TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE (Extended Preview)
July 13th, 2008 by Daniel Freer
When Todd Graham replaced Steve Kragthorpe as head coach in 2007, no one was quite sure what would happen with the Golden Hurricane. The Hurricane offense went from a Category One to a Category Five pretty quick, especially with the addition of Offensive Coordinators Gus Malzahn and Herb Hand, who turned a good offense into a monster, leading the nation in total offense in 2007, averaging 544 yards per game.
HEAD COACH: Todd Graham (Second Season, former head coach at Rice)
OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS: Gus Malzahn, Herb Hand (Second Season for both…Malzahn formerly OC at Arkansas, Hand formerly an assistant at West Virginia)
THE FANTASY COLLEGE BLITZ BREAKDOWN:
The UT offense, even with the loss of Paul Smith and his 5000 passing yards-60 total TD from 2007, may be just as good in 2008.…possibly even a better offense…as nearly all of the top skill position players return from 2007. If fantasy football drafting was like an on-line store, Tulsa would definitely be Amazon.com this season.
The key for Tulsa in 2008, of course, would be finding a QB to replace Smith. The favorite to replace the record-setting QB is David Johnson, a senior who has been the understudy to Smith for the past three seasons. Johnson has the advantage of experience over sophomore Clark Harrell (the younger brother of Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell), and Johnson has the advantage of being in the system longer than JUCO transfer Jacob Bower. Although I believe Johnson will win the starting job, keep an eye on the UT QB situation all throughout the pre-season. Definitely take Johnson in your draft, and handcuff one of the other QB for insurance.
The Golden Hurricane ran for over 170 yards per game last season, and a big reason for that was RB Tarrion Adams, who rushed for over 1200 yards and scored 11 total TD. Adams should be one of the most productive RB in 2008. However, the RB goldmine does not stop with Adams, as FB Charles Clay was a pass-catching machine, with just over 1000 yards receiving and 7 TD in 2007. Also, UT welcomes back Oklahoma transfer Courtney Tennial, who missed 2007 due to injury. Tennial is projected to see time at FB, so this could affect FB Clay’s production a little. Jamad Williams is also another name to note, as he rushed for 458 yards as a backup to Adams.
Where UT is really loaded is at WR, and this group just totally blew up in 2007. The top WR is senior Brennan Marion, who had only 39 catches last season, but for 1244 yards and 11 TD….with an NCAA record 31.9 yards per catch. You are drafting him. Joining Marion is WR Trae Johnson, who led UT with 70 receptions and 13 TD grabs. Draft him, too. Dion Tolliver and Jesse Meyer saw a lot of playing time last season, but may get passed on the depth chart by Tennessee transfer Slick Shelley, and Arkansas transfer Andrew Norman. Former RB A.J. Whitmore was switched to WR, and may also be in the mix. Outside of Texas Tech, there is no other group of WR as productive as the Tulsa bunch.
Tulsa returns four starters on its offensive line, led by huge RT Rodrick Thomas. This is an O-Line that had to learn a new offense last season, and did quite well (judging by the offensive stats). Another year in the system and this O-Line could be one of the best of the non-BCS.
On Special Teams, PK Jarod Tracy hit 73 XP last season, but only 7 of 12 FG. Still, with those numbers, and with the UT offense, Tracy is one of the top fantasy kickers in 2008. WR Trae Johnson is a good punt returner, averaging nearly 10 yards per return in 2007, taking one back for a TD. Johnson shares kick returns with Bandit Roy Roberts
The only real negative on the Golden Hurricane squad is the defense, which gave up over 450 yards per game, and saw opponents score 40 or more points six times. Part of this problem is that the offense can move the ball and score so quickly, the UT defense does not get many breaks during a game. Although drafting the UT defense is not an option, keeping up with its performance may be of interest to those with Golden Hurricane players on their rosters.
AFTER FURTHER REVIEW:
Look forward to another big season from Tulsa and its offensive stars. Not only they are arguably the best team in Conference USA, the UT non-conference schedule in 2008 (at North Texas and Arkansas, host New Mexico and Central Arkansas) is less challenging than their 2007 non-conference schedule.
Another year in the new offense, and with experience all around, Tulsa can match, or even, surpass their 2007 offensive numbers this season…especially if the new starting QB (Johnson) gets used to his role as starter early during the season.
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