Tulsa at No. 18 Michigan State: TU's strength will clash with the Spartans' specialty
By Dekota Gregory Tulsa World 7 hrs ago
University of Tulsa football coach Philip Montgomery knows his team’s identity. And, yes, he knows all about Michigan State, too.
The Hurricane opens its season against the No. 18 Spartans at 6 p.m. Friday in East Lansing, Michigan. This Michigan State team, like most before it, is known for its physical defense.
“No matter who’s their defensive coordinator, it always looks the same,” Montgomery said. “Coach (Mark) Dantonio does a tremendous job of maintaining that culture schematically, and just the way they play.”
Michigan State’s strength of its defense is its run defense. The Spartans were statistically the best in FBS at stopping the run last season, giving up only 77.9 rushing yards a game. Opposing ball carriers averaged 2.58 yards a carry against the defense.
“They’re extremely tough against everything, but especially the run,” Montgomery said. “You look at the personnel they’ve got coming back, the pride they take in their defense and how they stop that run. We’ve gotta do a good job of mixing things up — trying to keep them off-balance, trying to give them different looks — but also staying true to who we are.”
Staying true to what TU is would mean the Hurricane relying on its run game, pitting TU’s strength against Michigan State’s specialty Friday night. TU returns junior running backs Shamari Brooks and Corey Taylor II, who are both on the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, given to the best running back in the country at the end of the season.
“We understand the run game is a vital part of the offense,” Taylor said. “We definitely carry that burden with pride, understanding that if we’re not out there being as productive as we can, then we’re not gonna be able to be the team that we are. …
“We’re definitely focused on just keeping our identity and who we are, and just playing fast and playing hard. We feel like playing fast is the equalizer.”
While TU is obviously aware of its own strength, so is Michigan State.
“We don’t wanna let people run the ball on us,” Dantonio said at the Spartans’ weekly press conference. “People have not been able to do that recently. We need to continue that trend, and again, it’ll be a challenge. …
“They’ve been successful, and we’re gonna have to see how it shakes out.”
Taylor and Brooks combined for 1,813 rushing yards last season. Brooks led the way with 967 yards, as well as seven touchdowns. Taylor ran for 846 yards and 11 touchdowns. Together, they averaged 4.45 yards a carry. Even better numbers — say, 5 yards a carry and 100 yards a game — are expected this year, and maybe even against the best run defense in the country.
“I think if you look at the stats from last year, we were pretty close to that,” Taylor said. “I believe over this offseason we’ve definitely developed. (We) just worked on our craft a ton. With the offensive line that we have — those are great guys that we have blocking for us up front — so I think 100 (rushing yards) apiece a game and at least 5 a carry is pretty reasonable.”
Dekota Gregory
918-581-8355
dekota.gregory@tulsaworld.com
Twitter: @dekotagregory
