Tulsa offense presents challenge for Cougars

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sep 15, 2007 | by Dick Harmon Deseret Morning News

TULSA, Okla. -- Today, BYU's defense will face the best quarterback it's seen to date, maybe the best it will see the entire season.

Hurricane senior Paul Smith presents the Cougars with plenty to worry about, most of all his accuracy and penchant for making big plays.

The Cougars (1-1) and Hurricane (1-0) meet tonight at 7 (MDT) at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The game will be televised live on CSTV.

"Their quarterback might be the best quarterback we see all year," said BYU outside linebacker coach Barry Lamb.

Smith completed 22 of 31 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns in the Tulsa opener against Louisiana-Monroe. During his career at Tulsa, he has thrown for 6,178 yards and 39 touchdowns while completing 65 percent of his passes.

"Their running back (Tarrion Adams) got over a hundred yards (28 carries 129 yards) in their last game," Lamb said. "All their offense fits together, so there is a complement to every play, and they keep you guessing with their motion, formations and different backfield sets as to which two or three plays it could be."

And then, said Lamb, Tulsa will sprint out Smith and he can run. "The kid throws the ball really well on the run. It will be a hard game for us to get dialed in and really figure out their offense while we are out there instead of just reacting to their plays."

While Tulsa's no-huddle offense is no different than what the Cougars face every day in practice with Max Hall and Company, the tempo is a concern, said Lamb.

Smith is a winner, according to Lamb. "His throwing motion isn't in the guide for quarterbacks on how to throw, but he's accurate and he wins."

The Cougars headed to Oklahoma with a big challenge -- forgetting what could have been in the loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl the previous week.

"It left a bitter taste in my mouth," said defensive tackle Jan Jorgensen. "I just want to get it out of my system and get on. It hurt. It really did."

Lamb said the Cougars have spent the entire week healing up both physically and emotionally. While there were no serious injuries in the UCLA game, both Jorgensen (sore knee) and OT Dallas Reynolds (hamstring) missed practice time.

"It was a very physical game, and we did get banged up," said Lamb.

Tulsa's defense runs a 3-3-5 but is based on a less aggressive tactic of not blitzing on every play from all over the field. The Hurricane uses a lot of zone coverages and, like the Cougars, wait for opposing defenses to make mistakes.

A year ago, the Cougar offense scored 49 points on Tulsa in Provo. In that game, senior Curtis Brown gained 125 yards rushing and 82 yards receiving, including a 62-yard touchdown run.

The Cougars would like to jump-start its run game by controlling the line of scrimmage against the Hurricane.

BYU center Sete Aulai said Tulsa's defensive front is bigger than UCLA, but they may not be as physical or as quick.

"The guy I'm going up against is 320, and their defensive ends are 280," Aulai said. "They are aggressive, and I'm sure they can move as well. But it shouldn't be something we can't handle because we just got through facing two very good defensive lines. Tulsa might not be as mobile as UCLA."

Aulai said the entire offensive line is hungry to get the running game going with Harvey Unga, Manase Tonga and Fui Vakapuna. "We have had success running against the 3-3-5 and we did last year. We want to do it again."

Cougars on the air

BYU (1-1) at Tulsa (1-0)

Saturday, 7 p.m., Chapman Stadium

Radio: 1160AM, 102.7FM; TV: CSTV

E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com