Noland news

Offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said true freshman quarterback Connor Noland did a good job reading Tulsa’s defense in his first start.

“Their defense is a little bit different,” said Craddock, referencing the Hurricane’s 3-3 front. “It wasn’t a traditional look. He had to handle three safeties back there, and I thought he did a really nice job of understanding what they were trying to do. He did a nice job of studying his work throughout the week.”

Craddock said there were some plays early in the game in which Noland had the option to run or pass and chose to keep the ball.

“I felt like he could have thrown it, but the look he saw, he didn’t like it and he didn’t throw it,” Craddock said. “Which is totally fine.”

Craddock said Noland connected with tight end Cheyenne O’Grady and wide receiver La’Michael Pettway on similar runpass options later in the game.

“I thought as the game went on, he started gaining some confidence in what he was doing and gaining confidence in what the defense was doing to try and take away certain plays,” Craddock said. “I thought he did a really nice job.

“He missed a couple of things, but that’s being a true freshman out there. He’s going to learn from that. He’s going to be nothing but better after he figures out where he needs to be better.”

Craddock

Noland