Aug. 4, 2011
PLAYERS REPORTING . . . A total of 105 student-athletes have reported to preseason camp . . . the number of players includes 75 returnees and 30 newcomers . . . offensive guard Alec Henry, defensive lineman Darrell Zellars, kicker Marshall Gilbert and defensive back Jonathan Chavira did not report today, but will report when school begins on August 22nd . . . Zellers will sit out the 2011 season as an academic red-shirt.
THREE TULSA PLAYERS NAMED TO C-USA PRESEASON TEAM . . . Tulsa had three players named to the Conference USA preseason team as selected by the league's coaches . . . senior Damaris Johnson was named the C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year . . . he was also selected to the preseason all-conference team as a receiver and punt returner . . . senior offensive guard Clint Anderson and sophomore safety Marco Nelson were also named to the coaches preseason team. TULSA PLAYERS NAMED TO SEVEN PRESEASON AWARD WATCH LISTS . . . Four Tulsa players have been named to the preseason Watch Lists for seven prestigious awards this season . . . senior Damaris Johnson headlines the list as he's been named to four Watch lists including the Biletnikoff Award for the top wide receiver, the Maxwell and Walter Camp Awards for the top collegiate player, as well as teaming with senior G.J. Kinne for the Pony Express Award, given to the nation's top duo . . . in addition to the Pony Express Award Watch List, Kinne has been selected to the Davey O'Brien preseason list for the nation's top quarterback . . . junior Trent Dupy has been listed as a preseason candidate for the Rimington Award, which goes to the nation's top offensive center, and sophomore safety Marco Nelson is on the Watch List for the nation's top defensive back, the Thorpe Award.
TULSA PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL . . . The Tulsa Golden Hurricane was picked to finish in second place in the Conference USA West Division in a preseason poll of the league's media. Tulsa edged out third-place SMU, while Houston is the preseason favorite to win the C-USA West Division . . . Tulsa and SMU tied for the West title last year with 6-2 records, but the Mustangs represented the West in the C-USA Championships against the UCF Knights . . . the Cougars grabbed half of the available first-place votes, while the Hurricane had eight first-place votes . . . Rice was fourth and Tulane and UTEP tied for fifth place in the C-USA West. UCF was the overwhelming favorite to win the C-USA East Division . . . the Knights picked up 20 of 24 possible first-place votes following their 11-3 season capped with a Liberty Bowl win over Georgia. . . . Southern Miss was selected second and grabbed the four remaining first-place votes . . . the Golden Eagles have made nine consecutive bowl game appearances. East Carolina was tabbed third, followed by Marshall, UAB and Memphis in the C-USA East. The preseason poll, administered by the Tulsa World, was made up of 24 voters with each school represented by one print reporter that covers the team and one radio representative . . . Conference USA does not conduct its own poll.
EXPERIENCE RETURNS TO LEAD TULSA IN 2011 . . . Tulsa returns a lot of experience for the 2011 campaign . . . the Hurricane return 10 starters on offense and seven starters on defense, while statistically Tulsa returns 86.9-percent of its 2010 rushing total and 69.7-percent of its pass receiving total from 2010 . . . Tulsa's top three tacklers return in 2011, as does eight of the top-10 tacklers . . . the NCAA's all-purpose yardage leader from each of the last two seasons, Damaris Johnson, returns in 2011, as does C-USA Offensive Player of the Year G.J. Kinne, who is back at quarterback for Tulsa.
THE HEAD COACH . . . Former University of Tulsa quarterback Bill Blankenship was promoted as the 28th Head Football Coach in school history on January 14, 2011 . . . Blankenship spent the past four years as an assistant coach for the Golden Hurricane . . . he returned to his alma mater in January 2007 to coach the wide receivers . . . in 2008, Blankenship was named special teams coordinator and in 2009 added the responsibilities of running backs coach as well . . . in 2010, Blankenship served as senior associate head coach, running backs coach and special teams coordinator. Before entering the collegiate coaching ranks, Blankenship spent 22 years as an Oklahoma High School coach . . . Blankenship resigned as the head football coach at Tulsa's Union High School in December 2005 after leading his team to a second consecutive state championship at the Oklahoma Class 6A school. As a head coach on the prep level, Blankenship compiled a 205-68 record, including an average of 10 wins per season for his last 20 years, appeared in the state championship game eight times and won three state titles. He spent 14 years as the head football coach and athletic director at Union High School, where he registered a record of 154-26 . . . his teams qualified for the state playoffs 14 times, reached the quarterfinals 10 times and made the semifinals in nine seasons . . . Blankenship's teams made the state championship game seven times . . . he guided his Union team to Oklahoma Class 6A state titles in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
TULSA ENTERS 2011 AFTER THREE 10+ WIN SEASONS IN LAST FOUR YEARS . . . The Tulsa Golden Hurricane entered the 2011 campaign after posting 10 wins last year for the third time in the last four seasons . . . Tulsa ended the 2010 season with a 62-35 victory over 24th-ranked Hawai'i to clinch a 10-3 record . . . Tulsa finished the 2007 campaign with a 10-4 record and the 2008 season with an 11-3 mark . . . the 10-win season marked the eighth time in school history that the Hurricane won 10 games . . . other 10-win seasons came in 1916, 1920, 1942, 1982 and 1991.
TULSA'S SUCCESS OVER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS . . . The first three years of 2000's were lean for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team, posting just a 7-28 combined record in 2000, 2001 and 2002 . . . in the last eight seasons, Tulsa has 65 victories posting a 65-39 (.625) overall record . . . the Hurricane has appeared in six Bowl games in the past eight seasons, posting a 4-2 record in those games, while winning one outright Conference USA Championship (2005), three C-USA West Division titles (2005, 2007, 2008) and sharing one West crown (2010).
ASSOCIATED PRESS ALL-AMERICAN Damaris Johnson RETURNS . . . The nation's leader for all-purpose yards in each of the last two seasons, Damaris Johnson returned to the Tulsa lineup . . . in 2010, he was named to the Associated Press All-America team, earning second team honors as an all-purpose performer . . . a kick returner, punt returner and receiver, Johnson led the nation for the second straight year in all-purpose yards with a 202.2-yard per game average . . . the 5'8" Johnson had six 200+ all-purpose yard games . . . the last Tulsa player to earn either first-, second- or third-team Associated Press All-America honors was tight end Garrett Mills in 2005 as a third team selection . . . the last time a Tulsa player was named to the AP second team was receiver Chris Penn in 1993 . . . Johnson also earned SI.com second-team All-America honors.
TULSA ENDED 2010 SEASON ON SEVEN-GAME WINNING STREAK . . . After a three-point loss against Co-Conference USA West Division Champion SMU on October 9th, Tulsa rattled off a seven-game winning streak to close out the 2010 season with a 10-3 record . . . Tulsa comes into the 2011 season with the nation's fourth-longest winning streak . . . in those seven games, Tulsa outscored the opposition 45.9 to 30.9 points . . . Tulsa's wins in that seven-game winning streak came at home against Tulane, Rice, UTEP and Southern Miss and on the road at Notre Dame, Houston and Hawai'i.
Damaris Johnson ENTERS 2011 AS NCAA RECORD-HOLDER FOR ALL-PURPOSE AND KICKOFF RETURN YARDS . . . In 2010, Tulsa junior receiver/return specialist Damaris Johnson became the NCAA's career record-holder for kickoff return yards and all-purpose yards . . . he set the NCAA record for kickoff return yardage in the 11th game of the year against UTEP . . . he surpassed Western Michigan's Brandon West's (2006-09) total of 3,118 yards and completed his junior season with 3,417 career kickoff return yards after totaling 904 kick return yards in 2010 . . . Johnson became the NCAA's all-purpose yards leader in the final game of the season as he totaled 326 yards in Tulsa's victory over Hawai'i in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl . . . Johnson completed his junior season with 7,796 career all-purpose yards.
FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICANS JACKSON AND NELSON RETURN FOR SOPHOMORE SEASONS . . . Tulsa defenders Marco Nelson and Shawn Jackson earned Freshman All-America accolades after the 2010 season . . . Nelson was named to the Football Writers Association of America All-America team (FWAA) and also earned third-team honors by to Phil Steele's Magazine. . . Nelson started 12 games at safety for the Hurricane and totaled 86 stops and added six pass breakups and six interceptions this season . . . Jackson, a linebacker, was in the starting lineup nine times and was credited with 88 tackles, a team-leading 15.5 stops for -74 yards, a team-leading 8.5 sacks for -55 yards and two interceptions . . . he was named to Phil Steele's Freshman All-American second team, while both he and Nelson also earned Freshman Honorable Mention All-America merits by collegefootballnews.com.
G.J. Kinne RETURNS AS CONFERENCE USA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR . . . Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne was named the C-USA Offensive Player of the Year in 2010 . . . the honor marked the 11th time in the last 13 years that a quarterback has won the Offensive Player of the Year award . . . it was also the second time in the last four years that a Tulsa quarterback earned the award, as Paul Smith won the same honor in 2007 . . . Kinne ranked first in C-USA for total offense (323.9 ypg) and second for pass efficiency (144.3) and passing yards per game (280.8 ypg) . . . Kinne led Tulsa to the No. 1 ranking in C-USA in rushing offense, scoring offense and total offense. . . . he completed 60 percent of his passes for 3,650 yards and 31 TDs, and rushed for 561 yards and 7 TDs.
JOHNSON WAS C-USA'S SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR . . . Tulsa's return specialist Damaris Johnson was named the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Year in 2010 . . . Johnson led the nation for the second straight year in all-purpose yards with a 202.2-yard per game average and had six 200+ all-purpose yard games . . . Johnson became the FBS and C-USA record-holder for career kickoff return yards in only his junior year and he ended the season with 3,417 career KOR yards . . . in 2010, many opponents kicked away from Johnson, as he returned only 34 kicks on 73 kickoffs . . . he produced 904 yards, one TD and a 26.6-yard average on those 34 returns . . . Johnson also earned first team all-C-USA honors as a punt returner and second team recognition as a wide receiver and a kick returner this year.
FIVE 2010 C-USA FRESHMAN TEAM SELECTIONS RETURN TO TULSA LINEUP . . . Tulsa had five freshmen named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team in 2010 . . . Tulsa tied Southern Miss and UCF for the most rookies named to the freshman all-conference team . . . the C-USA Freshman Team recognized two players on offense and three players on defense for the Hurricane . . . the offensive selections included receiver Thomas Roberson and offensive guard Stetson Burnett, while Tulsa's all-freshman team defensive performers were linebackers Shawn Jackson and Cody Wilson and safety Marco Nelson. SENIOR Curnelius Arnick ANCHORS TULSA DEFENSE . . . Tulsa senior linebacker Curnelius Arnick returns for his senior season as one of the top linebackers in Conference USA . . . last year, Arnick had a team-leading 115 tackles and added nine stops for -41 yards, four pass breakups and four interceptions . . . he turned in seven double-digit tackle games this season . . . Arnick had a season-best 12 stops at Notre Dame and against Southern Miss . . . he enters his senior season with 185 career tackles in 37 games.
TWO OF NATION'S TOP PICK-OFF ARTISTS RETURN FOR THE HURRICANE IN 2011 . . . With six interceptions apiece, safeties Dexter McCoil and Marco Nelson ranked among the nation's best for interceptions . . . McCoil and Nelson tied for the fourth-most interceptions in the FBS during the 2010 campaign . . . McCoil ranked fifth with an average of .50 interceptions per game, as he played in just 12 games . . . Nelson ranked in a 10th-place tie with three other players with an average of .46 pick-offs per game.
O-LINE RETURNS EXPERIENCE . . . Eight players on Tulsa's offensive line have received starting assignments during their careers . . . all five starters from a year ago return this season as those five players combined to start 57 games in 2010, and have 100 starting assignments in their careers . . . three other lineman have combined to start 14 career contests . . . senior Tyler Holmes has 33 career starts at left tackle, senior guard Clint Anderson has 24 career starts, junior center Trent Dupy has started 23 games, while on the right side of the offensive line - junior tackle Brian DeShane has started 11 games and sophomore Stetson Burnett has nine career starts . . . in addition, seniors David Lazenby and Eric Sproal, have started seven and six games, respectively, and junior Jared Grigg has one career start.
TULSA'S EXPLOSIVENESS . . . Over the last four seasons, Tulsa has gone over 500 yards in 33 of a total of 53 games, while also surpassing 40 points in 26 contests . . . in that time span, Tulsa totaled 500 yards and scored 40 points in the same game 23 times, posting a 20-3 record in those games . . . the Hurricane had the 500+ yards and 40+ points in six games in the 2010 campaign . . . that feat happened against East Carolina (49 points/579 yards), Central Arkansas (41 points/539 yards), Tulane (52 points/538 yards), Rice (64 points/612 yards), Southern Miss (56 points/634 yards) and Hawai'i (62 points/531 yards).
CAN THEY BE SPECIAL AGAIN? . . . In 2010, Tulsa's punt and kickoff coverage units were pretty special, and those units will look to maintain that success in the 2011 campaign . . . Tulsa ranked first in the nation for punt return defense, as the Hurricane has allowed only 29 yards on 19 punts for 1.53-yard average . . . the Hurricane ranked 10th nationally in kickoff return defense, allowing 19.1 yards on 86 returns.
QB G.J. Kinne ON TULSA'S CAREER CHARTS . . . In just two seasons, quarterback G.J. Kinne has established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in school history . . . he has passed for 6,382 career yards and 53 touchdowns, while amassing 7,336 total offense yards . . . Kinne ranks third in school history for passing yardage, passing touchdowns and total offense
TULSA HAS PLAYED FOR THREE CONFERENCE USA TITLES IN FIRST SIX YEARS IN THE LEAGUE . . . Tulsa entered Conference USA as a member in all sports on July 1, 2005 . . . a little over five months later the Golden Hurricane captured the school's first C-USA title in any sport. Tulsa completed its first season by winning the C-USA West Division with a 6-2 league record and posting a win over UCF in the C-USA Championship Game. In 2007, Tulsa had another 6-2 record to win the West Division and went on to face UCF in the title game once more . . . this time the Knights captured the championship game victory . . . in the 2008 campaign, after finishing 7-1 in C-USA play and winning its third West Division title, Tulsa hosted East Carolina in the Championship Game, dropping a 27-24 decision. Tulsa's has won 34 conference titles in school history. Tulsa's C-USA crown in 2005 was the first since 1985 when the Hurricane won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
CHAMBER KICKOFF LUNCHEON . . . The annual Tulsa Metro Chamber's Hurricane Football Kick-off Luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, August 18 at 12 noon at the Tulsa Convention Center. Head Coach Bill Blankenship will introduce the 2011 Golden Hurricane team to the public at this time.
TU FOOTBALL CAN BE HEARD ON KRMG. . . Tulsa Football games can be heard on AM 740 and FM 102.3 Newstalk KRMG Radio again this fall. Bruce Howard and Rick Couri will call the action from the press box and former TU football player Chris Kaiser will give sideline commentary. The air time for TU football game broadcasts is one hour prior to kickoff.
BLANKENSHIP'S RADIO CALL-IN SHOW AIRS LIVE FROM TeKEI'S ON MONDAYS . . . The Bill Blankenship Radio Call-in Show will air live from TeKei's (1616 South Utica Ave.) on Mondays throughout the football season from 7-8 p.m. The show will air on the home of Golden Hurricane football, AM 740 and FM 102.3 Newstalk KRMG Radio. The first show airs on Monday, August 29th, as Coach Blankenship and Host Bruce Howard will preview the season opener at Oklahoma. The Labor Day show on September 5th is at H.A. Chapman Stadium in the ONEOK Club Level.
THE Bill Blankenship TV SHOW AIRS ON COX-CHANNEL 3 . . . The Bill Blankenship Television Show will air on Cox Communications-Channel 3 in Tulsa and Oklahoma City on Sunday nights at 8 p.m., and will re-air on Monday nights at 8:30 p.m. Coach Blankenship and host Bruce Howard will give fans an inside perspective of the Golden Hurricane football program.
KTBZ "THE BUZZ" RADIO TO CARRY C-USA DAILY UPDATE AND WEEKLY FOOTBALL SHOW . . . KTBZ Radio will air both the C-USA Daily Update, a two-minute update on Conference USA happenings, Monday-Friday, throughout the academic season; as well as the 15-minute Conference USA Weekly Football Show. Airtime of both features will be announced at a later date.
ADDITION TO NEWCOMER LIST(not listed in 2011 Tulsa Media Guide)No. Name Pos. Hometown/Previous School22 Michael Mudoh DB Richmond, Texas/Bush
2011 TULSA FOOTBALL WALK-ON ROSTER ADDITIONS(not on roster in 2011 Tulsa Media Guide)No. Name Pos. Hometown/Previous School8 Jeff Calvert QB Colleyville, Texas/Colleyville Heritage87 Charlie Copa TE Austin, Texas/Syracuse Univ.52 Billy Lafortune OL Tulsa, Okla./Holland Hall48 Chad Levin PK Bentonville, Ark./Bentonville40 Harrison Lowe WR Tulsa, Okla./Bishop Kelley46 Will Noels DB Colleyville, Texas/Grapevine59 Mikey Peterson DL Broken Arrow, Okla./Union48 Kolby Scott TE Enid, Okla./Enid30 Chris Showles WR Round Rock, Texas/Vista Ridge57 Trevor Toliver DE Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa49 Bradley White DB Tyler, Texas/Grace Community School
No. Name Pos. Hometown/Previous School61 John Bencke OL Rio Rancho, NM/Cleveland8 Jeff Calvert QB Colleyville, Texas/Colleyville Heritage67 Brendan Chalk DS Washington, Mo./St. Francis Borgia87 Charlie Copa TE Austin, Texas/Syracuse Univ.85 Chris Fisher WR Monument, Colo./49 Daniel Gibney LB Rancho Buena Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista52 Billy Lafortune OL Tulsa, Okla./Holland Hall3 John Lathrop QB Missouri City, Texas/John Foster Dulles40 Harrison Lowe WR Tulsa, Okla./Bishop Kelley11 Jeff Markavage WR Moraga, Calif./Moraga52 Mick Miller LB Bartlesville, Okla./Bartlesville46 Will Noels DB Colleyville, Texas/Grapevine59 Mikey Peterson DL Broken Arrow, Okla./Union48 Kolby Scott TE Enid, Okla./Enid30 Chris Showles WR Round Rock, Texas/Vista Ridge57 Trevor Toliver DE Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa49 Bradley White DB Tyler, Texas/Grace Community School