Tulsa struggling
If Tulsa wants to pull out of its 1-4 funk, Saturday might be the day. The Golden Hurricane face a similarly struggling Tulane team in New Orleans.
NEW ORLEANS — Philip Montgomery doesn’t have much use for silver linings.
His University of Tulsa football team has dropped three games in a row by 10 points or fewer, including two on last-second field goals, and searching for positives to take from those defeats is futile.
“Close doesn’t cut it, at the end of the day,” Montgomery said. “There ain’t nothing good about losing. We’ve got to get over that hump.”
The next available opportunity to turn the tide is 11 a.m. Saturday, when the Hurricane visits Tulane in a crucial American Athletic Conference meeting between two teams at the bottom of the West Division standings.
With a 1-4 record, time is running out for Tulsa to pull its record up to .500 and make a third consecutive bowl appearance. While that remains a goal, the priority has been on trying to get better during practice every day.
“There’s no substitute for hard work,” Montgomery said. “You can’t just wave the magic wand and everything’s fixed. You’ve got to go to work and you’ve got to make it happen each and every day and each and
every rep.”
The Hurricane offense has struggled to get going through the air, averaging only 160.4 yards per game. Tulane is exceptional in defending the pass, ranking 25th nationally while limiting opponents to 178.5 yards.
The Hurricane rushing attack has been less potent because of the lack of a pass threat but could get back on track against a subpar run defense.
The last time Tulsa played at Tulane, the Hurricane prevailed 45-34 in the 2015 regular-season finale that delivered bowl eligibility in Montgomery’s first season. While bowl eligibility isn’t on the line, it will slip further from reach with a defeat.
Tulsa is facing a tough team that rarely commits turnovers, with Tulane’s only two miscues occurring in the loss at Oklahoma. In an anticipated soggy game featuring two rush-heavy teams, the Hurricane can’t afford to lose possessions because of fumbles.