Defense may be the key to The University of Tulsa improving their football results in 2019.

During the spring game on Saturday, the defense forced the offense into 3-and-outs five times. The offense ran 108 plays, with 73 percent coming in the passing game and the rest on the ground for a total of 314 yards.

Coach Philip Montgomery liked what he saw.

“I thought it was really good give and take on both sides of it. Our defense has been really, really good all spring. It was good to see offensively us come out and hit a couple of explosive plays,” said Montgomery. “We’ve got to be more consistent on both sides of it, but I did see us eliminate some of the mistakes we had last weekend. It was good to see those guys come out and compete like that. Coming out and being healthy, that was the No. 1 goal and I feel like we accomplished that today.”

The Tulsa defense forced punts on the first two drives of the spring game before quarterback Zach Smith connected with Keylon Stokes on a 60-yard touchdown pass that capped a 4-play, 70-yard drive.

Jacob Rainey’s 42-yard field goal put the offense on the board again three drives later.

The offense’s final score came on another explosive play as the Smith-Stokes connection hit jackpot again, this time the scoring play covered 63 yards, capping a 63-yard, 3-play drive.

For the day, Smith completed 4-of-8 passes for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Stokes caught 7 passes for 153 yards and 2 scores, both coming from Smith. Seth Boomer completed 12-of-21 passes for 66 yards and Davis Brin was 12-of-25 for 77 yards on the day.

In the run game, Tulsa carried the ball only 24 times. Last season’s tailback duo of Shamari Brooks and Corey Brooks, that combined for over 1,800 rushing yards and 18 TDs, ran the ball only 3 times between them today.

Redshirt freshman Elijah Lucas ran 13 times for a team-high 37 yards.

Montgomery saw some explosive potential in the offense.

“To be able to see it happen in a scrimmage or in a game, that’s when it counts. Being able to translate what we have been able to do in practice and being able to put that onto the field and execute it that way, it’s good to see. We’re continuing to keep growing,” said Montgomery.

 “Our receivers I think are getting better. Obviously, Keenen (Johnson) didn’t go today and getting him back will be important, but I thought overall we’re doing some things schematically different in our passing game right now and I think that has allowed us to be more productive in our passing game.”

Tulsa’s defense put six points on the board for the final scoring of the day when Treyvon Reeves took the game’s only interception 46 yards for a defensive score.

Montgomery has seen effort and improvement on defense.

“I think the guys are flying around and executing what Coach (Joe) Gillespie wants done defensively. I think we’re playing at a really high level and we’ve just got to continue to grow and see the type of progression that we made last year. We’ve got to do that again,” said Montgomery.

Tulsa opens the season on the road in East Lansing, Michigan, against the Michigan State Spartans on Friday, August 30. Tulsa opens the home season on September 14 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Fans can purchase season tickets online at TulsaHurricane.com or by calling 918-631-GoTU (4688).

Luke Skipper retiring

Last week, Tulsa quarterback Luke Skipper said he is retiring from football.

“I am grateful for each and every one of my coaches and teammates that I have had along my journey and cannot thank them enough for helping me become the man I am today,” he posted on Instagram. “With that being said it is now time for a change and a new focus and I will no longer be playing football.”

Including Skipper, three quarterbacks have left TU since last season. Chad President retired due to injuries and Will Hefley graduated.

In two seasons, Skipper had nine starts and played in 11 games. He threw for 1,857 yards and seven touchdowns. He battled back problems during his career.

TU has three scholarship quarterbacks now: junior Zach Smith, sophomore Seth Boomer and redshirt freshman Davis Brin. Brandon Marquardt is a walk-on.