LandThieves Interviews Todd Graham

After the Hurricane's loss to the Sooners, we sat down with Tulsa Coach Todd Graham to break down the loss:

JH: Coach, true freshman Shavodrick Beaver played a little bit this evening. Can you tell us more about him:
TG: Joe, as you know, football players love to be around Beaver. They just can't get enough.

JH: Coach Graham, Michigan was recruiting Shavodrick, how did you get your hands on Beaver?
TG:Well, it was quite a shocker. Michigan was really interested, then they pulled out at the last minute. I think we got him on the rebound. We were just in the right place at the right time.

JH: Shavodrick is a true freshmen. A lot of 18 year olds have trouble grasping the offenses at the college level. How do you see that playing out?
TG: Well, I think you'll see a lot of Beaver in the spread formation. It will give us a good look at him as well. I lot of the guys think when we spread wide with Beaver in there it increases our chances to score.

JH: Your offensive line is a little inexperienced, and Beaver is small. How are you going to protect him?
TG: Well, we've got to have strength up the middle, Joe. The opposition really likes to penetrate when Beaver is in, and we just can't allow it. We want to protect Beaver. You can't let the opposition get a lot of licks on him.

Well, we're almost out of puns. If I may quote Leslie Nielsen, "That's a nice Beaver you've got there."

Golden Hurricane Preview

Line: Sooners by 15 1/2
How'd they get the name: According to a gent on Yahoo! Answers, it's when you urinate into the wind and it comes back at you. Fortunately for all of us, that's not correct.
Returning Starters: 5 on offense, 8 on defense
NFL Passing Yards by Alums: 54,052, led by Gus Frerotte
Best NFL Player: WR Steve Largent, inducted into the HOF in 1995. Shout out goes to Drew Pearson, an undrafted QB that made out alright as a WR for the Cowboys for a few years also.
Draft History: 168 players drafted by the NFL
Hot/Cold: The Golden Hurricane has won three of their last four bowl appearances, with their last loss in a bowl game coming to Utah. Just like Alabama.
The Skinny: Tulsa is not the mid-major cupcake you might think. Since the start of 2003 (end of the Keith Burns reign of terror at Tulsa), the Golden Hurricane is 52-29, with more wins in that time frame than the following schools, among others: Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon, Alabama and Brigham Young University. Todd Graham, an up and coming mercenary in the ranks of college football, is a native of Mesquite, TX and the coach was attributed with turning around Allen, TX High School football. Graham was also on Rich Rodriguez's staff at West Virgina, which explains his unique negotiating tactics (see comment 2) when transitioning from Rice to Tulsa.
Random stat: The Golden Hurricane has produced three NFL Hall of Famers, more than OU or OSU. Only 20 colleges can claim more HOFers.
How we see it: Mike Bryan, son of former Sooner and recently deceased Rick Bryan, will get big applause at the game. Bryan is the MLB in the Hurriance 3-3-5 scheme. Tulsa's QB is G.J. Kinne, a Texas transfer who gave up on replacing Colt McCoy. It's worked out well for Jevan Snead. The Sooners should win this one, but I think it will be closer than I want it to be. In all honesty, this game makes me nervous. Tulsa is a good football team, and the Sooners W against Idaho State told me nothing. Tulsa will come into this game confident, and with a chip on their shoulders. OU has oodles more recruiting stars, and the superior talent should prevail over the course of 60 minutes. Pick: Sooners to win, but not to cover the 15.5 points.