Aided by a veteran offensive line and guided by one of the game’s top offensive coaches, Tulsa’s D’Angelo Brewer continues to make history with the Golden Hurricane
by Dick Weiss
Tulsa running back D’Angelo Brewer felt college football got the wrong impression of his talent in the Golden Hurricane’s 59-24 opening game loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
After the nationally ranked Cowboys silenced him to just 33 yards in 22 carries, Brewer, the 5-9, 190-pound senior was motivated to make a public statement, rushing for a career high 262 yards on 38 carries and scored three of his team’s eight rushing touchdowns during a 66-42 victory over Louisiana in the Golden Hurricane’s home opener.
“Nothing surprises me,’’ Brewer said when asked about the amount of carries. “I play the game until the 60 minutes are over and then add them up at the end. I just go in every game expecting my offensive line to hold it open for me and my other running backs.”
“D’Angelo Brewer was extremely special,’’ Tulsa coach Phillip Montgomery said. “My goodness. What more do you want out of a guy?”
Brewer was just happy to put the past behind him.
Oklahoma State was a tough game for me,’’ he admitted. “They came out with a great game plan and it was a game where I wanted to come out and show the world what kind of talent I had with my team. But we didn’t get it done, so the next day we tried to tell the guys we had to get that taste out of our mouths and bounce back.”
Montgomery, one of the best offensive minds in the nation, may not have quarterback Dane Evans this season, who graduated after throwing for 3,348 yards and 32 TDs for an offense that averaged 527 yards total offense and 42.5 points during a 10-win season in 2016; but he still has the potential to build an effective power running game with Brewer and a veteran offensive line that ranks as one of the best nationally.
Brewer, a local hero from Tulsa Central High who played quarterback as a junior and senior, shifted to running back in college and made an impact as a freshman, playing all 12 games in a crowded backfield. Brewer broke out as a sophomore in 2015, leading Tulsa with 837 rushing yards and six touchdowns in Montgomery’s first season with the Hurricane, helping the squad improve from two wins to six.
“He had a tremendous year as a sophomore but ended up missing a couple games because of injury,’’ Montgomery said. “He was basically weighing 176, 178 pounds. With the type of abuse you take at running back in this league and the schedule we play, it’s difficult to stay healthy.’’
Last year, Brewer joined James Flanders to comprise one of the nation’s most potent backfield tandems. Brewer finished second in The American with 1,435 rushing yards - trailing only his teammate Flanders - and had seven rushing TDs. Between them the duo accounted for 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns during a 10-win season.
Brewer has a career total of 2,695 rushing yards. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, he needs 957 yards to become Tulsa’s all-time leading rusher.
Brewer followed his coach’s advice in the 2017 preseason, doing heavy lifting sessions and improving his eating habits from nutritionist Annie Lowry. He has emerged as the central figure in an exciting offense that piled up 424 rushing yards on 72 carries and 667 yards of total offense in the home opener against Louisiana.
“I wanted to get our run game on track,’’ Montgomery said. “We didn’t do a very good of it (at Oklahoma State). We worked hard on it this week and really put an emphasis on establishing the run. The line was working hard. Backs were hitting things. We were able to sustain drives and stay on the field. That’s eating the clock. In a game like that, if you’re being effective with doing something, I don’t know why you’d change. But to be really honest, I came into this game wanting to throw the football more.”
Last week’s win was the seventh time in the last three years a Montgomery-coached team, has gained more than 600 yards total offense in a game and the 18th time that Tulsa went over 500 yards in the Montgomery era. The Hurricane needed all the help it could get in a wild shootout in which the Ragin’ Cajuns piled up 595 yards and constantly challenged Tulsa’s secondary.
The Golden Hurricane put the game away with four touchdowns in the final 19 minutes, finishing runs with the help of its dominant offensive line - one that has three returning all-conference players from last year. Brewer set the tone for the Hurricane’s win when he darted through the secondary for a 50-yard touchdown run.
Brewer’s only misstep of the day came after he scored, when he celebrated by handing the ball to a fan, who had asked Brewer beforehand to give him the ball following a touchdown in that end zone. Unfortunately, that action triggers an immediate unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
It was a temporarily setback. Brewer turned it up in the second half, tacking on a career-long 60-yard run in the third quarter when Tulsa broke open the game.
At 1-1, Tulsa is still a work in progress so it is exciting to think what the finished product will look like by the heart of the conference season. New quarterback Chad President used four different receivers to roll up 243 yards while completing 14-of-20 passes. Freshman Shamari Books added 79 yards and a touchdown in his first home game.
Tulsa closes the nonconference portion of its schedule in the next two weeks, beginning with Saturday’s game at Toledo, the preseason favorite in the MAC which has registered seven straight winning seasons. That won’t be easy, nor will the following week’s home game against a New Mexico squad that has trended upward in recent years.
From there, it’s a run of eight straight American Athletic Conference games as the Golden Hurricane figures to once again challenge for the West Division title.
Tulsa’s two conference losses last season were a seven-point setback at Houston and a two-point decision at Navy. That was with an offense that became the first in NCAA history to finish a season with a 3,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers and two 1,000-yard receivers.
The only holdover from those skill players is Brewer. But he knows that he is not alone.
“I say it every time they ask me,” Brewer said. “We have one of the best offensive lines in the country. They really dedicate themselves to opening up holes and making running backs look good. I try to learn all of the blocking schemes, so whenever they open it up, I can be right there.”