Tulsa Hoping To Rock OSU Like A (Golden) Hurricane

Before discussing the upcoming Tulsa/Ohio State game, let me just have a quick moment to elaborate on this week’s post title.  Growing up in the 1980s…let me tell you kids.  There is a reason why people think of MTV nostalgically, and a band like The Scorpions was only a small sliver of what was available on MTV back then.  Enjoy.

My man Shannon Sommers and I discussed Tulsa in greater detail on our latest Men of the Scarlet and Gray Podcast, with our guest Kelly Hines.  If you haven’t listened to the podcast yet, you are missing out, as Kelly provided tremendous insight into Tulsa for this week’s game.

It is difficult to find anything concerning about Ohio State football, especially after a dominant 77-10 victory over Bowling Green.  Below are three areas I will be keeping an eye on, as toe meets leather at 3:30pm EST on ABC…

1.  Ohio State’s interior defensive line vs the Tulsa running game ~ Sincere condolences go out to Tracy Sprinkle, and best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Ohio State’s interior defensive line depth was already questionable before the season, and now has been even more depleted with the loss of Sprinkle.  Dre’Mont Jones, Robert Landers, DaVon Hamilton, Malik Barrow, Josh Alabi, and Jashon Cornell will all be needed to take over the loss of Sprinkle.
2. Ohio State’s secondary vs Tulsa’s passing game ~ Malik Hooker continued his knack for big plays that he began in the 2016 Ohio State Spring Game.  Ohio State’s inexperienced secondary played tremendously well against Bowling Green, but were aided with many drops by Falcon receivers.  Both starting Tulsa wide receivers (Keevan Lucas, Josh Atkinson) have big play ability (both averaged over 18 yards a reception against San Jose State), and both are considered legitimate NFL prospects.  The secondary needs to come up big here again.
3. Curtis Samuel vs Tulsa’s defense ~ Samuel demonstrated why Coach Meyer called him the Ohio State offense’s most explosive player with three touchdowns scored and a terrific game running and receiving.  Is Tulsa going to bring in a nickel defensive back to cover Samuel?  Samuel is such a match-up problem for any opposing defense; I merely want to see what Tulsa defensive coordinator/former Ohio State defensive coordinator Bill Young is going to do.

I agree with Gareon Conley, who stated “We’re not going to talk down on our opponents, but next week I feel like we’re going to get more experienced people because I know a lot of guys left from Bowling Green…Watching some of the film from Tulsa, I know they have an experienced quarterback so we’ve got to get ready for that. It’s also a faster tempo than Bowling Green.”.   Ohio State will get a better game from Tulsa than they did from Bowling Green, but Ohio State’s depth and speed will be too much for Tulsa in the second half.  I have it Ohio State 56, Tulsa 17.