It won’t be long and the college football season will be here. As the University of Tulsa football squad prepares for the upcoming season, the team is receiving some preseason attention.
Golden Hurricane running backs Shamari Brooks and Deneric Prince were named to the Doak Walker Award Preseason Watch List, by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum. The award, named for SMUs three-time All-America running back Doak Walker, is annually presented to the nation’s top college running back.
Brooks, a Tulsa Union High School product, will be returning for his senior season after a knee injury kept him out of the 2020 campaign. He has played in 32 career games and has 2,700 total rushing yards and 23 touchdowns.
He enters the 2021 season ranked 5th on the school’s career rushing list and 12th for career rushing touchdowns. He needs 1,217 rushing yards in 2020 to tie D’Angelo Brewer (2014-17) for the school’s all-time rushing lead.
Prince, a junior who transferred from Texas A&M last year. He totaled 475 yards for a 5.4 average per carry and scored four touchdowns in his first season with the Hurricane. Prince had a career-best 109 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries against USF.
Tulsa sophomore offensive tackle Tyler Smith was one of 80 players named to the Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List, by the Football Writers Association of America. The award, in its 75th year, is presented to college football’s best interior lineman on offense or defense.
Smith, 6’6’, 322-pounds, from Fort Worth, Texas, started all nine games in 2020 at left tackle for the Hurricane and earned Freshman All-America honors by the FWAA and The Athletic. He was also an American Athletic Conference first team selection last season.
The Outland Trophy is named after John H. Outland, who began his collegiate career at Kansas in 1895, then transferred to Pennsylvania. Outland garnered consensus All-America honors in 1898 as a tackle and consensus honors as a halfback in 1899. He had always contended that football tackles and guards deserved greater recognition and conceived the Outland Trophy as a means of providing this recognition
Tulsa receiver Keylon Stokes was named to the Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List, by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation. The Biletnikoff Award recognizes college football’s most outstanding FBS receiver regardless of position.
Stokes, from Manvel, Texas, has led the Golden Hurricane in each of the last three seasons for receiving yards. Last year, he had a team-high 644 yards and three touchdowns on 46 receptions, while earning second-team all-conference accolades. A year earlier, Stokes had a team-leading 1,040 yards and six touchdowns on 62 receptions for a 16.9 average per catch.
In 42 career games, Stokes has caught 155 passes for 2,402 yards, 60 kickoff returns for 1,244 yards, 211 rushing yards and 99 punt return yards. He ranks third on the school’s all-time all-purpose yardage chart with 3,956 yards. Stokes has totaled seven career 100-yard receiving yards.
The award’s namesake, Fred Biletnikoff, is a member of the pro and college football halls of fame. He was a consensus All-America receiver at Florida State University and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He caught 589 passes for 8,974 yards and 76 touchdowns in his 14-year Raiders career from 1965 through 1978. Biletnikoff was the MVP of Super Bowl XI.
Tulsa opens the 2021 football season Sept. 2, with a 6:30 p.m. home game against Cal-Davis. For ticket information visit; TulsaHurricane.com.
LAX IN TUL
Are you a lacrosse player or would like to be? It’s a sport I’ve always wanted to try, in fact, I have a little cousin who plays lacrosse at his middle school. Well, here’s our opportunity to join “Lax to the Max” 4v4 Fall Lacrosse League presented by Indian Nations Lacrosse Conference.
The league is open to boys and girls, kindergarten through high school age, plus there is also an adult division for those 18-and-over.
Early registration is open now, with a price discount through Aug. 15. You can register at www.sportabase.com. For more information, contact; [email protected].