Tulsa Offense Functioning as One

TU individual stats not impressive, but team has been putting up big numbers.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:58 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Sep 28, 2010 9:44 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Outside of perhaps quarterback G.J. Kinne, no Tulsa offensive player has put up staggering numbers this season.

But TU coach Todd Graham said that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Kinne is eighth nationally in total offense, but the rest of the Golden Hurricane’s individual statistics are nothing special on paper.

Damaris Johnson, the Golden Hurricane’s leading receiver yardage-wise, doesn’t even have a receiving touchdown this season.

Leading rusher Alex Singleton is averaging 50 yards per game and has just two touchdowns through four games.

Yet as a cohesive offensive unit, Tulsa truly excels.

“We're one of the best in the country in running the football and in both scoring and total offense,” Graham said.

And the TU coach is right – his team ranks fifth nationally in total offense, eighth in passing offense and 19th in scoring. He said he can credit the success to a number of things, but there is one major aspect.

“The most impressive thing is how balanced we are,” Graham said. “We have 167 passes and 164 runs.”

The man behind the schemes, offensive coordinator Chad Morris, has certainly proved himself through the first four games.

Morris came straight to Tulsa from a high school position – he was the head coach at Lake Travis High School in Texas – to a coordinator spot for TU.

And many questioned the effectiveness of a coach at such a prominent position with no college experience under his belt.

But Graham said Morris has done an outstanding job of managing the offense and putting the team in a position to win games.

“He's been an unbelievable addition to our staff and been a tremendous leader,” Graham said. “He's very smart and he has brought different things and has been very adaptive to the skills that our guys have.”