Tulsa Defense, Toughness Improving

Golden Hurricane has faced adversity but might be pulling it together at the right time.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:58 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Oct 4, 2010 6:50 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma-- Sure, Central Arkansas and Memphis aren’t exactly the most prolific offenses in the country.

But the bottom line is that the Golden Hurricane’s defense the past two games has gotten better.

Tulsa beat FCS opponent Central Arkansas 41-14, and followed it up with a 48-7 blowout of conference opponent Memphis.

“Defensively, I think our guys are starting to find themselves a little bit,” Tulsa coach Todd Graham said. “A big thing defensively is if we can just get healthy. It seems that’s the one area where we have not been able to stay healthy.”

Although the Golden Hurricane’s defense still ranks among the worst in the nation, that rank could end up being skewed by two of Tulsa’s first three games.

TU gave up 51 points in an overtime loss to East Carolina and 65 points in a disaster at OSU.

But Graham said with young players finally getting the hang of things and other players recovering from injuries, the rest of conference play should be a different story.

One player that has already been bit by the injury bug is TU defensive back Charles Davis.

Davis missed Tulsa’s against Memphis and most of the game against Central Arkansas after leaving with an apparent knee injury.

He said the past couple of games have been a big confidence booster for a team that was previously struggling on defense.

“A lot of people were doubting our defense and starting to get on the negative side of us but we’ve come together and drawn together as a team and a defense, and we’ve been playing good and we have a lot of confidence going into the SMU game.”