Boomer, Smith compete to start

Tulsa football coach Philip Montgomery at some point will name either Seth Boomer or Zach Smith his starting quarterback for 2019. But the question is who and when.

“I never put a timeline (on naming a starter),” Montgomery said in a press conference last week.

“Those guys are in a great battle,” Montgomery said. “But I feel more confident in our quarterback than I have felt in a long time.”

Boomer connected on 51 percent of his passes last season for 1,378 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions. He started the final eight games of the year.

Smith, who transferred from Baylor last year, was ineligible. Smith was a starter for the Bears for a total of 10 games in 2016 and 2017. Smith had 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions as he completed 56 percent of his passes for 1,526 yards.

Great quarterback play will be key for the Golden Hurricane, who face one of their toughest schedules ever, including a road trip to Michigan State and a home game with Oklahoma State.

“This year we have to do a better job throwing the football and being successful throwing it down the field,” Montgomery said. “We are looking to push the ball again.”

There are no easy wins on TU’s schedule.

“We know we have an extremely tough schedule,” Montgomery said. “From the git, you’ve got to be on top of your game – you’ve got to be ready to play. We will be tested early.”

Michigan State and OSU are perennially Top 25 teams.

“It’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us,” Montgomery said. “That’s the way we have to approach it and look at it. Especially when you are opening up your season on the road at one of those places. And then having OSU at least come to our place, that’s going to be new at least since I’ve been here.

“We have to execute at a really high level because we don’t have any opponents to kind of ease our way into anything.”

And it’s not just tough nonconference games. The American Athletic Conference has fielded some Top 10 teams in the past few years.

“Our conference continues to grow and get better. I would put our conference against any of them,” Montgomery said. “From top to bottom.”

TU was forced into playing talented but inexperience players and that contributed to only winning a total of five games last season.

“We’ve a lot of young guys that we have had to play over the past couple of years and they have a little more experience,” Montgomery said. “They’ve been in some battles; they’ve been in some wars. They now understand what it takes and what it looks like.”

TU had nine starters back on defense.

“I am extremely excited about that,” Montgomery said. “Those guys have jelled well together. We changed schematically a little last year.”

Defensive coordinator Joseph Gillespie has made some adjustments that Montgomery thinks will pay dividends.

Montgomery said he was impressed with the depth and talent on TU’s defensive line and he thinks that has help the offensive line to improve.

“It was a battle,” he said. “There were some good days and bad days throughout it but our guys grew a lot.”

He said depth will be an issue on the offensive line but he expects better play this season.

Tulsa reported to camp on July 31 and have their first day of practice on August 1. The first two practices, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, will start at 6:30 a.m. Tulsa will be in pads on August 3.

Tulsa opens the season on Friday night, August 30 at Michigan State. The Hurricane opens the home season two weeks later on Saturday, Sept. 14, against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a 2:30 p.m. kickoff from H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Fans can purchase a 3-game mini-plan ticket package that include games against Oklahoma State, Navy and UCF. Mini-plan packages start at $90.

Tickets can be purchased online at TulsaHurricane.com, by calling 918.631.GoTU (4688) or in person at the Donald W. Reynolds Center Athletic Ticket Office, 8:30-5 p.m., Monday-Friday.