| Both defensive coordinators are operating in the dark trying to prep for this one. For Tulsa, even though Michigan State's offensive coaching "changes" did little (nothing?) to appease the fan base, but the early rumblings are that the changes are going to be more stark than simply reshuffling. It all starts with health, something Michigan State had great luck with in 2017, with the 8th fewest starts lost to injury. I cautioned last year about how horrifically thin Michigan State's depth chart was, and that they needed similar luck in 2018. They didn't get it. The Spartans lost 55 starts to injury in 2018. Only TCU (56) and Virginia Tech (63) lost more. Considering basically all of those except Josiah Scott's 8 games were on the offensive side of the ball, it made a bad situation a lot worse. Tulsa's offensive mystery lies in who their starting quarterback will be. A three-horse race, was narrowed to two when Luke Skipper, who was the starter to begin last season, until he suffered a season ending injury in late September, announced his retirement. It's between sophomore Seth Boomer, who took over last year for the final 8 games, and struggled with accuracy, but did solve Tulsa's turnover issues; and Baylor transfer Zach Smith. Smith committed to Art Briles, and offensive coordinator Phillip Montgomery in June of 2014, right before Baylor's breakout season. He stuck with his commitment, but decided to follow Montgomery, who is now the head coach at Tulsa. Smith showed flashes of potential, including 463 yards, 4 touchdown shootout with Baker Mayfield in a near upset of #3 Oklahoma in 2017. Where he needs to improve over Boomer is getting the ball out. The Golden Hurricane surrendered the most sacks in the AAC last year, and they now open against a Michigan State front seven, that Athlon ranks third nationally, behind just Alabama and Clemson. He'll share the backfield with a pair of great running backs, Shamari Brooks and Corey Taylor II, who has been saying there's no reason not to expect Tulsa to run for 200 yards, against what was the nation's top run defense a year ago. There's no question that Tulsa has the weapons to challenge Michigan State's defense. The Spartans looked rocky on that side of the ball early on last year. The offensive line has to take major steps forward to utilize those weapons, and replacing three starters, against a front like Michigan State's, doesn't seem like the time to do it. The X factor is how much Montgomery can change the playcalling with a veteran like Smith, with his Power Five pedigree, versus the redshirt freshman he had to use last year. |