Three Things Tulsa Coach Kevin Wilson Said ahead of Oklahoma State’s Trip to Tulsa

The turnpike is going to make some money this weekend.

Oklahoma State will travel east on it as the Cowboys play Tulsa at 11 a.m. Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium. TU coach Kevin Wilson met with reporters Monday to preview the game. Here are three things he said that stood out. Video of his full news conference is below.

1. ‘I Don’t Know If I’m into Seven-Year Players’

Alan Bowman’s age as a college quarterback has been well documented nationally at this point.

It’s become a thing like when Lindy Waters was mentioned on a broadcast and the announcers felt the need to mention he was high school teammates with Trae Young. Bowman pops on the screen, and one of the first things said about him is that this is his seventh year of college football.

Wilson doesn’t appear to be a fan of the fact that a guy can still be playing college football this deep into his 20s. In fact, Wilson said he’s told players in similar situations to go get a job.

“I don’t know if I’m into seven-year players,” Wilson said. “I think we’re gonna get one of these days it’s five years no redshirt. I know COVID got us to six. I told a couple of guys that were seven years wanting to come back they needed to get a job and start working. It’s time to get out of college. Sometimes you gotta tell your (graduate assistants), ‘Get a job. Move on. You’re not gonna get the Notre Dame job. Man, go get an FCS, D-II job and start coaching.'”

2. On OSU’s Balanced Offense

The Cowboys struggled to run the ball Saturday against Arkansas, but at its best, OSU’s offense feels as balanced as it has been in a long time.

The Cowboys have the reigning Doak Walker winner in the backfield in Ollie Gordon. Commit too many bodies to try to stop Gordon, though, and OSU will use its host of weapons on the outside — Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens and De’Zhaun Stribling. To top that off, the Cowboys have five sixth-year players on the offensive line and the uber-experienced Bowman to direct things.

That type of balance allows for the Cowboys to let their opponents pick their poison.

“Everybody does RPOs, but they make a great deal of their stuff off the run-pass options and throwing it out there to Brennan Presley and their other skill guys,” Wilson said. “… It’s a heck of a deal, you gotta load up to stop the run, so you’re one-on-one playing pass. That’s kind of what they want, you to sit back and play pass, and they got a veteran O-line, some really good tight ends that come off the edge and take care of the edge well. And you’re getting a big back going downhill. It’s a complete offense and a good offense.”

3. Tulsa’s Quarterback Situation

Going into Tulsa’s season-opener, Wilson said quarterback Kirk Francis would go take the first snaps of the year, but Wilson said he wasn’t the starter.

Wilson said Cardell Williams and Cooper Legas would also play. Those two have played — but not nearly as much as Francis. According to PFF, Francis has played 113 offensive snaps with Williams picking up 12 and Legas taking 10.

Out of Metro Christian, Francis threw for 9,599 yards as a high schooler before taking part in four games with Tulsa last season as a true freshman. In those four games, Francis threw for 967 yards and six touchdowns. Thus far this season, Francis has completed 67% of his passes for 498 yards and five touchdowns to one interception.

Williams played in nine games with the Golden Hurricane last season, throwing for 1,149 yards and 10 touchdowns. Also a threat to run, he had another 198 yards and five scores on the ground. He’s been primarily used as a runner when playing this season. He has just one pass attempt on the year but has ran for 40 yards and two touchdowns.

Legas transferred to the 918 from Utah State. He threw for 1,000 yards the past two seasons with the Aggies, including going for 1,815 and 19 touchdowns last season. He hasn’t thrown a pass yet for TU, but he does have two rushes for seven yards.

“Kirk is playing well, but we gotta take care of him,” Wilson said. “He’s a really good player, but he’s really good when we’re really good. This week it’s gonna be hard to be good because they got a great defense. When we can block and stay on schedule and protect, he’s awesome. The other guys can run around a little bit. …

“I do like the way the other guys continue to practice and play. I like the way Kirk’s playing. They’re all really good, they just have different strengths. Last game played out where Kirk got the majority (of snaps). We’ll see how this week goes.”