’t a dink passer, but still completes 61.4 percent of his passes. His top three receivers all average at least 14.2 yards per catch.

Alec Pierce has 17 catches for 347 yards and a 20.4 average. Josiah Deguara has 19 catches for 269 yards (14.2 average), and Rahad Madaris has 12 catches for 211 yards (17.6 average).

Michael Warren averages 77.1 yards a game, with 463 total rushing yards and a 4.6 average. He also has 14 catches for 107 yards (7.6 average). Solid numbers, but nothing special.

By comparison, Smith averages 269.7 yards per game, with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions, and completes 55.6 percent of his passes. Stokes leads Tulsa with 27 catches for 467 yards (17.3 average), while Crawford has 26 receptions for 370 yards (14.2 average). Brooks has 464 yards and a 4.3 average.

On defense, Cincy gives up an average of 21.7 points per game, along with 200 yards passing and 140 yards rushing per game. Tulsa averages giving up 32.2 points - 192.7 yards through the air and 203.5 on the ground.

There is very little recent history in the series between the two former Missouri Valley Conference opponents. Tulsa's last win at Cincinnati came 40 years ago when Dave Rader quarterbacked Tulsa to a 27-26 win on Oct. 21, 1978 in front of a crowd of 11,521.

Tulsa has only played at Cincinnati three times since then, losing all three times. TU lost 28-13 in 1994, 33-24 in 1997 and 49-38 in 2015. The last time the two teams played was on Nov. 25, 2016 when Tulsa won a 40-37 overtime game at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Tulsa leads the series 17-14-2.

Regardless of past history, whether last week or 40 years ago, Tulsa has to keep fighting in order to keep this season from slipping away. Even if another loss happens at Nippert Stadium, it is imperative that the Hurricane shows improvement in Cincinnati.