Opponent Offensive Preview: Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson has a had a major influence on some of the best college football offenses in recent history. Between 2002 and 2010 he was OC/co-OC at Oklahoma, coaching QB Sam Bradford and the 2008 Sooners to one of the best offensive seasons ever - their 716 points scored still ranks no.2 all time.

He was hired as Indiana’s head coach in 2010 and immediately turned a historically struggling program into one of the Big 10’s best offenses, while also leading them to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in a quarter century. Many of Indiana’s single season offensive records belong to Wilson coached teams. In fact, the 2015 IU offense became just the fourth in FBS history to feature a 3,500-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers, and a 1,000-yard receiver in the same year. Even more remarkable is that he coordinated two of those four record setting seasons.

Most recently he was the OC at Ohio State where he routinely coordinated one of the nation’s top attacks, ranking in the top 7 in total offense every year. From a coaching perspective, there is a lot to like. Oh yeah, and the OC/QB coach is Steve Spurrier Jr.

Passing Offense

QB Braylon Braxton was named the starter before the season, but after an ankle injury (and two interceptions in his first four attempts) he was pulled in favor of redshirt freshman QB Cardell Willams. Lucky for him he was playing Arkansas - Pine Bluff and had no problem dicing up the FCS team. He completed his first 13 pass attempts for 3 touchdowns and 233 yards, and a rushing touchdown. PFF gave him a whopping 90.8 pass grade. He mixed up both deep and short passes all game - seven passes had a depth of nine yards (including two behind the LOS) or less, while his other seven attempts were 10-20+ yards downfield. Word is that Braxton will start this week if healthy - he did throw for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns last and is viewed as the best option.

WR Marquis Shoulders is his favorite weapon and the 5-10 sophomore had huge game in week one, with 5 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. He’s mostly targeted deeper downfield. WR Malachi Jones is the top returner from last year after catching 37 passes for 470 yards and two scores, but had just one catch last week. Pass protection was terrible last season (45 sacks!) but appears to have improved this year.

Rushing Offense

RB Jordan Ford is the key player atop the depth chart, after running 19 times for 110 yards (63 of which were after contact) and a touchdown last week. It’s mostly a zone based blocking scheme and they love to run Ford behind the left side of the offensive line. TE Luke Mcgary had a couple catches last week and is also one of the higher graded run blockers on the team. That said, they did allow eight tackles-for-loss against Arkansas - Pine Bluff.

RB Braylin Presley is an intriguing 4-star athlete who transferred from Oklahoma State who is expected to make an impact this season, but had just three attempts for 13 yards last week.

Conclusion

Whoever starts at QB for Tulsa - be it Cardell Williams or Brayden Braxton - will have a good game plan and coaching staff behind him. Both are athletic, though not quite the same type of runner as last week’s opponent, Taylen Greene. It wouldn’t be shocking to see them make a few plays, especially to a guy like Marquise Shoulders. Maybe this is the game that Braylin Presley announces himself. Kevin Wilson has a history of offensive production and probably believes he can beat this Washington defense in a couple different ways. He’ll have a good scheme ready, but Washington’s overall talent advantage and team speed should be able to smother this Tulsa attack once they settle in.