Four Things Tulsa Coach Tre Lamb Said Ahead of Oklahoma State’s Game Against Tulsa

Year 2 of Tre Lamb’s tenure at Tulsa starts with the Cowboys visiting H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Lamb held his first pregame news conference of the season on Monday, as his Tulsa squad prepares for its kick against Oklahoma State at 2:45 p.m. Saturday.

Lamb spoke highly of OSU quarterback Drew Mestemaker and the rest of the squad Eric Morris has assembled (which you can read about here). Here are four other topics he hit on.

1. ‘I’m like the JV Version of Coach Morris Right Now’

Both coaches in this game have climbed their way up from the FCS, with Morris getting his head coaching career going at Incarnate Word, while Lamb cut his teeth at Gardner Webb and East Tennessee State.

At 36, Lamb is younger than Morris (40), and you could tell by the way Lamb talked that he looks up to the Cowboys’ coach.

“I’m like the JV version of Coach Morris right now, but he’s a few years ahead of me in his career and more experienced,” Lamb said. “Incredible evaluator of talent. Not only quarterback — everybody talks about the quarterbacks, but man, these guys developed some wideouts and running backs that nobody wanted. I mean, (Miles) Coleman was an under-recruited player. Wyatt Young was an under-recruited player. (Caleb) Hawkins had one offer, and it was North Texas. So, the guy can evaluate and develop talent, particularly offensively.

“Lot of respect for him. I think he’s a great human being, family man. Yeah, I look up to him a lot. I think he’s a really good football coach, and hopefully kind of reminds me of myself.”

2. Baylor Hayes Year 2

Tulsa quarterback Baylor Hayes was a redshirt freshman when he led the Golden Hurricane to a win in Stillwater last season.

Hayes followed Lamb over from East Tennessee State and proceeded to throw for 2,158 yards and 12 touchdowns while running for another 190 yards and three scores in his first season as a starter.

Here’s where Lamb said Hayes has bettered himself entering Year 2.

“He’s changed a lot physically — stronger, bigger, faster,” Lamb said. “He weighs a lot more. It’s been well-documented. His arm’s stronger. He looked like a high school kid playing last year, and now he looks like a college freshman now. He still doesn’t quite look like an upper-classman, but he’ll get there.

“But proud of his development as a quarterback. I think last year, he was just kinda an athlete running around making plays when we needed a play made. He’s growing in the run game. We’ve got a lot more of a check system this year. We didn’t ask him to check any runs last year. That’s just not something you really ask a freshman to do. He can check runs, he can check RPOs. He has more, I guess, keys at the line of scrimmage where he can make adjustments. We have a lot of two-word calls this year, which we didn’t have any last year, where he can get in and out of calls. So, we’re giving him more on his plate, and he’s only gonna continue to develop.”

3. Injury Report

Lamb started his presser by noting four guys who will be on Tulsa’s two-deep who are dealing with injury.

Here’s a rundown:

Elijah Green (CB) — OUT: Green, a Classen alum who has been at TU the past two seasons, hasn’t practiced yet, and Lamb said he might be back during the second half of the year. Green started every game for TU last season and led the Golden Hurricane in INTs. He was a first team all-conference selection and was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.

NuNu Campbell (CB) — QUESTIONABLE: It sounds like Campbell will be good to go this weekend, but Lamb wasn’t ready to outright say that on Monday. A Holland Hall alum, Campbell played in all of TU’s games last season and made one start.

William Alexander (LB) — OUT: Alexander is out as he returns from a sprained ACL. He made 11 starts for TU last season, finishing the year with 67 tackles (10 against OSU).

Devin Hightower (LB) — PROBABLE: Hightower is coming off having his meniscus cleaned up, but Lamb sounded confident Hightower would be good to go. A transfer from UAB, Hightower led the Blazers with 81 total tackles last season.

With two of those guys potentially being out being corners, Lamb ran down who could get some run against Drew Mestemaker and the Cowboys. Here’s that crop (which includes Campbell):

Tyson Williams: Williams is listed at safety, but Lamb said he’ll start at corner. Listed at 5-10, 190 pounds, Williams is a Bixby grad who transferred home from Abilene Christian, starting all of ACU’s games in 2025.

JD Drew: Out of Booker T. Washington, Drew is a 6-foot corner who made 11 starts for TU last season, finishing with 24 tackles and two pass breakups.

Caldra Williford: A 5-9 redshirt senior, Williford was at Baylor last season, where he took part in 11 games and recorded 16 tackles and five PBUs.

Micah Tease: A former four-star recruit out of Booker T., Tease started his career as a receiver at Texas A&M. He was a receiver at TU last season but has since moved over to the defensive side of the ball.

Willie Goodwyn: A 5-11 redshirt sophomore, Goodwyn was at Cincinnati the past two seasons, playing in six games and making a tackle.

4. The Heat

If you haven’t stepped outside in a while, it’s hot.

It’s supposed to be 99 degrees on Saturday in Tulsa, with the humidity hovering around 40% by the time the game kicks off.

The heat is something both coaches have mentioned entering this game.

“We’ve been in it — a lot,” Lamb said. “We don’t have an indoor facility, so we’ve been outside every day. We’ve practiced in the morning, the afternoon. We’ve practiced at night last night, so we’ve been in the heat as much as you can be in it.

“You’re gonna have to play more people in this game than any other game all year, with it being No. 1 and with the heat — 115, 120 degrees on the turf. … It’s a big concern of mine. The heat and then the tempo of which they play with can present real issues.”