It was a statement play if there ever was one. First play. Senior quarterback Dane Evans to senior receiver Keevan Lucas deep. He‘s back.
The 46-yard completion to Lucas on Tulsa‘s first offensive play from scrimmage shouted to the college football world that Lucas is back from his knee injury, and that Tulsa football excellence is back. Better watch out.
“The big pass to Keevan kind of set the tone there in the first drive,” said Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery.
“The very first play of the game, I checked to a fade to Keevan,” said Evans. “ It wasn’t because Keevan is finally back and we’re going to throw to him on the first play, it was because that’s what they were giving us.”
Three plays after that when D’Angelo Brewer burst through for a 38-yard touchdown, it reinforced that Tulsa’s offense is explosive and has many weapons.
Brewer wound up rushing for 164 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in three quarters of action as Tulsa demolished San Jose State 45-10 on Saturday night in the season opener in front of 18,748 fans at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Lucas finished with six catches for 112 yards -- all in the first half. Evans completed 12 of 23 passes for 198 yards and one TD.
San Jose State was supposed to put up a decent fight, being a returning bowl game winner. However, Tulsa needed to take care of San Jose State if it was to have any type of outstanding season.
A shocking 38-7 halftime lead ended any suspense by halftime, as the Golden Hurricane piled up big plays on offense, defense and special teams.
The defensive score came when reserve defensive end Jesse Brubaker returned a tipped interception 24 yards for a touchdown to break open the game at 24-7.
The special teams score came when McKinley Whitfield recovered a muffed 61-yard punt in the end zone for Tulsa's final score of the first half.
As good as the performance was, there was still plenty of room for improvement. Most noteworthy was four dropped passes early in the first quarter. Also, Evans missed on a couple of long throws that would have been easy touchdowns.
On defense, a mistake in coverage resulted in an easy 64-yard touchdown pass from San Jose State quarterback Kenny Potter to USC transfer Rahshead Johnson that tied the game up at 7-7.
But not much else went wrong, as is the case in lopsided victories. One of the most interesting things to watch for in the first game is who was playing, and who was making plays.
Highlights on defense included strong play by juco transfer cornerback Keanu Hill. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior looks like a solid corner who can make plays on the ball. Hill made a terrific force of a fumble in the second quarter that resulted in a turnover. Teamed with returning starter Kerwin Thomas on the other side, the two form a potentially outstanding cornerback tandem.
“He’s got a lot of confidence,” Montgomery said of Hill. “He’s got a lot of knowledge of the game. He sees things and reads things, and he’s a gifted, talented athlete. He’s going to continue to get better and better, but I though he played extremely well, just like I thought Kerwin played extremely well.”
Petera Wilson made an impact as a pass rushing left defensive end. The backup Mike linebacker returned to the pass rushing role he had as a true freshman in 2014, and he looks improved.
“Petera is just kind of one of those freak athletes, and he’s a guy that can help us on some third down situations rushing the passer, and he did that tonight,” Montgomery added.
The defense as a whole made plays, and looks much improved from last season. Frankie Davis, starting at defensive end, had his first career sack. Defensive tackle Hayden Carmen had his first career sack as well.
The starters on defense were Jeremy Smith and Davis at defensive end, Hayden Carman and Jerry Uwaezuoke at defensive tackle, Trent Martin at Mike linebacker, Matt Linscott at Star linebacker, and Craig Suits at Will linebacker, Thomas and Hill at cornerback, Jeremy Brady at strong safety and Jordan Mitchell at free safety.
On offense, besides Evans, Lucas and Brewer, there was Josh Atkinson and Justin Hobbs at receiver, Chris Minter at tight end, Evan Plagg at left tackle, Tyler Bowling at left guard, Chandler Miller at center, Blake Belcher at right guard and Willie Wright at right tackle.
Redford Jones was back at kicker, but was handling kickoffs instead of last year’s kickoff man Preston Soper. Dalton Parks was the punter, and the new deep snapper was freshman walk-on Robert Hill. Bishop Louie and Rowdy Simon started at kickoff returner, and the punt returner was Keidrien Wadley. The holder on kicks was Sam Gottsch.
Noteworthy reserves besides Wilson and Brubaker included Whitfield as the passing situation safety and Kolton Shindelar as a pass rusher at defensive tackle, as well as Reggie Robinson at cornerback.
On offense, Nigel Carter was the fourth receiver when the offense went to a four-wide set, although for most of the game, Tulsa went conservative with three receivers. James Flanders was the backup running back, and OSU transfer Raymond Taylor was the third running back.
Much heralded sophomore Chad President played the fourth quarter as the backup quarterback, and completed his first career pass to Louie.
Six true freshmen played, including safety Manny Bunch from Roland (Okla.), defensive tackle Shemarr Robinson from Tulsa Central High School, snapper Robert Hill, and linebackers Cooper Edmiston, Robert Revels and Diamon Cannon.
