Tougher Tulsa Ready for Spring Game

Originally Published: Apr 15, 2010 8:4 PM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

TULSA, Oklahoma – The biggest intangible in football is widely considered to be physical toughness. Getting meaner and hitting opponents harder were two bullet points Todd Graham stressed at the beginning of Tulsa spring workouts.

“That’s been the big thing,” Graham said before a midweek workout. “We’ve gotten back to kind of an old school mentality about doing things.”

Tulsa rarely owned the line of scrimmage in 2009. The offensive line didn’t protect freshman quarterback G.J. Kinne nearly enough, allowing well over 100 sacks a year ago. The defensive line didn’t strike a lot of fear into opposing offensive coordinators' hearts either, getting to the passer just 25 times.

“Guys have really come out every day and worked hard on being more physical up front on both sides of the ball,” said Graham.

Coaches put Golden Hurricane players through daily drills to ignite a tougher passion inside them. Defensive linemen got hit more. Offensive linemen sparred more. Defenders hit more.

“At every position, I think we’ve gotten more physical,” smiled Graham.

The invigorated Golden Hurricane squad will put its new, more physical style on display in this Saturday’s spring game. The event is free to fans and kicks off at 6 p.m.