Tulsa needs to bounce back against Northern Illinois

Tulsa's loss to Wyoming in the season opener last week brought back memories of the 2010 season opener at East Carolina.

In that 2010 game, Tulsa lost 51-49 on the last play of the game, a jump ball Hail Mary pass into the end zone at East Carolina.

What could have been a crushing loss, however, didn't ruin the season. Tulsa started slow but won its last 7 games, including a win at Notre Dame, and finished the 2010 season 10-3.

But with that said, Tulsa really needs a victory to get back on track when it hosts a very capable Northern Illinois squad on Saturday at 6 p.m. at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa's home opener in a game it is favored by 6 points.

Tulsa (0-1) did a lot of things well at Wyoming in its 40-37 double overtime loss, including Davis Brin passing for an incredible 460 yards - the 6th highest total in Tulsa history - while completing 30 of 52 passes. The Golden Hurricane got outstanding performances from its receivers, having three top the 100-yard mark.

Keylon Stokes led all receivers with 11 catches for 169 yards, while Malachi Jones had 103 yards on 6 catches, and JuanCarlos Santana had 7 receptions for 102 yards. Isaiah Epps looked good as well with 4 catches for 79 yards.

But with an entirely new offensive line where all 5 starters had no prior total starts for TU, the results were mixed. The running game, missing Deneric Prince and Anthony Watkins, as well as graduated 1,000-yard back Shamari Brooks, had some growing pains.

With Tulsa outgaining Wyoming 521-399, the game left Golden Hurricane fans wondering what in the heck happened? How did TU lose?

First of all, the special teams let Tulsa down, as has been the case in the past. But this time, it was different from last year.

Tulsa normally doesn't get punts blocked, but a blocked punt for a TD by Wyoming hurt, to be sure. Also, normally terrific field goal kicker Zack Long missed more field goals against Wyoming (2) than he missed all last year (1).

Perhaps Tulsa is missing the Higuera snapping dynasty. Brother's Rey and Adam Higuera handled long-snapping duties 9 of the last 10 seasons, including the last 5 by Adam. Also, there is a new holder, as punter Lachlan Wilson took over for graduated Cannon Montgomery.

The snaps appeared fine by redshirt freshman walk-on Caleb Matthews. The holds looked good. But maybe, psychologically, the comfort level isn't there yet.

The confidence level clearly isn't there with the running game. With Tulsa's top 3 rushers from last year not there, and with a new offensive line, the running game didn't prosper. And when it came down to crunch time to put the game away, Tulsa opted to pass.

"We've got to continue to improve in our run part of it," said Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery. "We've got to continue to be who we are. But if you are going to take one away, we're going to try and do the other."

In the first overtime, Tulsa was moving, having completed an 11-yard pass to Stokes on the first play, and Jordan Ford had rushed for 8 yards on the next play. Facing second and 2 at the 6-yard line, with bruising Steven Anderson in the game, it seemed like one or two runs would easily net a first down.

But Tulsa decided to pass, and Brin was sacked for a yard loss. Then an incomplete pass followed, forcing a field goal.

Anderson, who is 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, did well starting, gaining 40 yards on 10 carries. But outside of Anderson, Tulsa running backs Ford, Tahj Gary and Bill Jackson combined for 36 yards on 12 carries, including 11 carries for 28 yards when not counting Ford's 8-yard run in overtime.

"I thought those guys all did a good job. I thought Steven Anderson played really well," Montgomery said. "Really did a nice job when he had the football in his hands. He picked up some tough yards, some short yardage things.

"When you talk about J. Ford and Bill, I think those guys bring a dynamic part to our game. Obviously, those guys have got to slow down a little bit, be a little bit more patient. I think they were a little amped up, trying to make big things happen every time they touch it.

"You've got to be calm about what you are doing. I love the talent. We've always been a running back by committee. We'll continue to do that."

Anderson, Ford, Gary and Jackson will all have to be the guys for the foreseeable future, as Prince and Watkins mysteriously are not on Tulsa's 4-deep depth chart. With today's non-disclosure policies in place at the college level, Montgomery really couldn't say much about the situation other than that they are both still on the team.

"We're going to leave that where it is right now as we kind of work through some things," Montgomery said when asked about Prince and Watkins. "Both of those guys have been an asset to our program, still are an asset to our program, and we're going to leave it at that."

As for Tulsa's offensive line, having 5 starters with no starting experience was challenging, but they actually held up as well as expected. Especially when Miami grad transfer Kai-Leon Herbert left with a leg injury early in the game.

Jaden Muskrat, who was listed as first-team at right guard and second-team at right tackle coming into the game, didn't start, but played most of the game at right tackle in place of Herbert, who Montgomery said is day-to-day on his injury status. Muskrat had one career start coming into the game.

"I thought those guys handled a lot of different looks the other day," Montgomery said. "If you look at it, going into the game, they (Wyoming) were about a 25 percent blitz team. By the end of the game, it was more like 57 to 60 percent of the time they were blitzing.

"And they were getting it from a lot of different areas. So, I thought our guys did a nice job, being five new guys up front."

The other new guys are Dillon Wade at left tackle, Chester Baah at left guard, Will Farniok at center, and mammoth 6-8, 348-pound OU transfer Darrell Simpson at right guard.

Giving up a strip-sack by Brin that was recovered in the end zone on the first series of the game put Tulsa in a hole early. From that point on, Tulsa outscored Wyoming 34-17 before giving up the final 10 points in regulation.

Facing Northern Illinois is a considerable challenge for TU, despite being favored to win.

The Huskies finished 9-5 last year and won the MAC. NIU is a usually strong team that is not to be taken lightly.

Last week in its season opener at home, NIU defeated FCS school Eastern Illinois 34-27, although Eastern Illinois scored its last TD with 2:07 left in the game, indicating that the game wasn't as close as the final score would indicate. Eastern Illinois finished 1-10 last season.

Returning quarterback Rocky Lombardi (6-3, 227) averaged 199.8 yards passing in 13 games last season (2,597 yards), and is also a runner, gaining 473 yards at 5 yards per carry (36.4 yards per game). Considering that college totals always include sack totals, Lombardi obviously is a running threat.

Last week against Eastern Illinois, Lombardi surprisingly only rushed once for zero yards. Perhaps they were saving him for a tougher opponent.

Featuring a ground-oriented attack, NIU had 5 runners last season gain at least 461 yards, including 1,184 yards by Jevon Ducker. With NIU's top 2 rushers gone, Harrison Waylee is the top returnee with 574 yards at 5.7 yards per carry.

Waylee (5-10, 180) led the Huskies last week with 83 yards (5.9 ypc), while Antario Brown (5-10, 214), who rushed for 538 yards (6.6) last season, finished with 70 yards (5.4).

The bottom line for Tulsa is that this is really a must win game to avoid getting off to a dreaded 0-2 start. Tulsa should win, but don't be surprised if it is a nailbiter down to the end or even an overtime game.

This game will tell a lot about what type of season the Golden Hurricane will have.