President notches his first victory as TU quarterback
As a University of Tulsa quarterback early in his career, Chad President turned to his predecessor, Dane Evans, for important advice.
Per Hurricane tradition, President was tasked Saturday with directing the marching band following his first victory as TU’s starting quarterback. Evans, who became the top passer in program history last season, was conveniently watching the game from the sideline.
“I asked Dane, ‘What do I do?’” President said. “He said, ‘Just make checks with your hands.’ I tried to do that the best that I could.”
President, a thirdyear sophomore making his second career start, checked several boxes during the Hurricane’s 66-42 victory against LouisianaLafayette at H.A. Chapman Stadium. He scored his first touchdowns on the ground and through the air, propelling TU to a 667yard outing.
“I thought he took some good steps this week,” coach Philip Montgomery said. “He was really smart with what we wanted to do in some of our rungame stuff. I thought he did a good job of throwing the football effectively.”
In the competition to replace Evans as starter, President competed against redshirt freshman Luke Skipper throughout the spring and the preseason. President played the majority of the season-opening defeat at Oklahoma State and took every snap Saturday, defining his role as the starter indefinitely.
“I have a ton of faith in him and he’s got to continue to keep developing and growing, but I was really pleased with the way he played,” Montgomery said. “I thought he managed the game really well today. I thought he was very effective in some crucial times and he had some big throws. He is our starter.”
President’s emergence as a capable passer opened up the Hurricane run game, which produced a whopping 424 yards behind D’Angelo Brewer’s career-best outing. Brewer racked up 262 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries.
“D’Angelo Brewer was extremely special today,” Montgomery said. “My goodness. What more do you want out of a guy?”
To prevail in a shootout, TU (1-1) had to rely on a monster offensive performance. The Rajin’ Cajuns totaled 596 yards and averaged almost eight yards, repeatedly attacking the Hurricane’s shaky secondary.
“I feel like we could have played better as a unit,” safety Manny Bunch said, “but at the end of the day, we came out with some turnovers and ended up getting the win.”
The Cajuns (1-1) were within three points midway through the third quarter, having missed two extra-point attempts and failed on a two-point conversion. On backto-back possessions late in the quarter, Bunch and linebacker Cooper Edmiston delivered key interceptions to help the Hurricane rebuild a double-digit cushion.
“There are still a lot of things we need to correct, but I’ll take correcting (after) a win over a loss any day,” Montgomery said. “Defensively, we need to do a better job on first down, and stop some of those explosive plays and get off the field when we get (opponents) in third-and-long.”
Louisiana briefly threatened early in the fourth with a quick-strike drive and was nearly successful with an onside kick that bounced off a player before being recovered by TU. From there, the Hurricane drained the clock with two lengthy, rushing-only touchdown drives.
“We have one of the best offensive lines in the country,” Brewer said. “They really dedicate themselves on opening up holes and making running backs look good. I try to learn all the blocking schemes so whenever they open it up I can be right there.”