Seniors like Trevis Gipson, Reggie Robinson, Cooper Edmiston and company deserved better this season.
Some really good seniors had to endure a season of close but not many cigars. A season of what could have been.
But despite all the disappointing close losses, these guy never quit. They kept playing hard, giving it everything they had.
Tulsa (3-8, 1-6 AAC) will get a chance to end on a high note when it plays at East Carolina at 11 a.m. Saturday.
As with all last games of the season, one eye is on the seniors who have given so much to the program. And the other eye is on the future.
It would be a shame if Tulsa didn’t finish with more victories this season than last season, since clearly, Tulsa is a better team. Both teams had good defenses. But this year, Tulsa has had a passing game that puts up yardage.
So much better are the Golden Hurricane that Tulsa is amazingly favored by 5.5 points on the road against an admittedly poor East Carolina team.
Still, considering ECU lost by eight points at then No. 25 SMU and by only three points at home to then No. 17 Cincinnati earlier in the month, that is an amazing spread. TU wouldn’t have been favored in the same situation last season.
Although Zach Smith and his receivers are not perfect, they have provided Tulsa with a viable passing game that was missing for most of the two previous years.
For the future at quarterback, Smith has one year left, and Seth Boomer has two years. Boomer played well in his only full half of action in Tulsa’ upset comeback win over UCF three weeks ago. Boomer displayed good pocket awareness and possesses strong running ability, and his passing is improved.
Smith is a classic pocket passer with a cannon of an arm. He is tough, taking hit after hit and not missing much action. Smith makes some unbelievable throws, but needs to show more mobility and more pocket awareness.
But overall, if Tulsa makes two potential game-ending field goals at SMU and against Memphis, this is a completely different season for the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa would likely have won other games besides those two, and Tulsa would be going bowling. And Smith’s season would be looked upon better.
At receiver, Keylon Stokes has made the step up to being one of the top receivers in the AAC. Stokes is on the verge of a 1,000-yard season, with 58 catches for 964 yards and five touchdowns for a 16.6 yard average. Coming off a nine catch, 144-yard game, Stokes has another year left, and even bigger things are expected next season of former TU star Keevan Lucas’ little brother.
Sam Crawford is another receiver that has done well. With 10 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown last week, Crawford now has 54 catches for 684 yards and four touchdowns. With two years remaining, it is easy to envision both Stokes and Crawford being 1,000-yard receivers in 2020.
Tulsa has only two seniors starting on offense. Keenen Johnson has had another solid year at receiver, and has made some big plays. And Chris Ivy has been the anchor of the offensive line at left tackle.
