Minnesota intrigued by Tulsa defense
Associated Press
TULSA, Okla. -- Tailback Laurence Maroney can`t quite believe Tulsa will stay with a defense designed to stop the pass when his Minnesota Gophers come to town on Thursday with one of the nation`s best running games.
"Three down linemen and three stack linebackers, that`s six in the box," Maroney said. "They better have a little bit more than that."
Maroney said he realizes that Tulsa`s 3-3-5 base defense also includes a rover who could be blitzing and that the Golden Hurricane often send a four-man rush despite the defensive alignment, but he was still surprised there were only three defensive linemen, and not four.
"Crazy, isn`t it?" he said.
Maroney rushed for 1,348 yards last season while splitting time with another 1,000-yard back, Marion Barber III. But Barber moved on to the NFL and left Maroney as the featured back for Minnesota. Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe has taken note.
"He`s as good as I`ve seen on film and there is no question he is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate and well-deserving of that preseason recognition," Kragthorpe said.
Oddsmakers list the Gophers as 15-point favorites for Thursday`s game. The total has been set at 65.
Maroney is the first in a line of tests that Tulsa will face at tailback early in the season. In Week 2, the Golden Hurricane take on Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson. The following week, it`s North Texas` Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas -- the past two national rushing champions. After that, Heisman dark horse Memphis` DeAngelo Williams comes to town.
But before Tulsa can begin worrying about those other backs, they have to deal with Maroney and his sturdy offensive line featuring center Greg Eslinger and guard Mark Setterstrom.
"Let me tell you, this guy can play," Kragthorpe said. "He can run outside the tackles. He can run inside the tackles. Any time he touches the ball, he`s got a chance. He`s a threat to take it the distance.
"It`s certainly going to be a challenge for our defense."
Minnesota quarterback Bryan Cupito said the Gophers will be ready no matter what defense Tulsa uses.
"They run a lot of three down linemen, which I don`t know if they`ll do that against us with our run game," Cupito said. "We`ve been kind of working on that, they might change it up for the run. If they stay with the three down linemen, we`ll run the ball. If not, we`ll throw it. But either way, we`ll be successful."
Barber had three first-half touchdown runs and the Gophers racked up 254 rushing yards in a 49-10 win against Tulsa in Kragthorpe`s head coaching debut two years ago. But instead of focusing on that win, Minnesota coaches have been telling players about Tulsa`s ability to pull an upset.
The Golden Hurricane beat 24th-ranked UTEP to finish 4-8 last season. Tulsa`s 1996 upset of 19th-ranked Iowa has been a routine topic of conversation.
"Every other day, maybe everyday," Maroney said, shaking his head. "(The coaches) talk about how a Big Ten team went down there and they lost. I said, `Well, it won`t be this time. I don`t want to be the next team to go down there and get blown out.` They talk about it a lot."
JT
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