The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team held their annual spring football game on Saturday, the first event under the leadership of new head coach Philip Montgomery.
In past years, the “spring game” has been nothing more than a glorified open practice. Beginning this year, the format was changed; the offense and defense was split into blue and white jerseys, respectively. The starting offense played against the second-string defense, and the starting defense played the backups on offense.
Montgomery’s offensive smarts were on display, as the new up-tempo offense ran surprisingly smoothly. Dane Evans and Joseph Calcagni had an impressive game in both passing and running, with long touchdown passes to Josh Atkinson and Keevan Lucas. The physical run game was also solid, capped by a huge touchdown run by Zack Langer.
The defense was not as impressive, yet they had some good moments. The run game was shut down after short gains, and the defensive line was able to get pressure on the quarterbacks. The secondary also had success in pass defense. However, big passes and runs did occur—possibly a product of Montgomery’s no-huddle offense, yet still a potential source of worry in the fall.
The Golden Hurricane look to improve on a pair of terrible seasons, going 5–19 in that span. The team opens their season on September 5th, hosting the Florida Atlantic University Owls.
